The hand is faster than the eye, and I tricked Daisy into checking out some tourist spots with me for a weekend in Busan.
GAMCHEON CULTURE VILLAGE
Gamcheon Culture Village is a quaint little spot on the southwest side of Busan that has been restored and enhanced to attract tourism. These painted schools of fish can be found throughout.
Those two guys are not guys, but statues.
There is an indoor market in the village where I found this little display.
The history of Gamcheon Culture Village dates back to the 1950s when thousands of refugees from the Korean War fled here from all over the country. Busan was the only area of the country that remained free from fighting, and this suburb had been designated for low-income population in the 1920s and 30s. During the war the houses were quickly built all over the hillside using scrap iron, old planks and plywood with rocks on the roofs to keep them from blowing off. They were basically on top of each other all along the mountainside as the village grew from roughly 20 houses to 800 within a year.
By the 21st century, the village was in great disrepair. In 2009 the local government had the idea of regenerating the area to attract tourism by giving it a unique flair of art, calling the project 'Dreaming of Busan Machu Pichu'. It's a neat success story. The buildings have been restored and painted bright colors, and local artists. students and residents added their own personal touches to give it character and value. Today Gamcheon Cultural Village is one of Busan's biggest tourist spots, attracting well over a million visitors a year.
There are more than 40 works of art woven throughout the little winding streets, plus a plethora of murals, craft shops, art galleries, cafes and much more.
While there are a lot of shops, cafes and public buildings, these are also people's homes. As we wondered the labyrinth of tiny streets and alleys on the hunt for some of the more famous art exhibits, we had to be mindful and polite of the residents.
This was in one of the little museums that has been converted from an old shanty. This art installation is called 'The House of Hope II - At Home.' It uses folded paper called ttakji which is said to contain jewel-like energy.
There are several works of art that are well-known. This big fish called 'Fish Crossing Through the Alley' is one of them. The idea is that "narrow alleys are a channel of communication for the villagers, a laundry place for mothers and a front yard for families. The free movement of fish in such an ordinary life space creates vividly to the alley."
It was like finding Easter eggs of art as we walked through the streets.
One of the nicknames is Lego Village because of its colorful houses. 
Gamcheon means a village with sweet, tasty water. It is said that many ships used to drop anchor in Gamcheonman Bay to stock up on the tasty water.
We took time out for a drink at a little cafe and enjoyed the view from the balcony.
People left little notes inside, and Daisy hung one up for us.
Those bird statues on the roof were a little creepy.
At the top end of Gamcheon, there are many touristy-things. There are lots of treats available; we opted for Italian ice cream in the shape of a rose.
We finally found these little guys! It's a character from the novel The Little Prince. The Little Prince and the Fennec Fox are one of the most iconic art works in the village. There was a queue to take our photo with them. The plaque reads "The little prince left his planet and arrived at the earth in Gamcheon Cultural Village after taking a long journey with the fennec fox. They are looking down at the village, while sitting on a parapet and taking a break in the middle of their journey."
These bird statues with people heads were really creepy.
This art work is called 'Uniting into One with Gamcheon.' It "embodies the emotion of Gamcheon as your hometown."
Gamcheon has also been nicknamed "Korea's Santorini," due to its being built on the steep mountain-side slope.
This cool guitar is called 'The Sound of Gamcheon.'
Titled 'The Wriggling Village,' this embodies the feel of the colorful houses so closely knit together. Instead of being too close for comfort, the houses are said to "comfort each other and they live in a happy life of harmony, as the village is a living organism."
Those stairs in the middle are called 'Stairs To See Stars' because the locals used to feel dizzy and see stars as they climbed them whilst carrying their heavy loads to the top. There are 148 steep stairs. Daisy and I opted out of actually climbing to see if we would see stars. This picture is just the top part of the starry journey.
FYI, that is the logo on the Korean flag, not Pepsi.
Next we drove not very many miles but quite a few minutes across town. I was pretty proud because I didn't get lost the whole weekend. Yes, we have GPS, but I still usually manage to take wrong turns. "Here? Does she want me to turn here or the next left?" or "Do I take a hard right or a soft right?" or "I have to go either right or left and she told me to go straight!" and questions like that I ask a lot while driving here.
HAEDONG YUNGGUNGSA TEMPLE
After passing the many vendors of food and trinkets, we came across the 12 zodiac statues that were made of life-sized human bodies with animal heads, along with some other carved-stone statues. It is said that the 12 zodiac statues protect the land in 12 directions and block the invasion of evil spirits from the temple.
At the end of the row of statues there was a towering 7-story pagoda called the 'Traffic Safety Payer Pogoda.' At the base sits a car wheel, where people pray to avoid car accidents.
Once passing through Iljumun Gate, we began the descent down 108 steps to get to the temple. The number 108 symbolizes the 108 sufferings, or agonies of earthly desires of Buddhism.
This big guy is located along the staircase. I saw someone literally rub the Buddha belly. As the sign says, it is believed that rubbing his belly will get you a son.
Once you round a corner, the temple and ocean come into view! Haedong Yonggunsa Temple is one of the few temples in Korea by the sea; most temples here are located in the mountains.
People throw coins into the wishing pond as they walk over the bridge. The motto of Haedong Yonggungsa is 'at least one of your wishes will be answered here through sincere prayers.'
As you enter the temple area, there is a sign that reads, 'The most beautiful temple in Korea.' Probably safe to say not the most humble temple in Korea.
From where she is there is a nice view of the grounds and the ocean below.
These little piggies are thought to bring good fortune.
Behind and underneath this prayer area is a cave with a uniquely designed Buddhist sanctum, or place to pray called Gulbeop Buddhist Sanctum.
This temple, originally built in 1376 and called Bomun Temple, was constructed under the direction of Naong Hyegeun, a Buddhist teacher and royal official during the end of the Goryeo Dynasty. Naong helped establish Buddhism during the Josean period. The country was experiencing drought and famine; a sea god appeared to Naong in a dream, instructing him that if he built a temple by the rocky seaside of Bongrae Mountain, the nation would heal. The temple was dedicated to the Seawater Great Goddess Buddha called Haesu Gwaneum Daebul.
Of course, the temple was partially destroyed by fire under Japanese seige during the Imjin War in the 1590s. It was abandoned for about 330 years, when monks from Tongdosa restored it. The temple has also been added onto in the last 20 years. It is actively in use today, as monks guide worshippers in the three different temples each with their own Buddhas dedicated to three different religious functions.
Daeungjeon Main Sanctuary was built in 1970. It was in 1974 that Bomun Temple was renamed Haedong Yonggunsa, meaning Korean Dragon Palace Temple. The head monk a the time, during 100 days of meditation, had a vision of the goddess of Mercy riding a dragon.
Yong means dragon, gung means palace, and sa means temple, hence the name Yonggungsa.
Next to Daeungjeon Main Sanctuary is the big fella. I perused several sites and found several different names for him. Mireuk-bul, Maitreya Buddha, Podaehwasang and Future Buddha were some of them. There was also mention of Yaksayeorae Buddha who is thought to heal diseases, but I think that may be a statue inside one of the buildings. Though the names varied, they all agreed that this is a very happy looking golden statue that many people like to get photographed with.
Daisy and I ascended the stairs behind the happy Buddha towards another statue that seems to go by a few different names. She is Haesu Gwaneum Daebul, which means Seawater Great Goddess Buddha, or Sewater Bodhissattva of Compassion, or Great Goddess Buddha of Mercy in the Sea. You get the idea. She was the goddess that appeared in the vision resulting in the renaming of the temple.
This is the Reclining Buddha.
About 3/4 of the way down the 108 steps, just before the bridge, you can veer to the left to get a better view of the beautiful iconic bridge and main grounds.
This area is called the sunrise platform. As you can guess, it is a good place to view the sunrise and many people go on New Year's Day to catch it. However, the main attraction of the sunrise platform is another golden statue called Jijang-bosal, meaning the Bodhisattva of the Afterlife. There were many people bowing and praying here. You can see the gifts left at the altar.
It certainly is a beautiful setting for a temple. There was more to explore, but I had squeezed about all of the sight seeing out of Daisy for the day that was possible. The malls were calling her name.
There just happens to be a mall about 10 minutes from the temple. We had to stop in to check it out. Even though sight-seeing was my main goal for the weekend trip, shopping was Daisy's. It's all about compromise.
The brief walk from the hotel in Centum City to Shinsagae Mall had several unique sights.
Daisy said she felt like Cinderella who dropped her shoe.
Quote of the weekend:
Although there are pizza shops everywhere in Korea, it is comforting to get a slice of home. We brought some Papa John's back for the boys. Sometimes it's the little things.
[April 24]
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