Howdy all. My final Busan blog is here today! I’ve taken you to the museums and the temples, but there are two more sights I didn’t manage to squeeze in in those posts, and they are the Jagalchi Fish Market and the Gamcheon Culture Village. Both are actually very visual places to visit and quite rewarding too.

Jagalchi Fish Market

This large fish market is naturally down by the water at Nampo Port and is the largest fish market in Korea. There’s only so much I can tell you about this market, but it is worth exploring for an hour or more even if, like me, you are not a huge fan of fish.

I walked around the exterior and everywhere I could including inside a large building where people had fish and sea creatures of all persuasion in tanks (alive) and you could point and choose what you wanted to eat and they would cook it up for you.

Outside the market occupies a 3km stretch along the shore. The sea life for sale outside is in stalls and on ice and there are all manner of creatures in or our of the buildings. The squids were probably the coolest things out there, but there were so many fish and other strange creatures – that I can’t really identify because I ain’t no fish lover!

There are so many moments and images at the market that really make for a great experience. Watch out for the spiky black creatures they looked really cool.

Gamcheon Culture Village

The Gamcheon Culture Village is pretty special too. It’s basically a hilly suburb that had been let go and become totally run down. It was originally conceived as a district for working class to live in in the 1920s. It went through many phases over the years, and in 2009 it was decided that it would get a revamp via artists.

As a result today it is perhaps the most colourful and vibrant district of Busan. If you take in the view from opposite you can see all the brightly coloured houses over the rolling hills, and it is now a major tourist attraction.

I arrived late in the day as I had already seen plenty of temples and fish and walked well over 20 kilometres. I took a bus to the entrance of the district and hopped off to the beautiful views. I entered under the main sign and just there on the street 20 metres up was the information centre, not far from closing. But they still have me a map and sent me on my way.

I spent 60-90 minutes exploring. As long as there is light, even if places are closed, it’s still an attractive place to explore. There are plenty of lookouts so you can appreciate the way the coloured houses decorate the hills. There are seats in places and you can sit next to the ‘Little Prince’ if you like too.

There are even capsules with fortunes inside that you can get from a machine, and if you can read Korean, you can perhaps get an inkling as to what the future may hold for you. There are plenty of cafes as well, murals, painted walls and the like. It’s buzzing too. For the first time ever I stopped into a little shop and had my caricature drawn which I was pretty happy with too.

All in all there isn’t much more I can say about the experience – however I will be doing a photographic blog on Gamcheon in the near future so keep your eyes peeled for that one!

Thanks for joining me on this post. Next up I will be talking high speed rail in Korea! Take care for now and May the Journey Never End!