Barely Busan: Culture and Art immersion trip to Gamcheon Village

a photo spot entitled "Becoming One" near the bus stop overlooking Gamcheon Culture Village

A village like no other we've ever seen before. Said to be Korea's Santorini, Machu Picchu, and Lego village with its colorful houses, interesting art installations as well as rich history, this destination appealed to me. The village also known as Taegeukdo Village  was a must in our Busan itinerary. We spent an afternoon in the village but a whole day can also be allotted specially if you want to take your time to have a leisurely walk and admire each and every art work and exhibit area in the village.

Barely Busan: Shinsegae Centum City - the world's largest shopping complex

When we found out that Busan has the Guinness Book of World Records' holder for the largest shopping complex in the world in it's backyard, we were curious to see how humongous this mall was. On our second day of sight-seeing in Busan we decided to head straight to Shinsegae Centum City to see it for ourselves.

Barely Busan: Off to Dadaepo - Beach, Sunset and Fountain of Dream

Following our Jeju Island itinerary of ending our day by the beach, I scheduled a trip to Dadaepo Beach in the late afternoon of Day 1 of our Busan sight-seeing so the boys would have time to play by the beach and we could watch the musical fountain show after watching the sunset, which according to my reading was the best place to do so in Busan.

Barely Busan Day1: Going around Taejongdae Park on the Danubi Train

On Day 1 of our Barely Busan sight-seeing we were off to Taejongdae Park. It is a natural park with magnificent cliffs on the southermost tip of the island of Yeongdo-gu. It was named after the 29th king of Silla Dynasty during 57 BC to 935 AD King TaeJong Mu-Yeol. It was said that he has traveled to many places but it was at Taejongdae Park that he enjoyed shooting arrows. It is also designated as Scenic Site No.17 with the sea cliff, thick forest and blue ocean overlooking Oryuk Island and sometimes even Tsushima Island (part of Japan). We love beautiful landscapes so this destination has to be among the firsts on our list of places to visit.

Barely Busan: Haeundae Beach at night

We settled our things in our room (simple traditional Korean style) at the Mobydick Hotel and stepped outside for dinner and a stroll. We spotted a Lotteria fast-food restaurant on our way to the hotel when we arrived and we've decided we would be having our dinner there. Chicken galore! Conveniently located just a few steps away from our hotel. That sealed the deal. It was Lotteria every night for dinner. It's a Korean brand after all - founded by Shin Jun Ho, a Korean entrepreneur in Tokyo, Japan in 1972 (the brand was then established in 1979 in Seoul).

Barely Busan in 3 days (May/June 2014)

It was not until the 12th day of our South Korea holiday when we went back to Busan. We flew from Jeju Island via Jeju Air. We left Jeju Island in the afternoon (and spent the last few hours soaking in the island breeze) and arrived early evening in Busan (which gave us some time to stroll by the beach before we dozed off), after a short delay (10mins wasn't that bad). We stayed for 3 nights and had 2 full days to see some of Busan's sights. That wasn't enough time to really see most of Busan's attractions, thus the title Barely Busan. I just had to make the most of our stay there by choosing the attractions I knew our family would be interested in and enjoy the best.