Busan - Haedong Yonggungsa + Gamcheon

This morning I visited Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, it was about 1 hr journey on trains and buses. This temple is known as Korea's "most beautiful temple" as it sits on the Busan coastline. It had some large Buddha statues, pagodas and temple buildings decorated with dragons. It was very very busy here!

I then made my way over to the other side of Busan, via 1.5hrs of buses, to Gamcheon Cultural Village. Instead of taking another short bus, I decided to walk up the super steep hill to the village...that was a mistake! The rain that had been promised came, and it was pouring!! I got drenched! Eventually, I made it near the top and stopped by a cafe with a pretty view.

Gamcheon Village was originally a place where refugees fled to during the Korean War. As its population later began to decrease, the government enlisted local artists to create murals and sculptures, ultimately bringing the area back to life. I bought a map of the village that showed some of the routes, main artworks, a section for stamp collection and then I went wandering.

I spent about 2 hrs walking around here before it once again was pouring with rain. I then headed back to the hostel, stopping to buy a poke bowl for dinner on the way.Read more