It was a short 15 minute cab ride from Gamcheon Culture Village to our next place – Gukje Market. The market has a huge number of homely shops and stores that offer a huge variety of wares, including all kinds of apparel, trinkets, souvenirs, art pieces, and also home utensils. The place seems to be frequently largely by locals, with relatively few out of the country visitors in the area. The place feels pretty similar to some of the street markets we’ve visited in Japan, so it’s a nice place to check out local wares and the like.
The most interesting parts of the market for us though were the street food stalls, and there are a number of them closer to the BIFF Square area. We ducked into one such for lunch that comprised Korean fried chicken (super yummy!), Tteok-bokki spicy rice cakes, fish cake, and Kimbap, and for a total of 25,000 won. A little on the pricey side for street food, but dining isn’t exactly at the rock bottom prices here in Busan.
The Jagalchi Fish Market was also an interesting visit: the street is lined with dozens of stalls selling commodities, and both fresh and also preserved seafood. The place was fairly crowded when we visited mid-afternoon, and the road that connects to the market sees both small and also large vehicular traffic attempting to move through the road with pedestrians jostling for space too, so watch your step and little ones if you have children in tow. Fun incident: the live octopi we saw in large tubs were all trying to escape – I guess they didn’t want to be on someone’s dinner plate in short order!
Pictures!
Continued in the next post: checking out BIFF Square, Gwangbokro Culture and Fashion Street, and LOTTE Department Store Gwangbok!