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Published: April 16th 2015
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Gaemi Maeul means Ant Village, and is located in northern Seoul. The village is in the foothills of Inwangsan Mountain. It is very easy to get to. I took the subway to Hongje Station and came out of exit one. I walked along the street for about 5 minutes and came to the bus stop. This area of northern Seoul is more traditional, since it was a Saturday, loads of adjummas had set up stalls along the path, selling fruits, vegetables, and herbs. This neighbourhood is a contrast to the modern, polished areas of Gangnam and the like, south of the river. I waited a little while at the bus stop, there were plenty of buses coming and going, but not the number 07, which I needed. The journey on the minibus took about 10 to 15 minutes and I got off at the last stop. The last stop is called Gaemi Maeul, it's a dead end, and the bus rests there for a bit, so you can't get lost. I was the youngest person on the bus by a good thirty years. Gaemi Maeul definitely has an aged population.
Gaemi Maeul's claim to fame is that it is a
'daldongne' or moon village, which has been given a new lease of life as a mural village. Moon villages popped up after the Korean War, and the poorest of folk lived, and still live, in them. The villages get their name 'daldaongne', as they were built high on the hills surrounding Seoul. The land here is cheaper, as most people who want to and can afford it, live in the flatter, more convenient and central part of the city. Gaemi Maeul was a dilapidated neighbourhood that was chosen by a group of art students to be revitalized and they painted murals on the walls of the buildings as a way to regenerate the neighbourhood.
Once I had alighted the bus, I had a wander around the village. I was glad that I'd took the bus to the last stop as it meant I would be walking down and not up, always a bonus. At the top of the hill there were hiking trails around the old fortress walls of Seoul and to Mount Inwangsan. It was so quiet, I think I'll come back here to hike Inwangsan in the future. The village was really quiet, too, as it was
a sleepy Saturday morning. It was pretty windy, too and I could imagine how tough and cold life would be up here. I spent about an hour wandering around the village. I took loads of photos of the different murals and other bits and bobs of day to day life. I mainly stuck to the main road, as it felt a bit intrusional to wander up and down the small alleys between people's houses. I wonder if the people how live here like people visiting and photographing their property or not. I only saw a few (old) people wandering about and tending to their gardens.
The village did make me feel like I had stepped back in time a bit. All the buildings were so small, it makes a nice change (for me at least) from being surrounded by the huge high rise cut and paste style apartments that dominate the skyline. This place had character, I like it! The high rises could still be seen in the distance though. There is no escape. One thing I really loved about the village was the tiny 'supas', convenience stores that were dotted about. These stores looked tiny from the outside,
but I bet they contained a wealth of goods. The murals around the village were pretty, but they were also quite worn. I had seen some photos of the village from just a couple of years ago, and they had looked a lot fresher then. It kind of summed up the area and its inhabitants to me, a bit old and worn at the edges, but still beautiful. Near to the bottom of the village, where I caught the bus back to the station, there was some building work going on and new and fancy 'villa' style apartments were being built. It looks like nowhere is safe from Seoul's ever growing gentrification.
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