About as vibrant a place as you’ll find in Korea before the sun drops and the neon’s plugged in. Gamcheon Cultural Village sits in the hills beyond Nampo-dong in the Saha district. Cramped, boxy and playful, its cafes and artisan shops add commercial color to hundreds of homes on the hillside, the real attraction here by far. Take a community bus up from the main road to the semi-official entrance, or walk. There are nooks and crannies that might surprise you. Keep in mind though that the candy that’s marveled at by visitors today historically was and perhaps still is mostly poor. After decades of slow expansion, artists and residents began a village make-over in 2009 under the direction of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Who knows how the inhabitants of “the Machu Picchu of Busan” really feel. Some have moved on, resulting in the “Empty House Residency Preservation Project.” On the busier, hilltop tourist road, a lifesize statue of the Little Prince creates a queue for photographs. Coffee and ice-cream add bitter sweet.