Since the days are starting to get colder these days is getting harder to choose places to visit without feeling like you are inside the movie "Frozen". So here is one option of a different place to visit during this beginning of winter: the 복천박물관 (BokCheon Museum).
Located on the 동래 (Dongrae) area in the city of Busan, this museum contains rare objects from all over the 삼국시대 (SamKuk Dinasty), including even part of the treasures from Gaya. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00, and the entrance is free.
Within its area, there not only the exhibition halls, but also a big garden with around 200 tombs; an outside exposition; and lastly a beautiful mountain (often used by the residents for hiking) which, from the top, can give the view of almost the full city of Busan. The Our Generation team visited the museum on a Friday and it was completely free of other guests leaving us really comfortable for exploring the area within just a couple of hours.
When first arriving at the museum, it is possible to see the big exposition hall and the garden. The exposition's building is complete covered with white bricks that give great contrast with the beautiful colorful plants surrounding it. The garden is covered with a vibrant green color grass, and is possible to respectfully look at the tombs from the side-walks. We were challenge to try counting how many were there but, even only considering the ones that can be seen from the outside, it is hard to not loose count in the middle.
After entering the building, you encounter a big hall with a center desk they check your temperature and your vaccination card (or you QR Code). In this place is also possible to find the information center, where the friendly staff can help you understand better any part of the museum (in our case, the staff answered our question: there are a total of 191 tombs in the garden's ground!).
Then, it is possible to visit 2 other floors that contain dozens of rare objects and their certain explanations (both in English and Korean language). From explanations and 3D models of how the tombs were made, until clothes and accessories from Gaya, inside the museum is possible to go back in time and enjoy, loosing the sense of time.
From our team's perspective, the best parts of the exhibition were: the dressing room on the 3rd floor, where you and your friends can take pictures as the king and their followers; the real-size model of a warrior riding their horse, also located in the 3rd floor; and lastly, the model of the tombs and their explanation on the 2nd floor exposition, where you can request a guide for a even better understanding.
Coming back to the outside part, following the street on the left side of the entrance of the museum it's possible to find the outside exhibition that focus on the acts and creations of the Scientist Jang Yeongsil. He lived during King Sejong's empire and was the one responsible for introducing the sun clock in the kingdom at that time, for example.
In the outside part it is also possible to take photo of real-side models of the warriors from that time, or go hiking in the big beautiful mountain to see the city of Busan from above. But we will leave a warning: the way up is long and tiring, so if you plan on doing it, wear comfortable shoes and bring water! On top of the mountain, there is a traditional building where is also possible to take beautiful photos, and banners with more information about the area.
To finish, we would like to give our final thoughts about this whole visit to the 복천박물관. It is definitely a good place for visiting if you are interested in the Korean culture and its history. The adventure in this area can be a little bit tiring, but it is completely worth it and as a plus: it is FREE! Hope this post was helpful and thank you for reading until here.
See you on our next adventure!
Written by: Isadora Thomazini
Images by: Isadora Thomazini and Elissa Lim
Layout by: Isadora Thomazini
*All rights reserved to the original authors*
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