Nau speak: Korea: Ilsan Lake Park Fall 2016

Ilsan Lake Park is a residential park a relatively short-ish trip out from Seoul city proper. It's only one or two stops past Hwajeong on the line 3 trains (get off at Jeongbalsan, exit 2) and is a really pleasant place to spend an afternoon or even a full day. During my visit the weather was splendid, sunny and warm without being overwhelmingly humid or sweaty, perfect for a leisurely hike. After lounging around a bit to let my lunch digest and then checking out the animal exhibit nearby, I continued my exploration of the park. It's a pretty big place, and I could spend countless hours here! During this visit I had to mind the angle of the sun as I had quite a long walk ahead for myself and wanted to have some light left near the end of it if possible. There's a lot to see and do inside the park itself, though, like checking out the toilet museum or the various different gardens... if you're more into running or biking there are tracks looping around the park specifically for those purposes! If you'd prefer to relax and watch the birds there are plenty of benches and bird houses to enjoy. It's truly a lovely park and something I was happy to have so close to where I was staying. I didn't get to visit the park as much as I'd have liked, but these things happen. Seoul is such an active and lively city it's really hard to fit everything there is to do into any visit, even one that's 6 months! The seasonal changes here are quite pronounced, too, so it's well worth it to see the different destinations in their different stages throughout the year. This visit having been towards the middle-end of summer or early fall, it was still lovely out and the foliage lush and green. I imagine it's a bit more toned down during the winter, then gorgeous come spring. Perhaps in the future someday Antho and I will get to find out. We have some plans for future travel and living abroad, but they're still just in the planning stage yet. You know I'm not going to let that opportunity go to waste, though! 💗