I’d been hearing all about this amazing place, Suseong Lake. “A beautiful lakeside getaway”, they’d said.
I pictured a sprawling waterfront, nestled at the base of a lush mountain, with tendrils of water wrapping their way around it’s tree shaded base. I envisioned boats motoring their way across, casting out a small wake and shaking up the paddle boats while the passengers squealed and laughed in carefree delight. I imagined vendors along the waterfront, doling out ice cream cones and inflatable rafts and all the other amenities that make a lake getaway complete. With all that in mind, a group of us set out on a Saturday afternoon for this picturesque place.
What I did not expect to find was a glorified pond.
Truly, it was a rectangle that took us about 7 minutes to walk from one corner to the next along the lengthier edge. It reminded me of the reservoirs we keep in the California vineyards to water the grapes or use as emergency water supply for fires. There were no motor boats, save for the little aluminum fishing boat zipping around to tow in the stranded duck shaped paddle boats. There were no vendors selling refreshments or inflatable water toys–and the murky water looked like a swim might induce the growth of a third eye. There was a platform with an angry lady renting out the janky duck boats, and that’s it.
Nevertheless, we had traveled over an hour on a crowded bus to get there so we were determined to enjoy our “day at the lake”. We rented a couple of duck boats and paddled our way out into the, ahem, lake, and after a grand total of 10 minutes reached the middle and sat there wondering…. soooo, what now?
Despite our record breaking time, pedaling had been quite the chore and we sat there waiting for the motor boat to come to our rescue and tow us in. We watched him dragging in the other boats and waved when we saw another group of foreigners, beers in hand. Why didn’t we think of that? We waited… and waited… and waited. He must have been so impressed with our stellar duck boating skills that he decided not to rescue us, so we dejectedly pedaled our way back in.
Then we ate dinner. And that, my friends, is the story of Suseong Lake.
Don’t get me wrong, it is actually quite picturesque, and pedaling around on in those old creaky ducks was pretty entertaining. In the evenings there is a water fountain and light show that is supposed to be spectacular, but we didn’t have a chance to see it. The Suseong District is one of the wealthiest areas of Daegu, and the street bordering the lake is lined with a wide variety of high quality dining options. It is definitely a place worth visiting, and I’m glad I did–just don’t go there with high hopes of a grand day at the lake.
Have you been to Suseong Lake? What did you think?