With Summer quickly fading in Seoul I thought it might be a good time to review all those things you forgot to do around Seoul while it was still disgustingly hot and humid. So on a chilly, rainy day, here is a review of Yeouido Park Pool and why I will never go there again.
koreans love the shade
I will start by saying that Yeouido Park is one of my favorites in Seoul. Laid out along a stretch of the southern bank of the Han River the park offers quiet grassy knolls, myriad fountains, pools, and other water features in which you are allowed to swim and frolic, as well as interesting architecture including stairs leading directly down to the river. From the park you can also book a boat tour, rent a boat for the afternoon, or, if you’re hungry head to Ashley’s Buffet for all-you-can-eat crab legs and bottomless wine. With views of the Seoul skyline towering in every direction and Seoul’s mountainous perimeter filling the horizon behind them, it’s simply a beautiful place to be.
bottomless crab legs!
If you head a little further east from the park, you will find Supia Yeouido: an outdoor pool complex complete with kiddie pools, sun chairs, play cannons, and all that other fun stuff that sounds perfect in summer. And so, on one of the hottest days in August, a group of friends and I took the quick subway ride down to the park to check it out. The entrance fee is ₩5,000 (about $5) which seems pretty reasonable for a day at the pool. The first hiccup we encountered is that no one is allowed in the large, shallow pool without some kind of swim cap on. Now, they are somewhat lax about this and allow people to just wear baseball caps (I even saw one girl wearing a hoodie) but in the absence of that you must pay ₩10,000 for a swim cap if you want to get in the water. And if they see your hair showing for even a moment, you will get the whistle.
frolicking freely!
Ok, so now we’ve dropped $15 and we look like a synchronized swimming team, but we can finally dive right in! Or not. The whole length of the over-crowded pool is about waist-high on me and thigh-high on anyone that’s not a midget. You may not know this about Koreans, but they are inexplicably petrified of water. If we keep it below our knees, it can’t kill us!
After a few not-so-rousing games of marco polo hindered by bumping into all the other people immediately surrounding us, Hudson and I retired back to the grass to read and enjoy the sun. As we started to get hungry we went for the only food option available within the park: Lotteria. I love me a fast food indulgence from time to time, but I have never loved anything that came from Lotteria. The most satisfying part of the entire excursion was watching two Korean bodybuilders oil themselves up and stand around flexing for one another. This seriously provided about 20 straight minutes of entertainment for me.
As we left the boisterous park with dry hair and rumbling stomachs, we decided to walk back to Yeouido instead of taking the quick bus ride. Looking upon the free park, lacking a fence to obstruct your view and children happily frolicking with their hair down in the fountain pool of a shockingly similar depth for absolutely no money at all, my mind was forever made up.
straight chillin'
If you want a nice place in Seoul to splash around on a hot summer day, definitely head to Yeouido. Just save yourself the $15 and the indigestion and pick a nice spot and enjoy your street food and public drinking.
Side note: I’m 100% positive I took pictures of Yeouido pool, but as they mysteriously disappeared I hope you enjoy these pictures of the better half of Yeouido park!
Lol to the synchronized swim team. Lovely photos on your blog as well.