Afternoon trip to Gyeongsan’s Bangokji reservoir

My second summer “staycation” in Korea has included a number of local day trips that have increased my appreciation for the area I live in. I’ve always thought of Gyeongsan as a booming college town, but it also encompasses a lot of farmland and charming pockets of “boondocks” countryside and small bodies of water to explore. Earlier this week, my friend introduced me to Bangokji reservoir (반곡지), a man-made pond just 7km east of the YU campus. We brought our dogs with us to this gorgeous open space, as it is a great walking area.

It’s a popular spot for photographers in all seasons, too, and not only that, I found out that scenes for several Korean dramas have been filmed here. Apparently, Spring is one of the best times to visit, as the water’s surface is as calm as glass, and beautifully reflects the surrounding foliage, including the celebrated cherry blossoms.

PHOTOS: Bangokji reservoir is a picturesque pond and walking area in the Gyeongsan countryside. The dogs loved walking here. Peach trees and other seasonal crops are at their peak. Two new coffee palaces with great views of the pond are situated nearby.

At the main road entering the area, Cafe Willow is a sweet little coffee palace with a wonderful outdoor seating area. It’s named after the willow trees that flank Bangokji pond. We stopped here to rest after walking all the way around the greater and lesser parts of the pond, which took about 30 minutes (walking quickly). If you go here with photography in mind, though, you might take much longer.

PHOTOS: More summer crochet practice. I made a barrel cactus for my neighbor, using “plarn” to edge the ridges and make the top flower. I’m also just starting to pick up Tunisian crochet; you can see my clumsy practice stitches here.

On the home front, I can share a couple of many small projects I’m finishing up this summer, including more amigurumi. I loved making the cactus trio in April, so I made another cute barrel cactus for my plant-loving neighbor. This cactus also uses Phildar Coton 3 yarn and fuzzy “plarn” to give a bit more realism to the edges and the flower. The small pot comes from Daiso. The finished cactus is about 11cm tall, and is removeable from the pot – small items can be hidden underneath.

Finally, last week, I started learning Tunisian crochet, which I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I cracked into Tunisian Crochet Workshop, a book by Michelle Robinson. It has helped me learn a lot of basics, including the afghan stitch, purl stitch, and knit stitch. Tunisian is a kind of hybrid of crochet and knitting. There is just one long hook, but many stitches are held on it at once. There are actually more differences from, than similarities to crochet, in fact – one of which is that the work tends to curl, depending on the stiches used, so a finished work needs to be blocked to counteract it. On balance, it’s a very cool technique and I’m sure I’ll be using it to create some wonderful things in the near future.