The Korean Bathhouse Experience

I had my friend Ray in town over the weekend. We had a great time and there are a variety of things I could blog about our trip. One event stands out above all others, however. The Korean Bathhouse. It actually took us a while to find a place, as the first one we went to (that was recommended by a 3-year-old guide we were using) was closed. Once we found a place, however, it met and exceeded all of our expectations (however good or bad they may have been). I don't think I can appropriately blog about all of it, as some things just don't come across fully in writing. But I at least want to hit the highlights.

First off, this Jam-jil-bang (as traditional Korean bathhouses are called) was divided into a few floors--entrance area, male floor, female floor, and a co-ed floor that had a dining hall, TV's, internet connections, etc. After getting checked in and paying only 10 dollars for the privilege of using the place (we had to pay more for massages, but everything else was included), we headed up and checked it out. The most obvious finding upon entering the male floor and checking out the locker area is that it was totally Korean--we were certainly the only Irish/British/American looking guys there. That was to be expected, however. The other clear fact was that jim-jil-bangs, as we read, are fully nude. You can only worry about that for so long, before you have to say "to hell with it" and disrobe. That actually wasn't too big of a deal, since everyone was bare. Once we got over that and entered the main sauna area, we saw there were a collection of about 5 small pools (or large hot tubs, depending on how you define them). Each had a different temperature reading and different minerals in the water. We hit most of them (some normal temp, some cool, and some that cooked you), before trying out the sauna rooms. They had two--one that was normal and one that was 91 degrees CELSIUS. For those that don't know the conversion, let's put it this way--your mom cooks her Thanksgiving turkey at about the same temperature. You could only handle that heat for about 5 minutes.

After getting enough of the pools/saunas, we decided to get massages. There was a group of tables in one part of the big room, so we signed up for something (I say "something" because wed didn't know what we were signing up for, given that everything was in Korean and nobody spoke English). It turned out that we signed up for massages and body scrubs. I think Ray's body scrub was fairly normal. Mine, however, was one of the more painful experiences of my life. My masseuse was putting both hands and all his force into this sandpaper tool he was using, and it was almost unbearable. Ray said after that he glanced over and saw little bits of skin go flying off of me, which i don't doubt at all. It was brutal. Fortunately, it only lasted about 15 minutes. He then gave me an oil massage which helped with the pain a bit.

Since I couldn't go into the baths after my body scrub for fear of passing out from excruciating pain, we decided to get cleaned up and have some Pocari Sweats (Asia's Gatorade) in the dining area.

All in all, it was a memorable and good experience. If it wouldn't have been for the body scrub, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. My body is no longer too sensitive though, so I'm focusing on the good memories of the jim-jil-bang. Given that this was one of my last full days in Korea, I'm glad I got to experience this uniquely Korean place.