We just headed into Bar street, had a few drinks and nearly set TLC on fir with sparklers and balloons!
Yesterday was my first experience at a jjimjiibang. It is a Korean bathhouse, with saunas, hot pols, movie room, oxygen room, massage room, restaurant, sleeping room. Basically everything you would ever need. We did spend some time discussing if it would be cheaper t live at a jimjambang or pay rent somewhere!
Click here for a really good article that explains them a bit better.
I had been a bit dubious about going as you have to naaaaked! Some you are naked for the whole experience (in single sex ones) and some just while you shower, as the saunas etc are co-ed.This was was co-ed.
When we got there, we took off our shoes and put them in a locker, we then swapped that locker key for another key/tag, towels and our uniform of shorts and a t-shirt. We then went to the locker room got completely butt naked and went to the shower room.
It was a massive room with showers along one side, a sauna at the back, a couple of hot tubs, an area for scrubbing yourself and lots of naked women! I am totally self conscious about my body so it was all a bit daunting. But after showering and chatting to my friend, while a small baby boy sat in a tub near my feet, me and his sister was running around with her naked mother chasing after her, I started to get over it! We then put on our uniforms and headed to the sauna, there were 3 saunas one of 72c, 60c and 42 and then an ice room.
The outside of the saunas
We spent some time in all of them but I didn't even attempt the 72c one. We went and got some ice cream, the tag with the key, has a barcode on it. So if you buy anything, get a massage etc, they can your tag and then you pay for everything when you leave.
We sat in the 'oxygen room' eating and chatting, then headed back to the saunas. After we all then showered again. There is also a section in the shower room to totally scrub and exfoliate, I was pretty much done with the whole nakedness so I headed home, while my friends all sat in the hot tub naked with with some random Korean women! One step at a time for me!......
It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had been groped on the thigh by an 'ajamma' (old women) while being fully clothed at a bus stop, so the thought of being naked made me wonder what else they would grab!! You do realise that actually no one does stare at you because you are a foreigner. We also learned that if you travel in a group people will come into the sauna see a group of foreigners and run away, leaving you to have the whole place to yourselves! I was also with a girl who had lots of tattoos and both her nipples pierced, so if they were going to stare at anyone, I am guessing she would be the main attraction!
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