Jjimjilbang bath houses: female bonding or couples date spot? The answer after much consideration is both. Today my friend Tasha and I spent our Saturday at my first public bath house, and I can say without a doubt that we have discovered a spot of serenity. Particularly after a long week with the little monsters.
It's a good thing I grew up for years as a lifeguard, getting to see my fair share of naked women. And getting to witness my fair share of nakedness from my cottage family in the summer months, because the jjimjilbang is a whole lot of naked. It begins with women going into the ladies area of locker rooms and undressing. The public area is for eating some boiled eggs or snacks, sitting around and doing your hair. Usually naked. Next is the pool room. Rows upon rows of ladies, of all different ages, scrub each other down at little shower and bucket stalls to remove the dead skin. After that you get to relax in the different stone pools. The one we went to had four different pools of varying temperatures to jump between, with stone frogs spewing out the water. I was bracing myself for the stares we foreigners get everywhere, but after the initial stares we were pretty much left on our own. Some ladies come alone, some socialize in groups, and one was even with her children. In between we went into a hot, and I'm telling you HOT sauna room. One entire wall looked like a giant wall of flames ready to squish us into flames. Also, the Korean ladies were using little pink suction cups on their body, we think to relieve pressure points, but couldn't find the source. Next time.
Almost two hours later we made our way into the comfy, oversized pink jump suit we were given upon entering the bath house and made our way upstairs to the unisex floor. There's a snack bar as well as a little Korean restaurant where we got some great lunch stews for about $5. All around this floor Koreans lie around on mats, sleeping, relaxing, or just chatting on the smooth wood floors. There are a few TVs on the walls, a PC room, a video game room, and a little Korean library for entertainment. Then there are the heating rooms - four in this bath house. One room we enjoyed was mint scented with gorgeous white stone walls and little snowflakes and other rock designs. The next room we tried was warm and cozy, with a giant furnace and a floor lined with soft Indian blankets. The last one was hoooot and wonderful, with a dark mood light going on. People go in to lie down or sit quietly, and if you are a newbie like Tasha or I, you stare at the gorgeous mosaic walls and ceilings made of colourful stones. The windows are circular, and the walls circle into the ceiling as well, giving the idea of being in a cave-man submarine. One large room holds all the sleeping pods: little cave-like, circular holes in the walls where people can sleep (during the day or overnight). Goodbye hostels, hello bath houses! The only issue is that with all the people sleeping in the same room it can apparently get quite loud. But seeing as the two of us were falling asleep in our heat rooms during the day, I don't think we'd have a problem sleeping at night.
Come on Canada, join in on the bath house craze! Hours of relaxation for $6-11 :)
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