Jimjilbang

I did it. I braved the Korean public bathhouse. I know what you're thinking...and no, my modesty was not compromised. It was such a fun experience and we are going to take all our visitors there to have the full Korean experience:) Koreans really know how to relax and they take it very seriously.
The bathhouse we went to was 6 stories tall with 8 different saunas. For just $12 dollars you can stay for 12 hours and/or spend the night. It's perfect lodging for a frugal traveler or someone in need of stress relief. As soon as we went in we lost all track of time and just enjoyed ourselves.

At the front desk we picked up our set of bath house clothes, which is just a pair of unflattering shorts and a t-shirt. Then we were given a locker key bracelet with a swipe chip in it. Your key matches 2 lockers, one for your shoes on the first floor, and one in the locker room on the gender specific floor for your belongings. You can use the bracelet to purchase anything in the building, and you pay when you leave.

Then we were ushered to the elevators where Jon-David and I were separated (they like to do that to us here for some reason, remember the dorms?!). The bath house has separate floors for women and men which are accessible by the gender specific elevators. So this is why Jon-David and I parted ways.
The elevator doors opened straight into the locker room, where I got my first glance at the clothes-free ladies. Agh! I just kept my head down and shuffled my way to my locker number 88 and quickly changed into my uniform. In the locker room you can take showers and give yourself a sugar scrub then dip into the hot-tub or the HOT hot tub. I did not. I was really anxious to stay modest and meet back up with Jon-David.

We met back up on the main floor commons area and sauna hopped. This was the BEST part! There was a:

• Traditional old fashioned hardwood charcoal kiln with wooden slabs for pillows
• Fire sweating pine tree firewood sauna. This one really could be used for cooking people. We only lasted for a few minutes before I felt like I was suffocating.
• Crystal shining salt room. Which is a glittering sauna made from salt.
• Hinoki forest room. Smelled like pine trees and made you feel like you were sitting in a forest.
• Meditative yellow pyramid. The pyramid had little tombs in it you could crawl into and rest.
• Ice room sauna. It was an igloo!! with real snow and snowmen! This one felt perfect after the Fire sweating one.

We stayed there for a couple of hours, ate dinner and dipped our feet in the outdoor jacuzzi. There were a lot of various treatments offered from massages to getting your face slathered in cucumbers. Next time I want to get a manicure and a foot massage.

Afterward we felt sooo relaxed and so soft.