If there is a 셔츠룸 구인 typical experience that any tourist should do when they are in Seoul, it is visiting the Jjimjilbang…or so I am told. Visiting a jjimjilbang, or Korean-style bathhouse, is an absolute must-do when visiting Korea. Jjimjilbangs (Korean saunas) are among the cultural experiences that tourists and expats should experience when visiting South Korea.
A Jjimjilbang is a Korean public bathhouse filled with showers, hot tubs, and saunas, but there is a lot more to it. A jjimjilbang is also a community space, where you can watch Korean dramas on TV, exercise in an exercise room, chill in an ice room, sweat in a sauna keg, play computer games, spend coins at an arcade, sing your heart out in a noraebang, catch up on sleep in one of the sleeping caves, chill out in a massage chair, and do a lot of other things. A jjimjilbang sounds like it could be an elite gym or a spa, but that is not true. As long as you pay an entry fee of 7500W, you are in.
You may pay the jjimjilbang, mokyoktang, or both entry fees for a certain location. If you want to get the full experience, you will want to pay for both a bathhouse and a jjimjilbang in Siloam, and you may be able to save some dollars by visiting at daytime hours.
Most Jjimjilbangs will only let you stay one night, although a few, such as Siloam Sauna in Seoul, will let you stay for several nights and you can come and go. For women travelers looking to utilize that jjimjilbang as one-night lodging, you would be most comfortable and safe there.
However, there is an unspoken code of conduct and customs that may make visiting the jjimjilbang intimidating to international travelers. Read about the towels techniques and Korean bathhouse etiquette so you can enjoy your first-time jjimjilbang visit as a local.
Visiting a jjimjilbang is about relaxing, and you will find many Korean families visit for the day, making it a fun weekend activity. For anyone who wants to take a weekend trip and see the sights of other cities, sleeping at a Korean jjimjilbang is the ideal way to do that, as well as getting an intriguing and interesting insight into Korean culture.
Some of the fancier jjimjilbangs, like Dragon Hill Spa in Seoul, even feature open-air pools, hydromassages, and recreation areas such as arcades, which can be kept interesting by those who visit the sauna, sometimes all night long. This time, I tried out first of all one of Seouls pricier, more elaborate Jjimjilbang, the Dragon Hill Spa, located just outside of Yeonsan Station.
It was mid-week during the normal working week, and it was suggested that we meet up one evening after work at a Jjimjilbang, the Korean Spa. That is what Abbey Mattingly thought, until she was invited to try out the Jjimjilbang, the Korean Spa. This spa was one of our favorites that we visited, and one we wish we had spent an entire afternoon in.
A little pricey, the Red Ginseng Spa is a unique experience that is unlike any other Korean Spa we have visited. The Red Ginseng Spa was a good opportunity to have a quick look at what you can actually expect at the Jjimjilbang Korean Spa.
Siloam Jjimjilbang is one of the best jjimjilbangs in Seoul, so is well worth seeking out, even if you are staying elsewhere in Seoul. Keep in mind that there is at least one jjimjilbang in most neighborhoods of Seoul, so if Siloam Jjimjilbang is too far away from where you are staying, you should still be able to check out the other ones close by.
Another jjimjilbang, Itaewon Land, located in Seouls expat neighborhood, Another Jjimjilbang is one of our favorites. Itaewon Land is not as recent or as good, but its spa facilities are still an excellent value.
There is even a dining area, so if you are not feeling up to exploring another jjimjilbangs nightlife, you will not need to worry about where to get your meals. There is the steam room and the ice room, arcade rooms, personal one-on-one body rubs, often performed by rather older employees on nude customers, and extensive Korean face-beauty rituals.
Koreans, and women especially, are crazy about the scrub, and you will see Koreans giving themselves lengthy, vigorous rubs (you can even purchase scrub towels and mitts in convenience stores and markets). Koreans do not take care of their skin lightly, so you will find a lot of them at cleaning areas using scrub towels and wash mitts to peel off their own skin or that of their friends.
The cleaning area in any jjimjilbang (a Korean establishment that is a sauna, sauna, and spa all in one) is the part newcomers find the most intimidating. That is because the scrub corner traffics in an entirely different type of nude intimacy: the one where an exasperated Korean woman in black-laced underwear uses a rough-clothed hand to wipe down every angle of her guests/victims bodies. An exasperated Korean woman in black-laced underwear. If you want the same treatment for yourself (while also stepping up your jjimjilbang game), consider getting yourself a seshin, or professional, scrub, after your bath.
Simply put on a towel and follow our guide below, and you will soak like a Korean spa pro in no time. A warm soak at the Jjimjilbang is like a small slice of heaven in Korean winter. If you are still on the fence, just drop off your stuff at your locker, don your bathing clothes, then go first to the cooperative saunas and chillout areas (jjimjilbang/jjimjilbang).
Once you have had as much jjimjilbang fun as you can stomach, swap back into your clothes and collect your belongings and locker keys. It is no weird thing to see a bunch of friends meeting at the jjimjilbang on Friday nights. The time for a massage session meant that lunch had been skipped, and we headed over to the food stalls at the main hall for an odd mix of egg with a tea dye, roast chicken, and flavorful ice-slush — a truly jjimjilbang-unique food experience.