Jjimjilbang: A Korean Bath and Sauna | Personal Experience

Late January 2017, I set foot on my highschool-dream country, South Korea. I went together with my bff, and co-steemian @sumiremurasaki. It was both our first time so everything was a big deal for us. On my next blogs, I will be sharing more about where we went and things that I consider something to look forward to and getting back to.

Now, let's talk about what to expect upon getting into their bath and sauna, most famous for Jjimjilbang. According to our Korean friends, going to saunas is just like going to massage shops. I personally go to massage spas once every 2 weeks to relax and be stressed-free. It was 9pm when we managed to get there. We had dinner at Gangnam at around 7 and had dessert near the place at almost 8. Since we visited Seoul on January, it's a winter season so the weather was perfect for us to be heated. From Gangnam, we took the train to our hostel. The sauna should be near our place since we thought of spending the night out.

What is Jjimjilbang?

It is a Korean bath/sauna that people go to relax and chat with friends. The bath is located upstairs. Females are separated from Males. Now, here's the awkward part. During the bath, everybody needs to be fully naked for hygienic purposes. I swear I immediately changed my mind and wanted to go home. We had to leave our things at the locker which is what we see upon going upstairs to the Female area. We came with few Korean unnies (sisters) and we didn't want to make them feel bad so we went inside taking all our clothes off with only a face towel to cover the private parts hahah So there, we got in. I could't imagine how it would turn out if there's a place like this in the Philippines. Not to generalize but Filipinos are too tactless for our own sake. We talk about nonsense things and make small things into huge ones. Moving forward, we dried our hair and got ready. After bathing, people dress up to comfortable clothes and go downstairs for sauna or just stay there to sleep. A number of locals also spend the night there since the floor is warm enough to lie down and feel the heat while watching tv. Some of the pictures I have taken were deleted so I couldn't upload anything. Entrance fee was ₩8,000 (7.49USD) equivalent to 320Php during that time.

_{This is what the sauna looks like from outside. The temperature at this part was the most comfortable for me, at 43°C. Inside is a very comfortable place to stay for a while. If there are not so many people, you can stay longer. This was one of the 3 saunas that varies according to temperature. This was the least warm. The 2nd one was at 57°C and the 3rd was at 85°C if I'm not mistaken. Just by looking at the digits gave me the chills. I couldn't take a temp too hot, that's why.}

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_{As you can see, weather outside was at -4°C. See? perfect to get heated.}

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_{This is the cooling down area. After hitting the sauna, we stayed here for few minutes before going home. Not that much people were spotted here because it was almost 1am.}

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_{Take a look at my background. Aren't they cute? As I said, a lot of the locals spend the night. They leave early morning or stay til the 24th hour. And yes! that's possible. You are paying for a 24-hour stay.}

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_{A selfie with our Korean unnies, who took care of us during our stay. They even showed us around very memorable places.}

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_{Food is a must after a good bath. Ttekbokki, egg, and rice tea sure was a great combination.}

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So this is taking you with me on my journey at Korea's famous Jjimjimbang. We had a good sleep when we reached home. The location of the sauna is at Jangseungbaegi.

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_{Stay tuned for more of the places we went to on my entire travel :)}

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Lovelots,
Mai