So.. a jimjillbang (pronounced Jim-Jill-Bawng)
A group spa - a bath house - where everyone is naked. They think the dye's in clothing is poisonous, and could hide disease, so the JJB's are clothing free!
Yup. I did it :)
Now... I ripped these pics off the web. I don't think the other ladies would have enjoyed me taking their pictures at 2am... :)
So you have multiple pools of different temperatures. Big beautiful hottubs, some with jets, some with crazy waterfalls, a pool temperature one, etc. There is a wet sauna, a dry sauna... but regardless, the air is so thick with moisture you begin to question if you're part dolphin.
Being naked...at first, might be awkward, but then EVERYONE is naked, so you quickly lose it. Even being the only foreigner or one of two foreigners where you expect to be stared at... it was different. I think I stopped being self conscious after the first two minutes.
You shower before going in, you shower before leaving. Up a level you can get a scrub or a massage...
Yup. I did it :)
those benches are slippery....and it gets even worse when they oil you up. Now, I got the scrub first...and Lord, they scrub you in places that you think they won't touch...nope. No place is unscrubbable.
At first, it feels amazing...soothing even to have your skin scrubbed off. It only gets rough when you realize they are doing it a second time. By the time they attack your very sensitive flesh for the third time, you start to realize with horror that you might see your blood vessels just a little bit better, and pleasantly you wonder if you're going to have any hair follicles left.
As for the massage...that little asian woman hopped on my back like a spider monkey and massaged me with her feet, ya'll. A true, straight up crazy asian massage.
Okay... so upon entering the JJB, you pay w14,000 (that's roughly $14). This permits you to use the spa and stay the night. Yup. Stay the night.
Yup, I did it.
The pic below IS one that I took.
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| This is the view from where I slept. Those lovely orange clothes are the uniform they give you as soon as soon as you walk in :) You sleep on mats - the floor is heated, so no blankets required. |
The only thing I can say about our stay here, is that there was a couple of drunk girls that came in at about 3am, and one of them we thought might be possessed. She was moaning and clawing at the floor for hours and hours. This poor girl was tormented by something awful. I still remember her name because her friend kept yelling at her. Tig Ea! lol... ah well.
So there you have it folks. My night at the JJB.
I don't hate these turtles or these fish that are as big as a pebble. But, I might be getting a love turtle with my friend in Seoul. They are about the size of an oreo cookie. Maybe smaller.
An outdoor market. $18/500g of beef here :) Unless you can talk a little Korean and perhaps show some super fun cleavage - then it's only $5/500..."service" :)
