Jimjilbang: The Korean Sauna Experience

I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things about Korea now: the public baths/saunas (jimjilbang). Basically, you get cleaner than you've ever been in your life, and it feels pretty dang good.

Here's what happens when I go to the jimjilbang:

1. Check in at the front desk (pay around $4), get a key for your shoes, put them away, and head down to the locker room.
2. Switch keys in the locker room for access to a locker for your clothes, etc.
3. Get naked.
4. Enter the main sauna room, which has a bunch of huge bathtubs at different temperatures with various minerals, tons of shower stations, and several sauna rooms.
5. Take a shower. You have to clean yourself before you get into any of the bathtubs or the sauna rooms. Even a little bit of leftover suds is a big no-no.
6. Alternate between hot and cold baths, which is supposed to improve circulation. Some of the bathtubs have intense waterfall action and jets that massage you, which is nice.
7. Visit the various sauna rooms, which range from sweaty to fire inhalation status.
8. Rinse, repeat.
9. Exfoliate like there's no tomorrow. I bought a special rag/mitten that sloughs off all of my old skin for under one dollar. You'll see many people scrubbing each other's backs. It's good to have a friend at the sauna.
10. Final rinse and that's that.

This is pretty much all I do, since I usually go by myself, but there's a ton of other stuff to do that would be better with a group of people. Lots of Korean families go to the sauna together and spend the whole day there - maybe even the night. There are beds for sleeping, and your entrance fee applies for 24 hours, so if all of that bathing gets you exhausted just take an on-site rest. Obviously, not everything is naked; you rent a uniform to wear in the non-bath part. In addition to more saunas that both men and women can enjoy, at the big saunas there's usually a restaurant, computer room, exercise room, theater (with showtimes of semi-current American movies), and lots of beauty treatments available. You can get massaged, manicured, and pretty much everything else imaginable, including Dr. Fish, which is a skin softening treatment that involves sticking your feet in a pool so that a bunch of fish can eat your dead skin. Sarah and I tried this once at a sauna near Cindy's house, and I really wish I had taken pictures. It was probably one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced. I didn't think I could handle it at first because the fish are not small. They're pretty big and allowing them to suction onto your feet and nibble is just freaky. I don't think it did much in terms of callus removal, but it's definitely a good story.

Did you know that bathing could be an all-day experience? Before I came to Korea I certainly didn't. But Koreans don't half-ass anything. If they're gonna do something, they do it RIGHT.