I went in through the main doors and my bewildered look caught the attention of the lady behind the desk who pointed to a price list. It was 7000 won, around 7 bucks, to go in for as long as you would like. They gave me a little uniform to put on for after my bath and I trundled into the locker room, greeted by a man shining shoes at the front door. What I found inside was a totally new, but eye-opening experience.
After undressing and putting my stuff away, I went into the bath area. This steamy room had four baths in the middle filled with water of different temperatures. There were showerheads coming out of every wall at different heights so you could decide to sit or stand while you bathed. There were waterfalls to stand under that pelted you with high-pressured water, sunflower showers that blasted you with cold, pulsing water. There were two saunas with both dry and moist air. Oh yeah...there were also a lot of naked Koreans of all ages. If I thought my skateboard drew attention, it was nothing compared to being the only white guy in a Korean bathhouse. I surveyed the situation, trying to suss out what most people tended to do, not wanting to stray from the norm. I realized that everyone just did their own thing. There are a lot of different aspects to the ritual of visiting the bathhouse. There are men who go with their buddies or business partners to talk shop and hang out, there are also men who go to have some time to themselves and relax. There was one guy that sat in the same bath and stared at the water for the entire time I was there. I wondered where his mind could have drifted in that hour and a half.
There is also a familial aspect to the jim-jil-bang. Fathers and sons go together and there is no shame as they stroll around as naked as they came into this world, and wash each other. This is totally foreign to anything you will find in North America. Trying not to sound too creepy, but it was really cool to see. I'm not saying I wish me and my dad could have hit up the old bathhouse together growing up, but it was humbling to know that they didn't feel embarrassed. And man, I've never seen a more rigorous cleaning process. They were scrubbing viciously at spots that I never even think to clean. Trying to fit in, I gave myself a good wash; scrubbing behind my ears, in my ears, between my toes, behind my knees. I swear I could hear a faint squeak as some of the men walked by me giving new meaning to the term "squeaky clean". After a session in the sauna and the cold-water bath, I got changed into my uniform and headed upstairs. There I found a communal area for both men and women where you can just hang out and relax. Off this area are several different rooms with different themes, or temperatures. There were little caves that you could crawl into and take a nap on a mat, there were rooms that played forest ambiance sounds and had trees plastered on the wall, there was a domed hut that looked like a house on Tatooine that was made of a particular clay and was really warm inside. There was also an ice room which I didn't venture into. I found a quiet room and threw on a Joe Rogan Experience Podcast which I am currently hooked on and just chilled out. All in all, it didn't take long for me to forget that I was even hungover in the first place. If ever (or rather whenever) I find myself in a similar state on a Sunday morning, I know exactly what I am doing. The fact that they are 24 hours also means that you can stay there overnight if the need calls. this is handy if you are ever travelling around Korea as it is a cheap place to stay.
I'm looking forward to going again possibly with other people. The trick is to surround yourself with the right type of people in these situations. It would be pretty uncomfortable for most, I'm sure. I'm glad I went by myself the first time as it allowed me to make up my own mind about it without my experience being affected by the opinions of others. In that sense, I'm kind of a one-man wolfpack.
Much Love
D
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