Korea Must-Do: Jjimjilbang

Korea is famous for its spas (called jjimjilbangs), and for good reason! If I lived in Seoul I'd probably be spending a lot of time there...the nice thing is that they are pretty affordable!

I decided to visit the famous Dragon Hill Spa. Basically, the way it works is that you pay an entry fee (depending on the time of day it is typically about $8-$10). You are given towels, your pajama-esque spa attire, and a wristband that has the key to your lockers (one for shoes at the entrance and one in the spa area for your clothes/purse). The wristband also acts as your payment system should you choose to purchase any extra services/meals/snacks/etc.

Included in your entrance fee is access to the saunas, swimming pools, and soaks in the hot pools. You start by showering and then enter the womens (or mens) only area where you can soak in the hot pools (they also have an ice cold bath that is supposed to be good for after your hot-water soak..I only lasted about 30 seconds in that one) and enjoy some small sauna rooms.

After you finish in there, you can shower again, don your spa attire, and enjoy the rest of the jjimjilbang with its dining area, mixed-sex saunas, and recreation rooms. You can get your nails done, and in the womens area, there are lots of extra treatments to choose from (facials, massages, etc.).

Now for the uncomfortable part (well, I didn't care, but some people might): in the single-sex areas you do not wear clothing...not even bathing suits. Yep, you will be naked in front of Korean strangers. But, from my perspective, it was not uncomfortable because typically Korean adults don't stare as much as people do in the city I live in China.

To step the awkwardness up a notch, you can get one of the most popular spa treatments, which is a good scrub-down from a Korean ajumma. Yep, within the hot-soak area there is a space with tables where you can lay down (still completely naked) while an older Korean woman scrubs the dead skin from all (and I do mean ALL) areas of your body. Included in this was also a very nice hair shampoo massage. It was a little gross to see how much dead skin actually peeled off of me...afterwards I felt AMAZING though.

If you visit Korea, suck it up and DO it!