Korean Sauna & Spa – November 25th

On Nov. 25th, the day after Jamie's wedding, I finally took the plunge and went to the Spa. Korean spas are very popular, and my Lonley Planet Guide says you really can't say you've been to Korea if you haven't gone. So, after being told by Ericka and another friend that they're great and that they themselves go all the time, I got up the nerve and went.

A friend recommended that I go to the Spa near Yongsan Electronics Market, called Dragon Hill Spa. It was quite the ritzy affair, with fountains and marble and such, and admission was only $10. I was given a key, a pair of shorts and a tshirt and 2 towels. The key opened a shoe-sized locker where I put my shoes, and then I headed to the Women's floor. At first I really had no idea what to do, and so I put on the shorts and tshirt and headed down the steps to the baths. I stood there watching as throngs of naked Korean women passed by, many glancing at this strange foreigner who obviously had no clue what she was doing.

Finally, I summoned the courage to ask ayoung woman who looked like she might know English what I should be doing. "Well," she said, "You have to take off your clothes to come in here, and no shower shoes either." (I had brought a pair in fear of Athletes foot and other such foot-related maladies). So, after a few minute's kind explanation, she wished me luck and was off. So, I went back up to the lockers, took a deep breath and stripped down. With one towel strategically placed in front and the other behind, I waddled back down to the baths. Everything was in the open, and everyone was naked, and despite my apprehension I began to relax. (Mostly because trying to cover myself was making me more conspicuous than not.) So, I went with the flow. From the showers I tried all of the baths, from 17–45ºC. I tried the outdoor baths, the Ginseng bath, the steam room and got a full-body scrub, which left me surrounded in large eraser shavings of grey skin, but made my skins smoother than it has ever been.

After I had had my fill of the baths, (although honestly I could have stayed all day), I put on the shorts and t-shirt and ventured to the co-ed floor for some sauna time. The co-ed floor had a cafe, restaurant and a huge common area where whole families stretched out watching TV, playing video games and sleeping. Surrounding this area were about 10 different saunas. The first 3 were normal saunas with three different temperatures. To get in, you walked through a door that was about 2 ft. hight, and sat down in a circle in the dome-shaped room. The 4th sauna was a Pine sauna, which looked the same as the others but had a wonderful pine smell and felt amazing. The 5th sauna was a salt sauna, where the entire room was made of salt and you were given cotton socks so that as you lay in the sauna, the toxins supposedly came out of your feet.

My final sauna was actually a freezer, complete with snowman, to close the pores. After all of my sauna-ing I sat down in front of the big screen TV with some brown boiled eggs (a sauna specialty), and a strawberry smoothie. When I went to explore the rest of the building I found massage chairs, a large gym, a sleeping room, an Indian BBQ (whatever that means) and a terrace overlooking the whole city.

When I went back to the women's floor to shower and change I realized that I was the most relaxed I had been in a long time. It was utterly amazing. I will definitely be going again!