One of my favourite things to do in Korea is go to a
Jimjilbang (Korean Spa). Unlike traditional spas in America, the Jimjilbang
culture is very different and unlike anything I have ever experienced. You first
pay a very small entrance fee, then you are free to use their entire facility
for as long as you want (up to 24 hours I think) which includes taking a dip in
the pool, soaking in a sauna, playing in the arcade room, eating and snacking,
relaxing in their rest room or in their multiple hot tubs. Some people even
sleep overnight (as I did) just to wait until the train reopens in the morning.
A few days before I left Korea, I went to a jimjilbang in
Yongsan called Dragon Hill Spa. It is located right next to the Yongsan train
station (not even a 5 minute walk) and this jimjilbang has been recommended by
CNNGo and The New York Times as the best place to get the full Korean
jimjilbang experience.
The entrance was super grand and beautiful to walk through
at night. :D The Dragon Hill Spa has seven levels so there’s a lot of fun to be
had here. :P
The entrance fee is 10,000
won (~$9.00 CAD) normally and 12,000
won (~$11.00 CAD) after 8 pm. This is the entrance where you put your shoes
and enter the main floor.
Be sure to bring your bathing suit so you can go for a
midnight swim! I stupidly forgot and therefore couldn’t go swimming!! Gahh!!
Dragon Hill Spa houses multiple jimjilbang sauna rooms
(around 8 hot and 1 cold) such as Himalayan Salt room, Ice room, Pyramid, and Oakwood
Charcoal. This ice room was mega cold and even had a snowman inside.
This Pyramid room was a medium level hot sauna and my friends
and I spent the most time here. What an elaborate looking sauna, eh?
This was us. Wearing their beautiful “Dragon Hill Spa”
attire and sweating our toxins out inside the Pyramid room.
This is the main resting area where people sleep, watch TV,
eat snacks, and mingle. As you can see from the guy in the front, people just
sleep ANYWHERE, and in all sorts of positions. :P Haha.
Hehehe.
My favourite drink to get at a Jimjilbang is Sikhye, which
is a traditional sweet rice drink made in-house. I highly, highly recommend this as it is so
refreshing after a long sweat inside the sauna.
As well, another must have snack item is their smoked boiled
eggs. They sell three for 2,000 won (~$2.00 CAD) and they are delicious. Nicely
marinated and makes for a great midnight snack.
You can see that the egg white is all brown because of the
long marinating process. You don’t even really need salt because the egg is
flavourful enough by itself.
We ended our sauna experience by trying out the 88 degree ‘Himalayan
Salt Room’ where everything, including the floor and ceiling are made from Himalayan
salt. It was awesome but extremely hot. =.= If you ever plan to go to Korea, I
would definitely recommend giving Jimjilbang a try as it’s a very traditional
Korean activity and an incredibly interesting and fun experience!
Kirsty invited me to this jimjilbang and when I look back, I am glad she did. At first, I was reluctant because I had never been to a spa before and I also had the classical (western) image of a spa, i.e. a place a lot of old people and high entrance fees. When I arrived at the Jimjilbang, I encountered the opposite situation. There were many young people (even whole families!) and the entrance fee of the Spa was really low. However, the concept of the spa is that you spend money inside on drinks and food. You will spend money on drinks for sure, because after a 88 degree ‘Himalayan Salt Room', you are craving for something to drink! :-) Also, I was amazed by all the people that spend the whole night on a hard concrete floor. Personally, I could not never do that, but the Koreans don't mind :-D. The Dragon Hill spa was very good and it was very clean. However the lay-out was a bit confusing, but ultimately you'll know your way around. I really enjoyed the Jimjilbang and you can't leave Korea without visiting it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kirsty! ;-)
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ReplyDeletehellooo, i wanna ask you.. can dragon hill spa staff speak english?? because i'm normaly can speak korean.. hehehe.. thank you..
ReplyDeleteYes they can! I speak BARELY any Korean and I got by fine. However, if you want eggs or the rice drink, you have to say the Korean word (ex. Shikye
ReplyDeleteahhh~~ okay... btw what season when you come to korea?? can you recommend some place for me?? ah~~ thank you before..
DeleteI went to Korea during the summer between May and July. For more recommendations of where to eat and go, check out my Seoul posts: http://www.eatingwithkirby.com/search/label/Seoul%20%28Korea%29
DeleteDefinitely hit up Myeong Dong and Dongdaemun for shopping. As well, try to go to all of the districts because each one of them are unique in its own way.
ahhh okay,. i already look your recommendation.. thank you very much..
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