Social Icons

Pages

Monday, September 2, 2013

Korea sauna - Jimjilbang Experience

This is an idiot-proof post on the Dragon Hill Spa at Yongsan -
How to experience Jimjilbang (Korean sauna) without knowing a word of Korean :D
MAP INCLUDED!







1) Pay up and collect the clothes. towel and wrist band with a identification number (more explanation about the wrist band later).



2) Deposit your shoes in the shoe rack with the same identification number


3) Take the lift up to the changing area (male and female lifts are different)..
at this point, don't be shocked to see naked bodies walking around when you reach the changing level LOL

4) stay calm, and look for your locker. get changed!
(whether it's in toilet or right in front of the locker where everyone does...)

5) Get your towels, and take the lift back down to the first level (you can take the stairs too). Proceed to the hot Sauna rooms!

 

this is the map of the first level:

This area is shared by males and females. Basically there is a lot of sauna rooms for your enjoyment, the hottest one was at 80degrees, it's initially very hot but you kind of get used to it. My favourites are the herb room and the salt room! Comfortable enough to sleep :) 

 


you are supposed to go into the salt room with a pair of socks on because the salts are hot, but most of the people do without it. Don't be surprised to see couples in the herbs room because there are individual cubicles. Just that the couples decide to share one cubicle ^_^

I will leave the explanation of different rooms to the official website


4) You can purchase the snacks at the snacks bar with your wrist band (it works like a T-money just that you pay before you leave the jimjilbang) so you don't have to bring cash around! 


The massage chairs (photo above, at the background) are available for 2,000 won for 10 minutes. My mum loves this! There is also the arcade area on the same level, and the swimming pool and Finnish spa on the next.

5) When you are done, you can go to the bathing area - take lift back up to changing area and enter the bathing area by going down the stairs beside the toiletries store. You are supposed to be naked by then, with your clothes dropped off for cleaning. I know many people are uncomfortable with that, but it's really strange if you don't because everyone does it.

Enter the glass door and here you are! Give yourself a nice scrub and visit the sauna pools! No descriptions of the pools because we were too shy to enter them without clothes -_- i can only tell you they are hot because I saw steam... Haha!

6) Walk back to your locker and get dressed, get your shoes and pay up with your wrist band.

Easy, isn't it!
(I'm very lucky to have met an ahjuuma who spoke Japanese and she brought us around and taught us all about the sauna) 
 

Additional note: having visited Siloam sauna too, I would say Dragon Spa is more accessible? The directions to Siloam are more indirect and it's very dangerous if you are going to walk there at night because you need to walk pass a bridge with homeless people sleeping on it. The most important thing is that out of 5? people we asked only 1 of them knew the right directions. So if you are lost, good luck with asking for directions. On the other hand, Dragon Hill Spa is more straightforward ^_^ I would recommend for first timers. Facilities wise, Siloam sauna is comparable and equally equipped. But one last thing, I love Sikhye and the Sikhye at Dragon hill is much nicer!! Haaaaaaa that's enough to make a difference for me :)

Have fun at the jimjilbang!

1 comment:

Ronni Casillas said...

The entrance fee for this Korean Spa costs double your regular spa, but the place is huge. It definitely has a luxurious vibe, and for a 12 hour stay, I’d say it’s worth the price. It’s the perfect place to visit to beat the summer heat. Thanks for recommending this. I’ll be sure to check it out if I’m at Daegu! Cheers!

Ronni Casilas @ JNH Lige Styles