Last week we decided to try out the Dragonhill Spa, a jjimjilbang, or spa that includes bathhouses, saunas, massages, and skin treatments...There was even a “game room” on the basement floor equipped with more than a dozen computers and gaming systems. Also, people can actually SLEEP at these spas. In the main hall, the floor is heated and there are pillows scattered everywhere. There are also various different rooms i.e. the salt room, the charcoal fire room, which people can go into and sleep in if they’d like. Actually, some of the other students on exchange at Sookmyung dealt with the 12 am curfew by staying at the spa overnight. It probably wasn’t the most comfortable bed…I mean, it wasn’t a bed at all, it was a floor…but it’s a lot better than waiting out in the cold until 5am. And you can wake up and take a dip in the pools!
Women’s Spa:
After paying our entrance fee 12,000 won (approx $12 CAN) for 12 hours, we separated from the boys and headed upstairs to the women’s bathhouse. As soon as we stepped out of the elevator, there were naked butts and all else everywhere. I could tell that we were beginning to get a bit nervous, but after a few awkward minutes, we became more comfortable. I had never experienced anything like it before, and it caught me off guard at first. I think that modesty is valued amongst many Asian cultures, including the Koreans, so I believed that since nudity is usually associated with sensuality, the sudden nakedness of all those people just threw me off. But there was nothing sensual about it; it was more about female camaraderie. It was nice. I began to relax once I saw how comfortable the other women were with one another. There were even mothers with their younger daughters at the spa together. It really is a place for girlfriends and family members to hang out, talk, and relax. Anyway, the spa was amazing, especially after a rough week of Tae Kwon Do. They had a bunch of different pools (skin treatment, deep-water bath) with different jets, and different temperatures (from 15 degrees Celsius up to 41 degrees Celsius). My favourite area of the bathhouse was definitely the saunas, particularly the Salt Room. It was burning hot in the sauna, but I loved it and I loved the smell of the burning wood and..salt? (I suppose).
Co-ed Main hall:
After the women’s section, we headed to the main hall to meet up with the boys. Everyone in the main hall wore the same outfit given to us by the spa; vintage-washed green v-neck skirt and matching shorts. People were lying, kneeling, and rolling around on the heated floors; the stand was selling drinks and ice cream and eggs, which people were using to give each other egg-masks. It was kind of unreal and I imagined myself entering a cult meeting for some time.
Interesting Rooms:
Surrounding the main hall, there are about a dozen different rooms you can go into to hang or even nap in (if it’s not too hot…or cold). For example, there was a cold room that I think was 3 degrees Celsius. There was no way in hell I was going to stay in that room, it was already freezing outside, and I was not about to waste my time in a spa re-living the chill. I opted for the pine firewood room. The entrance looked like an oven, honestly and as soon as I walked in I did not expect to see what I did. The whole thing was like a small hut made out of stone, the floor was lined with burlap, it was hot, and people were sitting on their bums sweating and fairly quiet. I felt like I was hiding out in some cave or something. It was weird at first, but I started to really like it. There were similar type-rooms in different temperatures.
A Couples’ Hide-Away:
There was a load of couples hanging out in the main hall together. They’d put on each other’s facial masks to beautify one another and then lie down and stare at each other’s mummy-wrapped faces. T’was interesting. Also, I can’t read Korean so I don’t know if there were signs (I don’t think there were) or just a public agreement that some of those rooms were designated couple-rooms. I’d walk into one room and just see couples lying down beside one another. There was this one very interesting Egyptian themed room that had blankets on a sandbox type thing that was filled with salt, I think. I’m sure people could sleep on those blankets, but it was the sarcophaguses that really interested those sleepy couples. They were basically little openings in the wall that were lined up and conveniently large enough for one, or two laying close enough to one another to be one.
The spa was such an interesting experience; I don’t think we have anything like it in Canada, at least not near where I’m from. I had a great time with my friends and I slept like a baby after coming back that night. I would definitely do it again, and maybe next time I’ll get my “hips washed”. Just kidding. I have no idea what that meant, but they offer it at Dragonhill!
So, I didn't take any pictures (obviously), so I stole these pictures off the internet. All of them are from either the main hall, or the specific rooms by the main hall.
One of the firewood huts on the inside.
*Ding* Your oven-baked Koreans are ready.
Sleeping, hanging out on the floor
Hanging out in the main hall.
The cold room. BRRR, Crazy people.
I think this is the crystal room
http://www.dragonhillspa.co.kr/hill/main01.htm
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