Korean Bath Houses

One of my co-workers swears by the jjimjilbang. They're all over the place, and after a month and a half of living here I finally ventured into one. There also happens to be one next door to my school. Forget happy hour, I'll take the bath house.

Jjimjilbangs are segregated by gender and they're popular with just about everyone. Entire families will go and spend whole Saturdays there. If you have questions about bathing etiquette, any Korean woman will gladly explain the correct shower/salt scrub/sauna/shower/warm pool/hot pool/cold pool process, make conversation, and offer to scrub your back. Never mind that no one's wearing a stitch of clothing, even though women dress up to their ears on the street.

For less than $5 you have access to all of the pools, showers, and saunas. An additional $6 buys a salt scrub and massage. If you get tired of the bath you can pick up an outfit (something like pajamas) and go into the common area - accessible by both the men's and women's sides of the jjimjilbang - where there are complete DVD bongs, PC bongs, restaurants, and sleeping rooms. Lots of them are open 24 hours and people traveling on the cheap will stay there in lieu of a hotel or hostel.