Have you ever tried to go in a Korean Spa?
Korean spas is totally different from european spas. Yesterday, I had my second experience at the Siloam Spa 실로암불가마사우나 . This is my feedback :
First of all, korean spas are very famous, it’s a cultural thing that you have to do when you visit Korea. There are many spas in Korea and especially in Seoul. A lot of korean people love to go to the spa after their work on the weekend or in the evening. As they work a lot, they need to relax and evacuate their pressure from work.
First thing you have to know is :
Baths for women and for men are separated AND in the baths, everybody is naked. At the beginning I was scared to take off all my clothes : me and my friend didn’t feel comfortable with that. We didn’t have the choice because you have to be naked when you go to the baths and since every women are naked, and don’t look at you too much, you feel better and everything goes well. So, if you are scared or bashful, don’t worry, I was too, but it’s a good challenge for you, so let’s do it !
You will find many different baths at different temperatures, massage baths and saunas. You can also do a massage there.
Secondly, spas in Korea are very big and have many floors :
You can find the baths for women and for men at the B1 level (the separate area). Then, the 1st floor is also a separate area, because it’s the area where women and mens have to change their clothes.
The 2F, 3F, 4F and 5F are common areas. You can find all the typical things of a spa such as Sauna, Ice room but also hot rooms (Steam or salt fomentation rooms). BUT you can also do activities in the spa that you will never see in Europe such as :
- A restaurant in the Spa
- A free fitness room
- A PC Room
- A nail art room
- A cinema
- ...
As you can see, you can spend a lot of time in the Spa. Usually, what korean people like to do, is first they go in the baths and relax, then they have a dinner at the Spa Restaurant and finally they do activities all together and take a nap/sleep at the end.
I didn’t talk about the price but it’s cheap! For example you can stay 12 hours for just 15,000 wons (which is approximately $14 or 11,5€).
In a nutshell, I can say that it was a nice and memorable experience, you can relax and chill. I recommend it !!!
Looks like a great experience! Can understand being hesitant about nakedness, it's all about what we're used to in our own culture. I would feel weird about that as well. :)
Yeah it was weird for me too at the beginning, but it's their culture and it's better to follow the culture here. So we didn't have the choice, but stil it was a really really nice experience :3
I totally agree, when traveling it's so much more rewarding if we meet the culture open-minded and try to follow the local codes. It might be a bit strange sometimes, but it certainly add to the cultural travel experience! :)
Yes it will be always a better experience to follow the traditional codes of the country, I totally agree ! And in Asia it's even more different, so that's always more exciting :D
So true! I love Asia, so refreshing and different! Enjoy!