Spa Land...Busan

 

 

 Only in Korea, can you just whisper one word- jjimjilbang- and everyone is instantly excited to spend the afternoon naked together...
Korea is known for these places, and in my opinion there is not a nicer one than Spa Land in Busan. This was my second time going to this place, and I think I managed to relax even more than the first time! I had the routine down...
Here is the process....

1.  Go into Spa Land and pay for your time there. After paying 15,000 won you can be there for 4 hours. They also give you a receipt ticket with a number on it. 
2.  Take your shoes off and enter the first area. This is where you leave you shoes. Find the locker with the number that is on your ticket; leave you shoes and take the "key". This is an odd looking key but you can wear it like a bracelet, and if you purchase anything you just scan the key. This is so you can truly be naked and care-free...
3. Next as you keep walking you are given your sauna communal area clothes and 2 towels at the counter.  The communal clothes are baggy thick clothes that everyone wears. At Spa Land, the men's colors are grey and brown and the women get maroon and grey. They are extremely sexy....not really. But in a place like Spa Land, it just doesn't matter!
4. Veer to the right (if you are a women). You have entered the locker rooms. This room is equipped with tons of lockers, mirrors, hair dryers, beauty products, and tons of naked Koreans.
5. Before going into any pools or saunas you MUST shower. So, strip down leaving all of your stuff in your locker. Sometimes you wouldn't even take a towel. These tend to get pretty wet! (I would keep at least one of your towels to dry off later)
6. After your scrub down shower you have options:

• Enjoy one of the many different temperatured pool, equipped with jets and some are even outside...
•  Scrub yourself raw while sitting down in front of a mirror (very popular with the older Korean generation).
• You can pay extra money (scan your bracelet) to get brutally scrubbed by an older Korean women who doesn't want you to leave that place with ANY dead skin on your body.

OR

• Put on your communal area clothes and enjoy the different themed and air temperature saunas, or the outdoor foot bath.

After you have enjoyed all of these things, you can go to the food area, scan your bracelet and get some blueberry vinegar infusion, or some hard boiled eggs.... There is a small menu!

I would suggest also going up a floor and checking out the other areas. There is an area for groups of two to watch TV. There is an area full of massage chairs that are actually quite incredible. And there are placed you can get further beauty and spa treatment
I'm not a huge- sit in a hot space for a long time- kinda gal, so when I am here I relax in a few of the cooler rooms and on some of the chairs they have. This time we hadn't eaten before going, so eventually I bought boiled eggs..weird

When you are nearing your 4 hour mark, I suggest taking a final shower and using the ammenities that they have there for you... shampoo, hair dryers, combs (yuck), lotion, and some other strange liquids I don't know.

When your 4 hours are over. Change back into your normal clothes. As you leave you will go to another counter where you can scan your bracelet and pay off the balance if you spent any extra money inside the spa. It's a great system!
Grab your shoes and return the key! The end!

We always have a great time and enjoy the relaxation that it brings!

Emily in the "Bamboo Room" sauna

The foot bath that is located outside...

Interior view of some loungers...