Jimjilbang: A Real Bathing Experience

I have never experienced anything like a jimjilbang before, but my Indian girlfriend has spoken about these Korean bath spas a few times. She's in love with them because of similar spas in India that go through the same steps to cleanse, scrub, and purify your skin.

She even demonstrated a few modified steps within her women's locker room which included:

Pool. Sauna. Shower. Cleanse. Scrub. And, I mean scrub hard. Condition hair. Apply face masks. Sit in eucalyptus steam room. Then shower again.

A few products I used in the shower included:

The Body Shop's Cocoa Butter Body Scrub, $18

Moroccan Intense Hydrating Hair Mask, $33

Oil of Olay's Silk Whimsy Cleansing Body Wash for $6 to keep my skin and hair soft and moisturized.

They offer the body wash in a massaging soap bar for $6 that I use occasionally too. The bumps in the soap really do feel like a wooden massage tool.

I also swear by Vaseline Cocoa Butter Vitalizing Gel Body Oil for $6 when I get out of the shower too. Me and one of my girls even use it as tan oil at the pool. Heh heh!

It was by far one the most refreshing treats, I have ever given myself in a locker room! Thanks partly to my girlfriend for scrubbing the dear life out of my entire backside with her scrub glove.

A 찜진방 jimjilbang is even better because it offers bathing areas, saunas, and common areas for snacking, watching tv, and napping. Most of them are open 24 hours and allow you to spend the night on a cot in a open area.

How exactly does this type of bath spa work?

First: you pay an entrance fee at the front desk. Then you receive a key fob on a bracelet and clothes to wear in the common area. You walk over to your designated gender bathing area. Put your own shoes and clothing in your locker. Pull out your shower caddy filled with goodies from your bag. This may include: shampoo and conditioner, a razor, toothbrush, a loofah, scrub cloth, body scrub, face mask,  and anything else you would like to use in the shower.

Second: you get naked! And grab a wash cloth too.

At first I was taken aback by the idea of a bath spa filled with naked women. If the thought makes you feel a bit uncomfortable.

I, for one, tried to imagine myself in this spa environment and could not picture it...like at all. Which is odd considering that I go to nude beaches in Martha's Vineyard...a place where old white men follow you to the ocean water and wait for you to come out, so they can have a friendly conversation with you.

So, being naked around women should not be a big deal. Yet it is! Maybe, because it's a confined space? And not open, like a beach. I always felt like laying on your towel nude was a private time on a  nude beach, and only when you got up to venture out to the ocean. You became fair game to be stared at by old men and fellow beachgoers.

I can only imagine at these spas. There is no 'down time' in which you can take a break from being stared at by others. Even if it is not intentional.

I am infamous for staring off in space at people.

Third: you take a shower because it is custom to take a shower before you get into any of the baths. As Americans, we already know this. However, not every country does this or believes it's necessary.

I have met some smelly foreigners too. I ain't saying where they are from either. Hmm!

Fourth: after you finish your shower, you choose a bath tub to soak in. There are several baths of various temperatures. They're either all in one huge room or various rooms.

*The idea is to go from a hot tub to a cold tub to increase the circulation in your body.

In the bathing area, you can use your scrubbing products or the ones the spa provides for you. For an extra fee, a spa worker can scrub you down until there isn't dead skin left on you. They do not scrub your private parts either. *In case you were wondering. They also offer massages as well for another fee.


Fifth: when you are done scrubbing and soaking and your gender designated area. You can put on the clothing given at the front desk. Then explore one of the dry saunas that may offer various aromas as well.

Some jimjilbang even have restaurants, cafes, massage chairs, and nail salons available for extra fees that are accrued on your key fob.

Whether you spend the night is up to you. Since you would be sleeping in a open room full of strangers of the same sex. But if you go with a few friends, it could be a pretty fun experience if you keep to yourselves.

I will definitely visit a 찜진방 jimjilbang when I get there!