today i went to a 목욕탕 (bathhouse) for the first time... let me tell you, it's so good that i regret not going for the last five months that i've been here.
the place we went to is about a ten minute walk from my house. it's on the third floor of what seems to be a motel. you buy a little ticket at a desk and go up. as you walk in, there are nice wooden lockers for your shoes. you take a key from this locker and go inside a little further. there's a man at the counter who takes your ticket and your key. he puts the key into a little pigeon-hole and gives you another key on a bracelet which is for a full-sized locker.
at this point, you have to strip down to nothing.
i was with my friends stu and steve, and i thought it would be awkward to be naked around guys i don't know all that well. i think not being able to see clearly helped in that regard, as i wasn't wearing my glasses. it was defintely less intimidating than i had expected. perhaps the lack of other people was a factor. besides us three, there were only two other men there, and they worked there, cleaning up.
as you walk into the main area, there are number of stand-up showers to the right and left, and along the latter wall there are a few massage tables and heaps of sit-down showers.
you pretty much have to shower first, which is fine by me, as you hope everyone else there has too.
along the right wall are no less than three saunas, and at the end is cold pool and misty spray thingy. the pool has jets at one end, which are designed to allow you to swim against the current. it's not really strong enough to swim properly.
there are two large pools at the front which together create a semi-circle, with some fake bamboo lining the diameter. one pool was tiled with what seemed to be natural rock. it was about 40C and had a bubbling fountain in the middle which was quite nice in terms of the aural atmosphere. the pool to its right was about 42C which is really quite warm. it's nice to sit, but when you move around it gets almost unbearably hot.
there are two more square pools at the back of the room. one is about 38C which is really comfortable. the one next to it is a massage pool, also lined with natural stones, and is eronomically designed to fit three people lying down. there are at least four jets for each position - two for your feet and two for you back.
along that back wall are about four stone slabs for resting which are heated above by lamps and below by some other means. there is a stone 'pillow' for your head. i didn't try it out at though.
the sauna we tried was about 65C. it had a cool mist emanating from the ceiling, which was also natural stone. we could tolerate it only for a good 8 minutes.
we proceeded immediately to the cold pool which was amazingly refreshing, and gave us all a bit of a buzz. upon leaving the cold pool, our legs were like jelly, and it was quite hard to walk.
after about an hour moving from pool to pool, i had a sit-down shower. i made a note next time to bring some shampoo and a scrubber. those things, in addition to tootbrushes, razors, etc., are all available at the desk, but for a small fee.
we all agreed that a trip to the bathhouse should become a weekly ritual, perhaps best followed by a nice meal with alcohol. for W4000 (about CA$5) it a steal.