Chuseok vacation just finnished and I had a chance to visit the most famous beach in Busan; Heaundae Beach. The beach was just a bonus for my real purpose for going to Busan. My main purpose was to visit the biggest jimjilbang in Asia and possibly the world. The name of this jimjilbang is Spa Land. It has three floors with around fifteen or more jimjilbang rooms. Jimjilbangs are similar to saunas, with the exception that they are usually not nearly as hot. They are, from what I have experienced, low temperature saunas. According to my own research, which by the way has not been very thourough, low temperature saunas are better for detoxing compared to high temperature ones. According to this link, http://www.jacemedical.com/handouts/Low%20Temp%20Sauna.pdf, low tempurature saunas disolve the fats and bring out the natural oils from the body to the surface. High tempurature saunas bring more water to the skins surface. However, one has to stay in the low temperature jimjilbang for an extended period of time for it to be effective since the temperature is generally between 40-60 degrees. High temperature saunas can go over 100 degree which make prolonged periods of time within them not only difficult, but dangerous.
Staying in jimjilbangs over night is the cheapest way one can travel and experience Korea. During my time in Busan, I stayed at Heaundae Spa over night. For 10,000 Won (under 10$), I not only got to use the spa which had many different types of baths at different temperatures and sauna rooms, but also had access to the sleeping area upstairs. Some of the baths in the bath area were so hot that I could barely get a foot in at first without feeling like I was scalding myself. Eventually, I did manage to get all the way in but could only stay for less than a minute before running to the cold plunge pool. The cold pool was extremely cold as well, but so good when the body has been heated to extremes. There were also infrared lights that one could relax under, but I don't know much about what they do or how they work.
After I indulged in the bath area of the spa, I made my way upstairs to find a place to sleep on the floor. Technically, this is also part of the jimjilbang. You can get some blankets as well to keep you warm and a woodden pillow for head support. The room at Heaundae was huge and had so many people sleeping everywhere on the floor. I decided to see if there was space on the balcony, and to my suprise, there was. I had a perfcet view of an almost full moon and was enjoying just starring at it while I tried to fall asleep. I ended up laying there for what seemed like a few hours before I felt too cold. I decided to go inside and find a place on the floor. As I was romming the room for a potential spot, I notice that no one was using the message chair to sleep on (similar to lazy boys). Once I lied down, I got rid of that useless woodden pillow and tried to fall asleep. I notice that some people were giggling by that fact that I decided to sleep in the massage chair (or so I thought that was the case). I don't know if people usually slept in those chairs or not. However, I was not going to move unless someone asked my too. When I awoke in the moring, I notice that every other massage chair was occupied by Koreans. I did not have the best sleep, though it was not bad for sleeping in a lazy boy chair.
The next day I strolled the beach with my coffee and enjoy the morning sun. As the sun became hotter, I decided to make my way to Spa Land, which was a few subway stations away. Spa Land is located in the biggest department store in the world. I don't know what the difference between department store and mall is, though I'm pretty sure that the biggest mall in the world is in Edmonton Canada. In Spa Land, there is also a four hour limit which I stayed up until. After those four hours, I was ready to go home and have the best sleep of my life. I made my way to the subway which brought me to bus station. I got home safe and sound with an experience I will certainly do again.
Staying in jimjilbangs over night is the cheapest way one can travel and experience Korea. During my time in Busan, I stayed at Heaundae Spa over night. For 10,000 Won (under 10$), I not only got to use the spa which had many different types of baths at different temperatures and sauna rooms, but also had access to the sleeping area upstairs. Some of the baths in the bath area were so hot that I could barely get a foot in at first without feeling like I was scalding myself. Eventually, I did manage to get all the way in but could only stay for less than a minute before running to the cold plunge pool. The cold pool was extremely cold as well, but so good when the body has been heated to extremes. There were also infrared lights that one could relax under, but I don't know much about what they do or how they work.
After I indulged in the bath area of the spa, I made my way upstairs to find a place to sleep on the floor. Technically, this is also part of the jimjilbang. You can get some blankets as well to keep you warm and a woodden pillow for head support. The room at Heaundae was huge and had so many people sleeping everywhere on the floor. I decided to see if there was space on the balcony, and to my suprise, there was. I had a perfcet view of an almost full moon and was enjoying just starring at it while I tried to fall asleep. I ended up laying there for what seemed like a few hours before I felt too cold. I decided to go inside and find a place on the floor. As I was romming the room for a potential spot, I notice that no one was using the message chair to sleep on (similar to lazy boys). Once I lied down, I got rid of that useless woodden pillow and tried to fall asleep. I notice that some people were giggling by that fact that I decided to sleep in the massage chair (or so I thought that was the case). I don't know if people usually slept in those chairs or not. However, I was not going to move unless someone asked my too. When I awoke in the moring, I notice that every other massage chair was occupied by Koreans. I did not have the best sleep, though it was not bad for sleeping in a lazy boy chair.
The next day I strolled the beach with my coffee and enjoy the morning sun. As the sun became hotter, I decided to make my way to Spa Land, which was a few subway stations away. Spa Land is located in the biggest department store in the world. I don't know what the difference between department store and mall is, though I'm pretty sure that the biggest mall in the world is in Edmonton Canada. In Spa Land, there is also a four hour limit which I stayed up until. After those four hours, I was ready to go home and have the best sleep of my life. I made my way to the subway which brought me to bus station. I got home safe and sound with an experience I will certainly do again.
