My friend and I had really planned to go to Busan particularly because of Spaland. Spaland is a Korean style bathhouse. There are the typical baths and there are saunas and other spa services. I had done a lot of research on Korean bath houses and decided that this would be an excellent place to start. SpaLand is a bit more expensive than normal bath houses and there is also a 4 hour limit for being there (many bath houses and saunas are open 24 hours and allow you to be there for as long as you want). When we got to the department store that the bath house is housed in, we had to search for just a moment before finding our way to the entrance of the bath house (it had a separate entrance from the department store). Once we found the entrance, we went to the reception desk and paid our entrance fee. After this, we were directed up an escalator and had to take off our shoes and put them in our assigned shoe locker. This first locker was only for our shoes. The key to that locker matches a bigger locker in the actual women's locker room. The key is also the method of payment when you are in the facilities. All purchases are kept track of on the key so you don't have to carry cash with you as there are services and goods that cost extra in the bath house. After putting all of our belongings into a locker, it was time to get ready for the baths. As bath houses are quite normal and embraced within Korea nudity in a bath house is completely normal. I was surprised at how easy this was for me! I felt right at home especially because it's not like I was the only person. After a quick shower, I tried out almost all of the different baths in the literal bath room. There were really warm baths as well as quite cool baths. My favorite baths were the outdoor baths that were surrounded by a privacy fence and roof. There were rocks all around and one of the baths also had a small waterfall! The water in these baths was also special. One bath had sodium bicarbonate and one had sodium chloride to make the experience even better. Additionally after soaking for a while I got myself a traditional Korean body scrub and face mask. This entailed one of the bath house employees using a coarse loofah-esque towel called an Italy towel to remove dead skin and dirt from my entire body. Online, people said that it was quite painful but I found it really pleasant and I would definitely do it again! My skin has never been so soft! After that amazing experience, I returned to the locker room and headed into the vanity area where there were sanitized brushes and combs available as well as hair dryers, skin care products, tissues, q-tips, and anything else I might have needed to finish my bathing routine. I then changed into my sauna clothes that were given to me when I entered the bath house and went to explore the different saunas. This particular bath house and sauna has a large number of saunas. I at least looked into every one but I only spent time in one that was mildly hot and one that was a bit cold. The others were way too hot! They even burned my feet when I went in as we were all barefoot at this point in time! I also spent quite a bit of time in the outdoor foot bath. There were areas to sit in the foot bath, different temperature foot baths and a textured area to walk on. It was quite pleasant and I could have stayed out there for quite some time! The bath house also has a relaxation room with reclining chairs and individual TVs as well as other spa services and massage chairs. There is also food! I did not get any food from the restaurant but from the one of the little cafe kiosks I got a pomegranate vinegar drink that was delicious and refreshing and I got the traditional korean bath house baked egg. These eggs are supposedly baked in the heat from the saunas and hot springs. They are very brown and have a unique color for the whites of the eggs. However, it tastes just like any other hard boiled egg. In addition to my sauna gear, I learned how to fold my towel into the traditional "sheep's head" hat. It was surprisingly easy and I felt super cute! At the end of my time at SpaLand, I felt super relaxed, soft, clean, and completely satisfied! I would definitely go again and I would encourage anyone who goes to Korea to go to a traditional bath house and sauna! It was so great and I could have spent such a long time there!
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AllisonThese are the chronicles of my time before, during, and after student teaching in South Korea! Archives
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