Spa Land: Scarred for Life

Sunday was a pretty laid back day.  Everyone was recovering from their hard plays of Gaelic football.  I was feeling great since I didn't play.  However, being a spectator can be hard work.  Their league has "Sunday Sessions" after their tournaments.  The Irish love to socialize, so we went to The Wolfhound that sponsored their weekend. I was feeling a little under the weather, so I was glad to get on that train back to Busan and get some rest.

I slept in this morning and still felt a little off.  Katie was off to work until 3, so I had some time to figure out what I wanted to do with my day.  First thing was trying to find some medicine for this killer headache.  After making a few stops into some random convenience stores, I found some Tylenol.  I went to my favorite coffee shop and relaxed with my latte.  Sometimes it is nice traveling by yourself. You get to think and people watch a lot.  

Rainy season in Busan started the day I got here, so I decided that I was going to try out a Korean spa.  Everyone has talked about how it is the "thing to do" here, so I decided why not?!  I've never been to a spa before so I had no idea what to expect.  Katie told me that the best one is in Centum City in the biggest shopping mall in the world called Shinsegae Department Mall.  It literally is the biggest mall I've ever seen!  Very high class stores inside like Louis Vuitton, Coach, Michael Kors, Lacoste...that just begins a few of the stores.  So there was no shopping for me, just drooling.  

Shinsegae Department Mall.  Google it!

So I find my way to Spa Land.  I paid 13,000 ₩ (approx. $13) for a limit of 4 hours at the spa.  How cheap is that?  I should've taken a spa 101 course because I had no idea what the heck I was doing.  You get a wristband with a key on it that is like your magic key.  It gets you anything and anywhere.  I first had trouble getting my magic key to work in my shoe locker.  It is of Korean manner to take your shoes off at the door.  I found a group of three girls that spoke English that could help me out a little.  I asked why my magic key wouldn't come out, and they urged me to find the right account number locker that was given to me upon entrance...Ohhh, so that's what that number was for?  Who knew...

Shoe lockers...now do you understand my confusion?

I then walked into the ladies' locker room and observed the actions around me.  That was really hard for me as THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF NAKED KOREAN WOMEN WALKING AROUND!!! Wait...so you're telling me I'm supposed to strip down stark naked and walk around in front of strangers?  Can I get my money back? I've never been so glad to be a foreigner in my life.  I really had a lot of hesitations, but thought, oh what the heck... YOLO!

I never knew what surprise was behind these walls.

So, I left my pride at the door and walked out into the spa area.  I wasn't sure what to do so I just plopped myself into a hot bath.  Holy hot! They're about 39°C...clearly I'm not quick at math so don't realize how hot it is. I notice that everyone's hair is wet so I take down my ponytail.  Well, the maintenance lady immediately came over and let me know that was not okay.  "You...go wash hair! Shower!"  So she kindly led me to the showers and showed me the communal shampoo and soap.  Ohhh, so you don't want me to just wet my dirty hair in your purified hot bath? Okay, I'm catching on. 

So I showered and enjoyed about every bath that was in the place.  There were hot baths, warm baths, cold baths, and saunas.  These baths come from hot springs that lie 100 meters underground and are sterilized 36 times a day.  Baths were either sodium bicarbonate "beauty baths", or sodium chloride "seawater bath".  The beauty baths are said to remove dead skin cells and make your hair shiny and smooth.  The seawater baths are made for good blood circulation and aches and pains.  These have high concentrations of salt so you won't prune up when you soak for hours.

All of the spa baths without the women...haha!

Outdoor spa bath...so relaxing!

This was amazing and the most relaxing thing I've ever done.  I was getting a little bored, so I decided to ask the kind maintenance lady that told me to wash my dirty hair if there were any places for massage. She pointed me in the right direction and realized this is how they rack up all their money.  I paid 35,000 ₩ do get a full body rub down.  The sweet lady just added it to my locker number and I paid at the end.  

So she lays me on a plastic slab and goes to town.  Most amazingly awkward moment I've ever had in my life.  Pretty sure she scrubbed every crack, crevice, and wrinkle on my body.  She also put what I think was seaweed all over my face. Not really sure, I just let it all happen.  So basically I got a 45 minute rub down from a lady clad in black undergarments.  Feeling uncomfortable yet?  Imagine how I felt!  

So there was a whole 2nd level to this spa, but quite frankly, I was too nervous of what places to walk where...if you know what I mean.  There were restaurants and different types of saunas on the 2nd level.  It was a communal area, but you're given an outfit upon entrance to wear in these areas. Considering I lasted about 4 minutes in the ladies sauna, I didn't feel like I missed out too much.  

This place was just lovely despite the awkwardness that goes with it.  It was well worth the money and experience.  If I could do it every day, I probably would!  

Katie and I are having a chill evening with some take out and a movie.  Traveling is hard work.  Hope you got a good laugh out of my awkward experience today.