Jjimjilbang

The sign above is ubiquitous on almost every street in Korea, the almighty Jjimjilbang. A jjimjilbang is essentially a public bath house. If you're cool with stripping down to nothing in front of strangers (see: 30-50 naked Korean men) it's a fantastic place on so many levels.

Most importantly, it's a nice one or two hour place to relax. The drill code is this; you walk in and pay the receptionist approximately 5,000 won ($4.00 USD) and she will give you a key. You put your personals in a locker and receive a key to said locker. If you're planning on staying a while you will get a uniform, which is a set of loose fitting clothes to hang out in after the bath experience. There is no check out time, you can stay as long as you'd like. In fact, many people stay the night here because it's cheap and they also offer mats and pillows to sleep on, usually by a hearth that heats the hot pools, (there's been a few late nights where I've done this).

Once you've paid and you walk in (naked), you'll usually take a shower to clean up, which is similar to most western public pools. After that, you will find a number of different pools. Some of which are scalding hot, and other are very cold. They also have the traditional steam sauna to add to the mix. The best rotation, I've found, is to go from scalding hot to ice cold, and then to a steam room, and then back to cold. The rotation between hot and cold stimulates blood circulation, and actually provides a sense of euphoria (confirmed).

These places are open 24 hours and are everywhere. It's a great place to relax and hang out at or also really effective at battling a late night. The western conception of bath houses, at least in my own experience, are that they are gay or weird stuff goes on inside them. Not so in Korea, families come to these on the regular, even couples go on dates.

After you're done hanging out in the pools you put back on your uniform and head inside. A legit jjimjilbang will offer many other amenities, such as: fitness rooms, massage rooms, health and medicine spas, snack bar... hell, you can even grab a beer and watch some television after you're done relaxing. For the price and how great it is, it's money well spent.