I went for a naked sauna and body scrub.

There, I said it.

Can’t take it back now.

Wouldn’t want to. It was AMAZING.

One of the items still on my to do list from last year was to visit a Jjimjilbang. For those not in the know, this is a traditional Korean sauna containing heated rooms to sweat in, darkened rooms to relax and sleep in, a nice refreshments area, and a naked bathing and body scrub area.

In between my hiking stints (fitting in perfectly just after section 1 and before section 8), there happened to be one day where the heavens decided to open, and I decided I didn’t want to hike a national park in the wet and mud. What to do instead? Go and relax, that’s what.

I researched well and picked my sauna carefully. I wanted one that was single sex only, clean, accepted foreigners without fuss, and wouldn’t mind a couple of tattoos. On those last two points, some places will get fussy.

My chosen place was Spa Lei (nearest metro is Sinsa); they have an English version website, the reviews were sound, the price a little higher than your average jjimjilbang (₩19,000 entry) but I felt it was fully worth it and recommend it if you are looking for the same experience.

I read everything I could about visiting saunas in general as well as this one in particular, given that this is a Korean-only speaking establishment. Foreigners are totally welcome, but all instructions written and spoken are in Korean.

Getting in wasn’t an issue; I was ready to remove my shoes at the door, place them in a locker, hand my key and fee to the lady at the desk, and be given a clothing locker key and towels in exchange.

So far so good.

Finding which floor I was then supposed to go to, not so easy. The sauna is spread out over 3 levels and luckily, after I stood looking a smidge bemused after my 3^rd ride in the lift, another English-speaking foreigner pointed me in the right direction for the locker room (heads up – there is no changing room, you just undress right there at your locker).

‎Just to prepare you – on the bathing level where the lockers, bathing pools, and scrubbing ladies are – everyone is naked. No-one is shy and retreating. It’s just all very normal. And because of that, getting naked and walking around naked with a bunch of other women really does feel totally normal and OK to do.

You are provided with a bathrobe and two small towels; you can wear these around everywhere that isn’t the bathing area, and you must briefly shower before entering the bathing pools.

I spent time sitting in the main bubbling hot pools, checking out the procedure for going and booking a body scrub. When I got too hot, I got out and went to get a rice water from the refreshment stall and sat in the TV room on the floor and hung out. I curse myself for completely forgetting about getting a baked egg while here.

What did surprise me in the sauna was that people were carrying their mobile phones everywhere. Obviously not in the water and bath area, but everywhere else phones were fully acceptable.

Back to the baths I head, I try a different pool (they have a cool salty sea pool for swimming in), before building the courage to go up and wave and mime at the ajumma in the body scrub room to book in.   ₩‎40,000 for a full body scrub. I’ll take it. Simply for the experience alone it was worth it.

The scene. Ajumma. In bikini type outfit. Soft plastic covered table (think the consistency and feel of those gel-like wrist rest things you get for your computer). Add naked person to be scrubbed. Then throw in soap and water. Result – comic slip and slide while manic ajumma scrubs you all over with brillo-like hand pads, insisting at numerous points you flip over into different contorting positions so she can scrub you literally all over. End with a bucket of water thrown over you along with some oil type substance. Attempt not to fall from the table as you are slapped done and ordered away.

If I lived here in Seoul, coming to this spa would be my monthly treat to myself to put me in a good mood.

Feeling clean and refreshed and in a hilarious mood, now I’m ready for food.

In additional to the small snack bar in the TV room, there is also a restaurant on site. I had already slowly crept past the entrance several times during my visit and couldn’t work out if they were open. No-one seemed to be inside, but the sign outside didn’t indicate it was closed (or in fact any opening hours either).

Going for yet another sneak peak, this time I spotted a group of girls eating at a table and an older lady (halmoni) wiping down a table who obviously worked there. Hovering in the doorway, I get given quite a hard side glace by the halmoni who doesn’t seem impressed by my foreignness (I’m guessing) and reluctantly gives a quick flick of her wrist to indicate I should enter.

As with any food endeavour, I am already prepped and ready to go with my order, having already scanned the menu on the wall. I have chosen yet another classic that I somehow managed to miss during my last Korean sojourn – bibimbap. Specifically today, barley bibimbap.

The halmoni points at the wall and before having to make an effort to attempt to explain anything to me, I politely roll out my order in Korean resulting in a freeze and little gasp from her.

Oh, how I’ve missed this reaction.

Suddenly she is very happy to see me. She waves me over to the back of the restaurant for me to pay and I hear her call out to the cook in the back telling her that I speak, and have ordered in, Korean. She smiles and compliments me as I pay, and I head back to my seat to wait.

This meal is up there in my top ten things I have eaten in Korea (possibly top 5).

I wish I had taken a photo before I mixed it all together, for it came all properly divided out into sections of each ingredient as it traditionally does. However, the halmoni being very keen to help me, had enthusiastically shown me how to add the right amount of gochujang sauce into my bowl and to mix, and I didn’t want to disappoint her by not following her instructions on the spot.

No matter. This one is definitely going on the list of meals to learn to make (I’m always happy to expand my repitoire).

I complete my afternoon at the spa with a 15 minute visit to an electronic full body massage chair (interesting, glad I tried, don’t need to do it again), a stint in the outside hot pool with the rain gently coming down overhead (very serene and felt like I needed a kdrama soundtrack in the background), and took a little break in another communal room for laying down and watching TV (no little cubby hole as per my dramas, but there was a square pillow to put my head on).

There you have it, my jjimjilbang experience.

But there was other stuff too. Of course there was.

My other extracurricular activities included visiting an EXO fan café, a trip to the Post Office, a wander up the Lotte World Tower, and a BBQ meal with some other EXO-Ls (they being EXO fans).

Again, sparing you the painstaking details of each, let’s do this….

Welcome to the Lotte World Tower.

This is the highest building in Korea at 555m. I first came to know of this building by watching 2 Days 1 Night, when the cast had to go to the top of the tower and spend the night sleeping on the platform outside. Between the two peaks at the top is a suspension bridge upon which you can walk, something I would have been 100% up for, but found it closed last trip round and this trip I didn’t want to spend $130 for the privilege. Mostly because in my head I keep hearing Sungee (one of the chaps I met last year through the hiking club walk I did) telling me that he didn’t understand why people pay for that, when you can climb one of the mountains in Seoul for free and the same view. That gave me pause for thought, and in the end, I agreed with him.   

I did however feel OK with parting with $30 to head on up and look out the windows from 478 meters 😊 And walk across the glass for as well (apparently in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the highest glass floor in a building).

I also took the opportunity while there to stroll around the lake nearby and discovered a little unexpectedly Lotte World. Kind of a small-scale Disney, I think. Good for adults and kids, but didn’t need a visit from me.

It was also at this time as I was wandering along the road I came across a phone booth and decided it was the perfect time to call my mum and say hello from South Korea. And admittedly probably took about 5 years off her life as she thought I was either calling from prison or I had died. I on the other hand was thrilled to be able to make an international call (albeit for 20 seconds) from a public phone in Korea.

My post office trip came courtesy of Bunny, who was very determined she’d like a piece of mail from South Korea. And being as I try to grant wishes where I can, off to the post office I went. And it is WONDERFUL!

I love the Korea Post Office. The staff were lovely and helpful, explained in English what I needed to do (I was also posting a box to a person in Busan), a chap held me assemble my box (tape, pens, and package stuffing were free to use), and the lady at the counter told me I had lovely clear writing in Hangeul (Korean written language). 

And the postage was ridiculously cheap!

5 stars for the postal service!

And finally…it’s time to start drawing things to a close on my trip here to South Korea (already? I hear you cry).

For after all the hiking, nude bathing, tower climbing and postal adventures; the time for all things EXO is near to hand.

I felt I couldn’t miss out on the quintessential part of the fan girling experience that is visiting a fan café (don’t get excited, it’s literally just a café somewhere that has put up some EXO pictures and made some fan merch and you have to buy a ridiculously priced drink to get it).

Here’s the one I went to…

More excitingly, I got to eat BBQ.

This I got to do with some EXO-Ls that I met from my chat room and then got to meet in real life after the concert.

The company was nice, the food was excellent. We even had a chap who cooked the meat for us! But it was a tad on the pricey side, but I guess that’s what happens when you have a personal BBQ chef and excellent meat to eat.

No regrets. Not one.

And with that said, it’s time to head to the main event. Brace yourselves.