Jjimjilbang! A Korean Spa!

2015-05-16 by ezekielkean

Jjimjilbang (찜질방) is a Korean version of spas and saunas. The direct translation would be Heating (Jjimjil) Room (Bang) and they don’t only have sauna related things! Modern variations can be considered mini resorts in a sense.

In fact, facilities in a Jjimjilbang include:

Snack bars
PC Bangs (These people seriously love gaming)
Noraebang
Sleeping rooms
Various rooms with different temperature settings such as “Ice rooms” and “Heated Salt Rooms”
Exercise rooms
TV rooms
Spas which have hot tubs, showers, massage tables and even the traditional kiln saunas!

The architecture of these saunas can be considered traditional, as the interior walls have been decorated by different types of woods, minerals, crystals, stones and metals. The result? A natural, cozy and healthy environment! It is said that these materials are sometimes used for Korean traditional medicines as well!

Here’s a look at some of the interior features!

For those with a sweet tooth, these spas serve a variety of snacks! Some would include:

Sikhye 식혜 (a sweet and cold rice drink)
Miyeokguk 미역국 (a traditional seaweed soup)
Patbingsu 팥빙수 (shaved ice desserts topped with fruits, syrup beans and condensed milk, OR Korean version of our Ice Kacang!)
Salmeun KyeRan 삶은계란 (hard boiled eggs, the mystery item hidden in those cute rolled up towel lamb hats. Koreans believe eggs to be a great way to replenish energy after sweating out all the toxins)