What to do in Korea if you are exhausted and need a rest

exhaustion

On our last day we had a chance to go to a Buddhist Temple in the mountains and there were still other things on my list that we had not done yet. However, it turns out that I was extremely exhausted. Steve finally woke me up at 9!  After eating some breakfast and drinking coffee I fell back to sleep until noon!  

We did laundry again using the washing machine in the room and then decided it was time to try out the Korean baths. Sung Soo had described them and they sounded interesting. They did not show up in any of the Tourist literature, so I had forgotten about it. I took a look online and found this article describing how  to use the bath. It was a very helpful article because it told you HOW to use the bath which is the most difficult problem.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/south-korea/seoul/travel-tips-and-articles/first-time-jjimjilbang-how-to-visit-a-korean-bathhouse

I then got online and looked up one that had good ratings that was walking distance or subway distance from our hotel.

We found one called Siloam. Here is what it was like for us. I did not take pictures.... it is just not appropriate, but I have borrowed a few from Lonely Planet to illustrate this post.









When we entered the building we paid and were each given a set of clothes (shorts and t-shirt) then we were pointed to the separate men's and women's entrances. We had learned from reading that the woman's and men's baths were separate, but then there were co-ed places to meet to do sauna and other types of entertainment. 

Korean baths have an assortment of different types and temperatures of water. First everyone takes a very thorough shower. It is so important that you are clean before going into the bath. Then you can try out the different bathing areas. After soaking for a while I decided to give a try out to find a massage and scrub. Over to the left there was an area with massage tables and when I went over there some women appeared and asked if I wanted services. I chose the Supreme service which turns out to be a total combination of a whole body scrub with rough gloves, a facial (including a cucumber mask) and then a full body massage with some oil and milk rub. It felt great! 

After showering off again I decided it was time to figure out how to find Steve. There was a door that was labeled "Fomentation Room", but I didn't see anything that looked like a way up to the next floors. After dressing and going out I was directed to go back in again and put on my shorts and t-shirt. It turns out that I did want to go to the Fomentation room!! The Bath had a bunch of different floors and on each floor was a different type of activity. One had relaxation mats and a TV and also a restaurant. The next one was the Fomentation Room and had different types of Saunas. There was one with large salt crystals on the floor, another with small pebbles. There was an ice room and one that was extremely hot. On the next floor there was entertainment. One small room had computer games. One had karaoke. There was one with a ping pong table. On the next floor was the sleeping rooms. You really could stay there all day and overnight!  It is not surprising for someone to sleep there!  

We were ready for a great sleep, but we did not want to do it there, so we headed back to our hotel room and repacked before sleeping and then heading for Japan.

On the way out of the room I took this picture and include it as a mystery picture. Usually hotel rooms have unique ways of storing things and you can figure out what they are for, but I was not sure what this was. It looks like it may have a magazine rack below the toilet paper roll, but what is the small plastic thing above the toilet paper roll? Any suggestions?