William and I experienced a new aspect of Korean culture recently, a spa weekend. On our bike rides to the nearby mountains, William found a spa resort and after searching online I found out that spa towns have sprouted up all over Korea because of the existence of natural hot springs, so we decided to spend a weekend in the spa town of Asan, about a 1/2 hour south of Pyeongtaek.
According to one website, "hot spring water in Korea contains particularly generous amounts of minerals. Although it depends on the spring and the region, they usually include chrome, iron, yoderite, zinc, kalium (potassium), magnesium, calcium, natrium (sodium), manganese, radon, and others, each of which have beneficial effects for the body." I also found some dubious claims, such as the spas being "extremely effective in treating obesity."
Though I highly doubt the obesity claim, I thought it was pretty cool that the area we went to is believed to be where Korea's first hot springs were discovered about 1,300 years ago. It was even famous with royalty. Supposedly, there are records that show the area attracted those who hoped to benefit from the waters, including Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) royalty. But, the kings definitely had a much different experience than we did.
It seems there's a lot of false advertising related to these hot springs. Pictures tend to show people lounging in the springs in a natural outdoor setting. I'm sure it was probably like that in the time of the kings, but not anymore.
The spa we went to consisted of a big room with multiple irregularly shaped pools on the base floor of our hotel.
(photo: hotel lobby) The pools had varying water temperatures, including an herbal pool that was a dark greenish color and smelled almost like green tea. There were also a lot of shower fixtures along the walls and near another smaller pool. All the water is fed into the room from the natural hot springs but the surroundings themselves are anything but natural. There was a very small outdoor hot pool, but it lacked water during our visit.
Men and women are separated, so after paying the modest fee William and I parted ways for about an hour. We were each given a key for a locker to put all our belongings in, including clothes. It's the cultural norm to be in the nude while in the hot springs, which is why there are no pictures of the spa itself and why men and women are separated. This was awkward at first but no one else seemed to notice. Most Koreans have probably been going to these hot springs their entire lives. They start young because there were some very little kids, both boys and girls, on the women's side. I guess we picked a busy time of day because it was really crowded.
Even though the setting wasn't quite what we expected, relaxing in the hot pools was still nice. I started in what was labeled the "hot pool" at 58 C (136 F), and went next to the "warm" herbal pool. They were labeled wrong. The herbal pool was probably the one closer to 136 F, which I discovered when I entered too quickly. I don't know the cold pool temp but it was a shock after the hot pools. There was also a closed off sauna. The air was so hot that it was hard to breathe. If it's really possible to sweat out the toxins, it occurred in that sauna!
When William and I met back up in the lobby, I felt relaxed and refreshed. It was a nice way to spend an hour. However, we asked at the front desk where we could find a hot spring like those shown in the pictures. We were told the picture we asked about was nearby, but that "
it won't look like that." I wonder if there are any left in the country that haven't been taken over by hotels.
One final thing: these photos are of our hotel room. In an emergency guests get to practice their rappelling skills! Neither William nor I had ever seen this before in any hotel, and thought the idea was a little scary, especially from our ninth floor room, because the emergency hook wasn't very strong.
