Travel at Seoul? A night at Jjimjilbang(Sauna house) - Kookil Jjimjilbang
: Very special place in Korea, Jjimjilbang had been a place for bathing and resting for health... Since a day, it has been a very cheap and good place for sleep.
To foreigners, this would be strange. How can many people sleep on a floor together... Of course the public bath is also a strange thing.
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Taking the expense into account |
Please remember that it's not good for a sound sleep. Just I recommend to visit once to see this unique culture, even though I've never met a foreigner here before....
There are times when I lost time to take a bus or subway train and nowhere to go. Taxi is to expensive. What I have to do is just to wait for the next train or bus tomorrow.... And I need just a place to study....
Why did I choose to sleep here? I can take a public transportation such as a bus or a subway train if I can wait until 5 or 6 am. Therefore I usually spend time at PC bang(Internet Cafe). But it was 1,800 won an hour, which is very expensive price comparing with 1,200 won in Busan. And also I wanted to take a shower and lie down for resting. If I spend 5 hours at PC bang I had to pay at least 7,500 won(5 hours previous pay). But Jjimjilbang costs 10,000 won. If I were 5 or 10 years younger, I would stay at PC bang..but... I was so tired and nothing to do there....
Jjimjilbang is a very good alternative lodging place to Motel or Hotel for which I have to pay about 50,000 won to 100,000 won. Of course there is another alternative, the guesthouse, which is comparatively cheap. But Around the Jongro and downtown, it's far from by walk. But the 6 or 8 people dormitory style guesthouse is about 20,000 to 30,000 won per person.
location
It saying, '24 hour Bulgama Sauna for man and woman
It is located at a convenient place.
Entrace
10,000 won(about 10 dollars) for use. There are several posts on unkind host or managers there on the Internet but they were all kind to me.
Good points: Cheap price
There is a cube or box style 1 man space, which is very good for sleeping.
Sockets for recharging almost everywhere. With multitap you can do many things.
There is a cafeteria or a small restaurant for drinking or eating.
Bad points: Narrow. When there are many guests, it's hard to find a place to lie down.
It seems less hygenic, that doesn't mean it's dirty or so bad... I meant comparatively....
It smell bad at a corner.
Facility seems to be old.
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Very unified appearance of city |
You would notice that the cities in Korea are all alike if you travel in Korea. Please see the following picture. Can you tell where it is? Even I say it's in front of Busan National University, people would believe it.
How does Korea become like this? Very similar buildings every downtown... the neon sign styles... If you want to experience a city life, you can choose any city in Korea. They are all alike... I couldn't feel any uniqueness for each city in Korea.... That's so unfortunate. The format, style... are very similar... Damn.. I hate this unification...
An typical downtown street...
