Rachel, my very thoughtful sister, gave us a South Korean travel guide for my birthday, and according to the guide, one of the top five "must see/dos" in this country is going stark naked with a group of complete strangers in the traditional, public baths. I swiftly added this activity to my "will not do" list, along with the eating of live octopi.
We did add a visit to Gangchon Elysian Resort to our list of things to do on our holiday break. The pastor at the church we have been attending told us we should visit this resort, just outside Chuncheon, to see the beautiful light displays and have a swim in the indoor/outdoor pool. So we embarked on a mini-train excursion.
A couple of online sites told us to disembark at Gangchon Station. We did. But the shuttle bus to the resort was not to be found outside the station. Instead, a kind tourist office employee told us we needed to go downstairs, by which we inferred she meant down the hill, to catch the shuttle at a GS store (a convenience store) twenty minutes later.
The snow was falling softly on the hills, there was not a high rise to be seen and Gangchon seemed like a sweet little town. This was beginning to feel like a little adventure. But at the bottom of the hill, there was no GS store. Nate thought he recalled the tourist officer saying we would need to walk 15 minutes.
We attempted to get directions from some construction workers and then from some young men who looked like they were in town for a party (Gangchon is a popular over-night destination for university students--in summer the roads are filled with more bikes and ATVs than cars). Then, we wandered through the town, past lot after lot of ATV and bicycle rentals covered in snow, until Nate spotted the GS. When I asked about the shuttle, the girl at the counter phoned someone. A little later, a woman teetered gingerly through the snow in high-heels to inform us there was another GS store further up the road and that we needed to go there.
By this time, it was snowing heavily, my feet had frozen in my boots, and we were frustrated with our inability to communicate effectively where we were trying to go, but we shuffled through the snow to the next GS store. We waited for a few minutes. Then I mustered up the nerve to ask the attendant if we were in the right place. Well, we were at the right GS store, but we were standing on the wrong side of it. Nate was being good-natured about all this--I was the one who planned this so far disaster. We realized that we'd probably missed the shuttle to the resort, so we attempted to hail a cab on the main road. Two minutes later, the shuttle passed the pick up spot and took off up the mountain leaving us in its snowy wake. Next a sander drove by and pelted us with some salt. No cabs passed by for a long time. The world looked a little dreary.
We did add a visit to Gangchon Elysian Resort to our list of things to do on our holiday break. The pastor at the church we have been attending told us we should visit this resort, just outside Chuncheon, to see the beautiful light displays and have a swim in the indoor/outdoor pool. So we embarked on a mini-train excursion.
A couple of online sites told us to disembark at Gangchon Station. We did. But the shuttle bus to the resort was not to be found outside the station. Instead, a kind tourist office employee told us we needed to go downstairs, by which we inferred she meant down the hill, to catch the shuttle at a GS store (a convenience store) twenty minutes later.
The snow was falling softly on the hills, there was not a high rise to be seen and Gangchon seemed like a sweet little town. This was beginning to feel like a little adventure. But at the bottom of the hill, there was no GS store. Nate thought he recalled the tourist officer saying we would need to walk 15 minutes.
We attempted to get directions from some construction workers and then from some young men who looked like they were in town for a party (Gangchon is a popular over-night destination for university students--in summer the roads are filled with more bikes and ATVs than cars). Then, we wandered through the town, past lot after lot of ATV and bicycle rentals covered in snow, until Nate spotted the GS. When I asked about the shuttle, the girl at the counter phoned someone. A little later, a woman teetered gingerly through the snow in high-heels to inform us there was another GS store further up the road and that we needed to go there.
By this time, it was snowing heavily, my feet had frozen in my boots, and we were frustrated with our inability to communicate effectively where we were trying to go, but we shuffled through the snow to the next GS store. We waited for a few minutes. Then I mustered up the nerve to ask the attendant if we were in the right place. Well, we were at the right GS store, but we were standing on the wrong side of it. Nate was being good-natured about all this--I was the one who planned this so far disaster. We realized that we'd probably missed the shuttle to the resort, so we attempted to hail a cab on the main road. Two minutes later, the shuttle passed the pick up spot and took off up the mountain leaving us in its snowy wake. Next a sander drove by and pelted us with some salt. No cabs passed by for a long time. The world looked a little dreary.
The view looking up from the road.
Across the street, some women were selling hot, steaming street food. Everything was a blur.
When I was on the verge of giving up and only wanted to get warm again, Nate saved the day by running after a cab that parked at a shop up the street from us. The cab driver delivered us to the resort--for an exorbitant little fee--but we were just happy to make it!
We went into the hotel-like building and fortunately, signs were in English. I'd read that there was a swimming pool and sauna, and we'd brought our bathing suits for this reason. We were both cold, so we headed there first. We paid the entrance fee and walked into the separate change rooms...and then, to my horror, I discovered there was no swimming pool. This was a traditional Korean bath house-style sauna. Everyone was walking around naked, and I was officially stuck.
I wandered around for a minute looking dazed until a kindly ajumma (middle-aged woman) grabbed my locker key and showed me to my locker. I pretended to read the aforementioned travel guide for fifteen minutes. After some mental deliberations, I gave in. The temperature of my toes tipped the scales in favour of going buck naked with complete strangers.
Basically, it works like this: you strip and head to the showers. Then you scrub off your entire body with soap. Then you go sit in the hot pools of water (there was also a cold pool). Then, most of the women take an incredibly rough cloth and rub their bodies very pink--extreme exfoliation? Next you can go sit in the sauna or relax in the pools. Apparently, at some bath houses, you can also be scrubbed, head to toe, by a bathhouse attendant. I would add this to my "will not do" list, but I'm afraid to add anything more to that list.
According to the travel guide, Nate and I have completed one of the "must have" experiences in Korea. And it really wasn't bad. It was nice to see Korean women taking a break because most of the time Korean women seem to be working exceptionally hard. I found the whole experience relaxing and regained the sensation in my toes, so it was, in fact, the perfect thing to do. Then we took a look around the resort.
We went into the hotel-like building and fortunately, signs were in English. I'd read that there was a swimming pool and sauna, and we'd brought our bathing suits for this reason. We were both cold, so we headed there first. We paid the entrance fee and walked into the separate change rooms...and then, to my horror, I discovered there was no swimming pool. This was a traditional Korean bath house-style sauna. Everyone was walking around naked, and I was officially stuck.
I wandered around for a minute looking dazed until a kindly ajumma (middle-aged woman) grabbed my locker key and showed me to my locker. I pretended to read the aforementioned travel guide for fifteen minutes. After some mental deliberations, I gave in. The temperature of my toes tipped the scales in favour of going buck naked with complete strangers.
Basically, it works like this: you strip and head to the showers. Then you scrub off your entire body with soap. Then you go sit in the hot pools of water (there was also a cold pool). Then, most of the women take an incredibly rough cloth and rub their bodies very pink--extreme exfoliation? Next you can go sit in the sauna or relax in the pools. Apparently, at some bath houses, you can also be scrubbed, head to toe, by a bathhouse attendant. I would add this to my "will not do" list, but I'm afraid to add anything more to that list.
According to the travel guide, Nate and I have completed one of the "must have" experiences in Korea. And it really wasn't bad. It was nice to see Korean women taking a break because most of the time Korean women seem to be working exceptionally hard. I found the whole experience relaxing and regained the sensation in my toes, so it was, in fact, the perfect thing to do. Then we took a look around the resort.
Ski slopes.
A view of the hotel at night.
In front of the hotel.
A gorgeous site. All the trees lining the entrance to the resort where covered in lights.
Next we had a fantastic dinner at the little hotel restaurant. Okay, it wasn't that fantastic but anything tastes great when you've been relaxing in a Korean bath house and then wandering under trees filled with lights!
Nate's burger had an egg in it and was smothered in a spicy Korean sauce. His fries came pre-squirted with ketchup:)
A very nice hotel manager helped us locate the shuttle point, and we managed to catch the shuttle back down the mountain. We discovered that the beginning of our journey was unnecessarily challenging when the shuttle dropped us at the train station at the base of the mountain. If we had not disembarked at Gangchon and instead stayed on the train for one more stop, we would have been delivered right to the resort.
On the train ride home, we split a Roger's chocolate my Mom sent us. Thanks Mom!
So the moral of the story is, if you're up the creek without a paddle, strip naked and take a dip with some strangers...it might just be relaxing.
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