Jimjilbang

After our adventure up the mountain, we traveled to our pension which was...to say the least...fabulous.

It was beautiful. There were outdoor grills where we were able to BBQ and picnic tables for us to sit and eat. We played game after game after game. I learned many new entertaining games - ones that I will be bringing back to the states to share with my friends. So look out! :)
The night ended with a quick dip in the river. Oh yes, you read correctly, we went swimming in the middle of November. I'm a polar bear.





Fast forward to the next morning...
Korea has these things called Jimjilbang. They are bath houses where you pay a nominal amount and get to run around nekkid and enjoy various temperatures of water. We went to the Osaek hot springs which is a particularly large Jimjilbang complete with spring water baths, hot pools, and saunas. All of the "pools" were natural spring water - there was even a few pools with a high level of different minerals like an iron pool. 
It was nice to see naked females in a nonsexual sense. In the states, we normally only see naked people when they are in the process of getting some, gotten some, or wanting some - nakedness is associated with sex. In the jimjilbang - nakedness if just that, naked. No more and no less. 
I have to admit, I thought it would be a little strange walking around nekkid in a large room filled with different hot tubs, surrounded by other nekkid women but...it really wasn't. I had a great time and enjoyed the experience. I mean, c'mon, I got to walk around nekkid and soak in hot tubs for several hours - who wouldn't love that?