The Greenland Spa

Having been sick lately, I decided it was time to head to the Korean spa for some healing.

If you’re not a fan of kimchi, Korea would still be a worthwhile experience just for the spas alone. They’re probably the best thing about being here, not counting the barbecues.

We went to Greenland spa, which turned out to be kind of a fancy shwanky place by my standards. It was the largest spa I’d ever seen.

It’s located about 45 minutes southeast of Seoul in the mountain valley. The air is fresh. Thick mountains of spruce trees surround the pools.

And it would even be silent, if not for the “circus side show” going on in the eating room. It featured dancers, karaoke singers and jugglers.


Like many Korean spas, there is the choice of bathing in the separated “men’s only” and “women’s only” sections. Clothes are not worn in these sections. I didn’t take any pics.
There is also the option to bring your bathing suit and use the general spa. This is where the families and couples tend to go.

The Massage Pools

the indoor massage pools

The Outdoor Pools

It had the feel of a resort. But being there on a weekday, the pool was empty and we had the place practically to ourselves.

The water caves have TV screens inside.

And spa chicks too

The Hot Tubs

There was a huge variety of therapeutic baths – and I jumped in every one of them.

The Aloe Bath

The Lemon Bath

The Mint Bath

The Chocolate Bath

The Herbal Medicine Bath

The Jung Jong Liquor Bath

Jung Jong is a special liquor that Korean don’t drink regularly and you really don’t see it in the stores or the bars. They break it out for rare occasions like holidays and family get togethers.

The Wine Bath

Not pictured were two of my favorite baths. One was the “Rose Bath”. And the other was a bath of “Mae Shil”, which I think is called Japanese Apricot. It’s best known in Korea as the fruit used to make “Mae Hwa Su” – a sweet tasty wine that they drink with dinner.

Rubber Helmet Required

Doctor Fish

A special feature of this spa was the Doctor Fish Pool.

You pay a little extra and for half an hour you can let thousands of small fish chew on your flesh.

The idea is that they chew off the dead skin. It’s supposed to be great for your skin. And with Asians, you can’t argue with them on these matters. Their skin is the softest and smoothest you’ll see.

It wasn’t relaxing. In fact, the whole half hour was aggravating. The bites don’t exactly hurt but they drive you mad.

I dipped my legs in from about the knees down and let them chew on my feet. But that seemed like plenty enough for them.

The funny thing was that there were other people in the pool but the minute I put my feet in, all the fish went for me, especially the big ones. It was like they’d never tasted anything so good. I was getting all the attention. I must’ve had some pretty sick feet.

There were two insane people lying flat in the water. Next time, I’m going for it.

The fish are tiny but vicious. I spent the half hour watching them eat one another in the pool and fighting for the best of my flesh.

JIM JIL BANG

The main floor of the spa was a Jim Jim Bang – sauna.

Jim Jil Bangs are small, elaborate, one-room cedar or stone houses set up side by side with varying temperatures. The walls and ceilings of the interior are lined with jade and other precious stones to form hypnotic patterns for you to stare as you lie there.

This Jim Jil Bang had four rooms. One at 74 degrees, one at 85, then the “oven” – at 95 degrees, which I tried but couldn’t get inside. The house and the door actually looked like a traditional Korean oven.

The other was the “snow house” at 6 degrees. It had snow all around the walls and ceilings and was essentially like being inside an icebox.

Koreans generally go back and forth from the hot house to the snow house. We did that about 4 times.

Jim Jil Bangs are most popular with Korean women. They believe that the heating and cooling of the skin over and over will remove wrinkles and slow the aging process.

There’s obviously more to it than that, like dealing with menopause and stuff that I wouldn’t understand.

Men like the saunas too. But it’s not as important to them as it is for the women - Something about the male genitalia not needing any excessive heat. Again, more stuff over my head.

The Therapeutic Stream Walk

After the sauna, you can go outside and walk through a stream that meanders through a garden. The water is cool and about a foot deep.

The floor of the stream is concrete with rough and smooth edged stones sticking out from the bottom in various patterns. The idea is to step on them. If you are truly healthy, your feet will feel no pain on the stones.

I limped and stumbled through it. My feet had suffered enough for one day.