All You Need To Know To Enjoy A Korean Bath House 120%

Mokyoktang (목욕탕), or a Korean bathhouse, is a place where you can soak yourself in hot water and wash away all the tension, worries, and difficulties of your life.

Mokyoktang is a place loved by Koreans of all ages and is a big part of the Korean culture.

Especially on important days such as holidays or the end of the year, Koreans go to the bathhouse to shed the stress and rejuvenate.

We'll take you along the best Korean bathhouse routine from start to finish!

WHEN YOU ENTER

The average Korean public bath fee is 5,000 won to 7,000 won for adults and 3,000 to 5,000 won for children.

But there is a slight difference for men and women when entering. Paying at the front desk and getting the key to the closet and the shoe rack is the same, but there will be different colored clothes and towels for each gender.

Source: tvN

Women are given two towels from the front desk while men will not receive any. This is because the men's towels are stored in the locker room, where they can be taken freely.

So why are women's towels meted out while men's aren't? It's because the bath houses found that women use significantly more towels than men, so the amount of laundry produced is reduced with this method. 

Also, they found out that women were more likely to steal towels. So measuring out how many are given away reduced the amount of loss to the business. 

Maybe the moral is that men don't dry enough and women like towels too much.

BATH HOUSE SNACKS

A bathhouse visit without snacks is like peanut butter without jelly. Korean bathhouses always offer snacks for sale that you can eat while enjoying a dip. This is one of the keys to enjoying your time here.

Drinks are usually offered in resealable plastic cups so that you can take them anywhere. There might also be canned versions available. 

You can return the plastic cup after you're done or store it at the bathhouse if you're a regular. 

Baked Egg

A typical snack to have in the bathhouse is a baked egg to go along with your drink. It's a great combination to replenish your macro-nutrients after sweating a lot. 

You can usually get 2 or 3 eggs for 2,000 won. Sometimes they will come with salt that you can dip them in. It really is quite the treat!

Sikhye

This is a traditional Korean drink made using rice.

It has a really sweet taste and is made primarily by just letting the rice soak in water for a really long time. It goes unfathomably well with the baked eggs.

Some bathhouses will sell the sikhye in a can (the same that can be acquired in a convenience store). Others will make their own homemade version.

Either way, it's usually really cheap (about 1,000 won)!

Coffee

Most bathhouse coffee is not coffee brewed by a coffee pot or even using an espresso machine, which is extremely popular in Korea.

Most bathhouse coffee is actually made by combining a packet of coffee mix with sugar and a dash of hazelnut powder. It is far from a luxurious cup of coffee, but Koreans know this taste as well as they know the taste of their mother's kimchi. 

Source: Naver

Drinking a refreshing cup of iced coffee while you're soaking in the warm bath is a great combination that has no comparison.

You can usually get a cup for about 2,000 won.

Teas & Fruit Juices

In addition to the sikhye and coffee introduced earlier, Korean bathhouses sell various beverages to suit anyone's palate. They're all filled with ice cubes and are good to enjoy in the warm bath.

The green tea is steeped with tea bags, while the fruit juices like omija, pomegranate, and plum are mixed from a fruit solution.

Many Koreans will get not only one, but multiple drinks during their stay. So it's not uncommon to see people flip-flopping from one drink to another. 

Baksa (Bacchus + Cider)

Many women hanging out in the bathhouses began to experiment with combining random things together.

They were always looking for the golden ratio. This underground system of trying to discover the next great concoction became known as 여탕벅스 (Women's Bath Starbucks).

One of the most popular combinations that arose from this was baksa, a combination of the energy drink bacchus with any cider drink (like Sprite).

You can make it by filling a cup 2/3rds of the way with ice and then adding a can of cider and a bottle of bacchus.  

IN THE BATHS

General Korean Bathhouse Routine

Here are some tips that I can offer after frequenting bathhouses for 20 years, as well as getting some feedback from others who have gone to several.

It can be a little overwhelming to visit one your first time. So just follow this routine, and you'll look like you have been going there since you were born.

1. Wash your hair and body.

If you go into the bath without washing, you might get nagged by the others who are already there.

It's good manners to wash your body and head before entering the public bath. In many cases, there will be a notice on the wall.

2. Soak your body in the warm bath for 10-20 minutes.

There are baths of varying temperatures available for you to choose. Choose one that is warm, but not overwhelmingly so.

You want to loosen up and get the juices flowing, but you don't want to bake yourself like an egg right away. 

This is the prime time to prepare your mind and body for deep relaxation.

3. After getting out of the bath, head to the sauna and start sweating.

Bathhouses usually have sauna rooms where it might be just hot or it might also have steam. 

There will also be a timer with sand for you to measure how long to stay in the room. Staying for just 2 or 3 turns of the hourglass is enough.

If you stay too long, it can make you dizzy and possibly faint either inside the room or when you exit. 

This is your real chance to start sweating out all your problems. 

4. Wash the sweat away slightly, and then jump into the cold pool.

After the heated pool and the hot sauna, your body temperature will be raised for sure. So jumping into the cold pool will be a huge shock to your body, but it will also feel heavenly. 

If there aren't others there with you, you can play around in the pool and swim. But if there are other people in the pool (it is shared), then you should not make too much noise or disturbance.

5. Wash away the dirt and water.

You might have seen this towel before on TV, in a movie, or in a drama. They're ubiquitous to Korean bathhouses.

This type of towel is called an Italy towel. It's not famous in Italy or anything. It was just made in Italy originally.

Regardless, it is a little more rugged than a typical soft towel. It is perfect for rubbing off dirt and grime.

When you visit the bathhouse, be sure to get the Italy towel. They're usually not hard to find and you can also buy one for your house.

It can be hard to adjust to the coarse texture at first, but once you realize how beneficial it is to scrub off dead skin and really clean the top layer of your body, you'll be addicted to it. 

Source: Jeolla Ilbo

6. Finish

After scrubbing, it's a great idea to clean off with some soap and water. That way, your skin is completely refreshed and clean.

There are also usually some face washing products, or you can bring your own.

There are usually complimentary toothbrushes and toothpaste so that you're completely clean from head to toe and everywhere in between. 

Exfoliation Service

If you want a taste of the true Korea, it would be a great idea to get the exfoliation service at the bathhouse.

Almost all bathhouses will offer this. It typically combines a deep scrubbing, courtesy of a woman who seems to take pleasure in painfully scrubbing off an entire layer of skin, and a massage with acupressure. 

Prices vary by neighborhood and by the type of bathhouse (there are upper-end and lower-end varieties). But typically a men's service would cost around 15,000-20,000 won and the women's service would be about 5,000 won more expensive.

The women's service costs more because they take longer and have to be more careful. They can pretty much just abuse the men for a short time.  

In addition, there are various scrubbing services available, such as back scrubbing, whole body scrubbing (10,000 to 20,000 won), oil massage, aroma massage (40,000 to 50,000 won), etc. So you can get a wide variety of treatments!

Please note that the most common way to take advantage of anything is to tell the woman who will be serving you in advance and always pay in cash. 

Source: Hankyoreh

The Moon Bath and Bath Basket

One of the most interesting things about bathhouse culture is the amount of women you will see there who come every day to hang out with their friends. 

These ladies purchase a monthly pass and use the bathhouse everyday as a sort of clubhouse where they gather and gossip. Using the facility every day for a month is called a Moon Bath. 

Their husband goes to work, their kids go to school, and they're loaded with free time. So might as well hang out in the bathhouse with your neighbors, right?

That's why you can see baskets full of bathing and cleansing products piled up in the bathhouse. It's easier for them to keep all their products at the bathhouse than toting them round trip each day. 

Women Rubbing Food On Their Body

Source: tvN

This is definitely one of the more unique sights to behold.

Women will often bring food items, such as milk, sliced cucumbers, or raw eggs to the bathhouse with them. They will rub those products into their skin. 

I, personally, don't do this. But if you're adventurous, you can ask the ladies for some pointers. 

Source: Naver Webtoon

It is also considered a nuisance to apply these smelly foods in a hot bath. Maybe that's why there are many places that ban these activities these days.

But don't get too surprised if you see people doing it there!

WHEN YOU LEAVE

Source: Naver Webtoon

When you are all washed up and ready to go, you have to dry off. Use your towels here to get as dry as possible.

There will also be blow dryers available for your hair. Just like when you came in, the experience is gender-specific.

It is free for men to use the hair dryer, but women have to pay 100 won for a couple minutes of use. So bring coins.

After you've dried your hair and collected your belongings, it's time to go.

But hold up! There is one more thing you must do.

You have to get a banana milk as you head out the door. This is a Korean drink and is like the period at the end of a sentence - the pièce de résistance - of the bathhouse experience.

After spending hours in the hot baths and saunas, this is the ultimate cool down drink.

Hopefully, you are able to use all of these tips when you're able to visit Korea.

After that long a strenuous flight here, flush away all that fatigue with a trip to the bathhouse.