So the same day I went to Beomeosa I also went to a public bath house for the first time in my life! I have to admit I was definitely resolute in going but a little timid. I talked to my friend Zen here and she said "Ryan, everyone will be starring at you" and I told her I could handle that. She was absolutely right about being starred at, but first I should give a little background about where I went. Anyways I decided to go to what was up until the past year the largest public spa in Asia called Hurshimchung. This place can accommodate over 3000 people in over 40 pool sized spas, that are infused with minerals, salts, even cherry and jasmine! There is also a cafeteria, cold baths to cool your skin, TVs, etc… Oh and did I mention everyone is naked, ummm yeah….

So after my day hiking around the millenia old mountain temples of Beomeosa, I thought, what better way to end this day than going to Asia’s largest hot spring. As most of my new experiences here in Korea there is always a level of awkwardness that accompanies it. Well lets say this new experience starts with a common know nightmare where your naked in front of a crowd (I don’t know if it really is common I just think it is).  Basically here how this rolled first I had to deal with how to handle the shoe situation (always a point of confusion for me). Next you strip down butt naked and shower (don’t want to track any dirt into the spas). The grand finale for me was to be the only naked foreigner to walk into a room filled with literally hundreds of naked Korean men! If there was music that could have abruptly stopped it would have as those hundreds of Korean men all swiveled their heads to stare as I walked towards the first spa.

I don’t know what you expect to feel when your naked with hundreds of other naked guys watching you as you walk around but my instinct was to laugh. In order to lighten the situation up for me I thought to myself "hahah you are all just jealous!" which worked wonders for me. Next thing that happened was when I got in one of the hot spas there were 4 Korean men who were starring at me with literally no emotions on their faces…so what did I do? I just starred right back until I couldn’t hold a straight face anymore and lost it laughing!

Anyways note to any foreigners going to a hot spring…be prepared to be starred at non-stop with no regard to if it could be considered rude. But the spa turned out to be one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had!!!