Guide to hot springs (1)

It’s the season when people tend to yearn for warmth and what better place to find it than a hot spring? A dip in a natural hot spring amid pleasing scenery will drive away the winter blues and warm you from head to toe. Here are some famous hot springs nationwide.

Changnyong Bugok

This is renowned as the nation`s hottest spring. Located east of Changnyong, known for Upo Swamp and the monument to King Jinhung (534-576) of the Silla Kingdom, Bugok hot spring boasts a temperature of 78 degrees Celsius. In the special tourist district of Bugok hot spring are 26 lodging facilities and many stores. Of them, Bugok Hawaii is one of the favorites for tourists. It has a huge public bath, banquet halls, a display of stuffed animals, botanical garden, zoo and other facilities.

Lodging and boarding:

Bugok Hawaii Tourist Hotel (055-536-6331), Lake Hill Tourist Hotel (055-536-5181), Bugok Royal Tourist Hotel (055-536-5141), Bugok Park Tourist Hotel (055-536-6311), Hansung Hotel (055-536-5131), Samajang Inn (055-536-5141) and about 20 others.

Famous restaurants include Kongwon charcoal kalbi (grilled beef ribs: 055-536-5767), Nulbom charcoal kalbi (055-535-5340), and Chonju Restaurant (055-536-5557), Pungchon Fresh Water Eel Restaurant (055-536-5902) and Okchon Tourist Garden, (055-521-2400) famous for boiled chicken and pine mushroom dishes.

Wanju Hwasim hot spring

This was the first hot spring discovered in the Honam region (South and North Cholla Provinces), which was thought to lack them. Located beside National Road No. 26 going to Chinan from Chonju, Hwasim hot spring boasts a temperature of 32.5 degrees Celsius. It also has a geographical advantage thanks to its location in a nature-rich area halfway between Chinan and Muju.

The hot spring building has one basement floor and four stories and is equipped with a public bath, sauna, family bath and guest rooms. Inside the complex are restaurants, coffee shops, a "noraebang" (karaoke room) and conference rooms.

Lodging and boarding:

Hwasim Motel (063-243-6560) inside the Hwasim hot spring building (063-243-0151). As for restaurants, the specialty here is raw bean curd.

Pochon Sinbuk hot spring

This is the first hot spring developed north of the Han River. It is located at the northern foot of 536-meter Mt. Soyo, where the famous Buddhist priest Wonhyo of the Silla Kingdom did penance, in Sinbuk-myon, Pochon-gun, Kyonggi Province.

The spring has hot and warm baths, soil sauna and dry sauna and can accommodate about 600 people at once. It also features a traditional Korean "sweating room."

Lodging and boarding:

Sinbuk Hotel (031-535-6700) is the sole lodging facility. However, there are some private homes that accept guests for lodging, such as Todamjib (031-535-0277) and Herb Island (031-535-6494). There are also many good restaurants near the River Hantan resort, famous for barbecue, pork ribs, haejangguk (a soup to cure a hangover), grilled tenderloin and kalguksu (thick-cut noodles).