This post was recovered from an old blog that I had while studying abroad in Japan. I’ve only updated misspellings or dead links, but left any cringe worthy things or immature thoughts. I’ve decided to leave them as a snapshot of who I was and to see how far I’ve come. Any photos have been freshly edited and so are not the same as what was originally posted. Over the years I had several blogs, most lost to time, and I wanted to recover some lost memories and reflect on my life.

I woke up from my nap to see the sun heading quickly for the horizon. I hopped up and started off swiftly towards the eastern hills of Kyoto. As I climbed the various roads leading up past shrines, I saw the color starting to appear in the sky. I stepped up my pace as much as I could with my full back pack on and tripod in hand. As I came to the top of a hill on the road, there were stairs leading up further into the mountains with what looked like a clearing near the top. I knew this would be the final stretch and so I quickly went up the stairs, sometimes two at a time.

At the top there was a trail leading off to the left, but it was covered by trees. To the right was an old Japanese house with overgrown bushes and grass around it. There was a nice flat space in front on the house with a full view of the sunset and Kyoto. The house seemed to be abandoned, until I noticed a light on and heard quiet voices inside. There inside with random stuff strewn about sat an middle aged man and women. I decided to ask if I could take pictures to be polite and not startle them. I opened the little gate beside the house and walked towards the door saying “sumimasen” or “excuse me.” Then in my most polite Japanese and a smile on my face I asked if I could take pictures of the sunset.

To my surprise the lady said “No, we are closed.” I was visibly dripping with sweat and worn out, but the lady refused me a spot to take photos and rest. I’ve actually had several people be a little more mean or strict than usual while I’ve been in Kyoto. In Tokyo, most of the time, I’m greeted happily and accommodated beyond my expectations. While in Kyoto, even when saying good morning to someone on the street, they simply look at me and keep walking.

As the colors in the sky were heading to their climax I was unsure what to do. “Hell,” I thought. “I might as well just try to start taking pictures anyway because if I head down then this was all for nothing.” So I setup everything and started snapping away. I tried to hide behind some bushes so the lady wouldn’t hear me and tell me to stop. The problem with the spot was a large tree right in the way of the view. I’m not really satisfied with the photos from the sunset as it really doesn’t come anywhere near to doing it justice, but I still have problems with sunsets in general. Hopefully I can do better in the future.

After the show was done with the sun I started heading back down the hill winding through the streets. I was heading towards Gion to see if I could find any cool night scenes. But by the time I made it down the hill I realized how bad my feet hurt and how exhausted I was from all the walking that day. Rather than wander around Gion looking for interesting stuff to take pictures of, I ended up wandering around Gion looking for a wireless internet signal.

When I finally found an open and strong connection I sat down on the side of a busy street, cross-legged, with my laptop on my legs. I got plenty of weird looks from old men and modern day prostitutes, no geisha though. When I got online I knew exactly what I wanted to find, a sento (a Japanese public bath).