Sunrise Country – DAY SEVEN

Welcome back to my travel journal. The Day Number Seven was in fact a “day off”. And also the day when I turned 40. This was one of my strongest desires: to spend my 40-year-old birthday in Japan, not alone, but with my wife and best friends. It turned out this wish became reality and I was really happy about that.

What does it mean a “day off” when you are on vacation anyway? 🙂 It means no precise destinations, no time schedule to follow, no rush, only the Zen attitude and the ability to observe and be happy with everything, enjoy every step in no predetermined direction. And this is exactly what we did.

In fact, a free day like that one was ideal for walking, discovering new streets, places, great for street photography (even though it felt like I’ve taken a day off from photography, too), well suited for occasional shopping and perfect for enjoying traditional Japanese food. And enjoying each other’s company, as well.

We started as usual, by foot, from home, heading to the center, looking for a place to have a coffee, maybe shopping, without searching for any items in particular.

Even though it is Kyoto we are talking about, I had a feeling of tranquility – a paradox that I have enjoyed discovering : a crowded city in a distinct quietude.

Of course this could be a very subjective perception of a man on vacation, in his day off, without the urge to run and solve problems. But the people are calm, they preserve the calmness of their environment, which could be the street, the metro, train or bus. Even here, on this crowded Shijo Dori, which leads you towards Gion, across the Kamo River.

After the Shijo Dori walk and after visiting its shops, our steps led us to Teramachi and Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcades, a place we already knew, famous for its small boutiques, full of souvenirs, clothing, shoes, accessories, small restaurants, cosmetics, tea products, sweets and so on.

After that, we arrived in the vicinity of Kyoto Station. Here, there is a superstore dedicated to all fans of electronics: audio, photo, video related products, anything you want, could be found here at Yodobashi Camera. As a travel photographer, I was looking for a neutral density filter for my Fujifilm camera.

I have found and bought my filter and while I was there, I was testing a fantastic zoom lens for Fujifilm cameras. If you love those kind of things, it is a tragedy when the time comes to leave the store. There is so much to discover in a place like Yodobashi Camera – you need to dedicate one day to explore every department.

Kyoto Station is an impressive place to visit. It feels like a heart of public transportation, a place to start a journey, do shopping, eat international, or traditional meals and also a place to meet people. An immense space, so well-organized. People flow through its wide corridors and open spaces like colorful rivers – it is a great place to photograph, too.

Close to Kyoto Station was Aeon Mall, our next destination. A place we have visited before, so it was quite easy to get there, even by taking the small backside streets.

Shopping, souvenirs for some dear ones at home, this is a great place to be and to buy whatever you might need. The diversity of products is simply spectacular.

By the time we have finished our adventure at Aeon Mall, it was already night. Our path for going home was by going back to Kyoto Station and wait for the bus to get us to Imadegawa Dori.

Our final target was to find a large table in a very small restaurant, located really close to our home, where we had a traditional Japanese diner for my birthday, with ramen, tempura and ice-cream for dessert, in a very cozy atmosphere. And it was a great evening, with great food in a funny, relaxing ambience. Such a great way to finalize a very peaceful day. We went home, tired, but happy, sharing travel impressions from the closing day, thinking and discussing about our next destination for the day to come, as our first time to leave Kyoto. Where to? Osaka!

All photos and text – © Sebastian Boatca 2016 / http://www.sebastianboatca.com

Sunrise Country – DAY SIX

Hello again and welcome back to our Japanese journey! The sixth day was about to be a typical hot day, as springs seem to be quite warm and sunny in Kyoto. We started our journey for the day, walking the small streets that lead to Horikawa Dori, on our way to Nijo Castle. On the map, Nijo Castle was quite close from our place and we decided it was about time to see it.

On our way, we have found an open supermarket. The diversity of sushi, sashimi, maki, nigiri and temaki was simply astonishing. Different types of sake, too. We bought some small things to have on the route ahead, but our thoughts remained glued to the fresh fish products, just prepared in that very morning.

It was a nice stop to refresh ourselves in the cool air inside the shop and refill our backpacks for the long day ahead of us. Not too far from this supermarket, we finally found the entrance to Nijo Castle.

Nijo Castle, or Nijojo (二条城, Nijōjō) was built at the very beginning of the Edo Era, for the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Later it became a residence for the Imperial family. It is one of the most important landmarks you need to visit in Kyoto.

In 1994, UNESCO designated Nijojo as a World Heritage Site. The feudal architecture is wonderfully preserved. The castle itself includes 3 areas : The Nonmaru Palace, The Ninomaru Palace and the gardens that surrounds the buildings, along with 2 concentric rings of fortifications, to guard the Shogun’s residence.

This place holds, for so much time, a powerful print of Japan history. The construction was finished in 1626 and since then, it stands as an example of engineering, marvelous in its simplicity and efficiency, although its complex elements reside in the beautiful artistry, used to decorate the entrances and the buildings.

After leaving the Nijojo, our way drove us to the JR Nijo Station. We needed a train ride, to get us to one of the most amazing places in Kyoto (and Japan and the whole world). From Nijo Station, to Kyoto Station and then, also by train, (thanks to our 2 week JR Passes) straight to the Inari Station.

After a pleasant walk on a narrow, but very crowded streets, passing right in front of the train station, along the small Omiyage shops and little restaurants, we have finally found the right way to go.

We came here to see an important Shinto shrine, in southern Kyoto, named Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社). It is the essential shrine, among thousand other shrines, established in 711 in honor of the Shinto God of Rice.

Rice means food, it means the very basic support of life, but it also means sake and Inari is the protector of this fundamental aspect of life.

Grains, rice, sake are symbols of wealth. Visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha to pay your respect to the God of rice, seems like the right thing to do for many people. And we have seen a lot of people, Japanese people and also tourists from around the world.

The shrine Fushimi Inari Taisha is also acclaimed for its thousands of gates, named Torii, which are well over 10.000. They wind over the hills behind the shrine and its entrance, into the forests of the sacred Mount Inari.

Those trails go in a zigzag pattern. Sometimes you feel like you walk up this mountain, trapped in a maze. Although it didn’t feel like a maze of confinement, but more like a path to meditation. To self revealment. It was a place of revelations.

Well, when you get a moment of silence and loneliness, away from so many groups of visitors, you can touch that inner silence, blending with the outer silence.

It is magic. It feels like this is the place to be, to think. A place where you must return, as soon as possible and as many times as you can. Fushimi Inari Taisha have imprinted in me a strong emotional message, that I have tried to talk about here, in a previous article.

We have explored those paths for quite some time, until the evening made its presence. I didn’t want to leave, there were still many other paths left unexplored. We made a promise to ourselves that we should return. Explore more, feel more of it.

We have noticed many statues around the shrine. The kitsune foxes are Inari’s messengers. Some of them had a key in their mouth, the key for the rice granary.

I was time to go. It felt like there were less tourists, than when we came. For a travel photographer, less tourists or no tourists, in such important venues is a real treat. I had my Fujifilm X+1 and my pro-grade zoom lens XF 16-55mm F2.8 WR all the time. The results in low light were quite good.

We have left a little Torii on a wall full of similar wooden Torii, as a reminder of a magnificent day we had together in such an extraordinary place. Then we left, heading our way to the Inari Station, back on the route we came, by train.

From Inari Station, we didn’t travel for too long, until we have arrived at Kyoto Station. This is an impressive place. The impression of vastness is only surpassed by the real dimensions of this station : it is much bigger than you see it.

Outside, we were immersed in the cool and fresh air of the night and a beautiful show of light and water with classic music in the background, caught our attention. And every time I was at Kyoto Station, I simply loved the image of the Kyoto Tower, mirrored in the immense glass wall of the station building.

Then, the final stage of our journey for the day : waiting, in line, for the bus to get us home, on Horikawa Dori. It was, as usual, a long day, but filled with beautiful things that we saw and felt.

Just before getting home, we had our usual “Briefing Room” moment. We were a little dry after such a long journey and the beers were really tasty : Asahi Super Dry, Kirin and Sapporo. Family Mart, in times of need, is a trustworthy friend. The next day would have no important venues to visit. We just set that day as a free day, to celebrate in a relaxed mood, my 40th anniversary.

All photos and text – © Sebastian Boatca 2016 / http://www.sebastianboatca.com

Sunrise Country – DAY FIVE

The fifth day on my travel journal was a day of relaxation (not that we had to work hard on those other days, but it was a day without a travel plan). A great day for trying special food, walking without any hurry and shopping. Sounds like fun! It was a day when our team got separated for the fist time : two of us had some business to attend to in Nagoya, the rest of us remained in Kyoto. And we were here for a treat!

As usual, we started our day on Horikawa Dori, admiring the small shops in the vicinity. Fabric boutiques, selling all sorts of traditional textiles, scarves, in different colors and imprints, quite expensive.

Our main destination was to get to Gion, across the Kamo River and explore the famous street on Pontocho Area, filled with restaurants. It was the right time for a special, traditional lunch in one of the most beautiful places in Kyoto.

We have finally found a nice place to eat and admire the view.

The food was excellent and fresh and it might have been the most expensive meal we had until then. But the whole experience was worth it.

We thought about our friends in Nagoya and what a truly delicious and wonderful thing they have missed (without knowing that they, too, had some traditional cuisine surprises in Nagoya, as well).

So we left the restaurant in contentment and enjoyed our walk on this narrow street, ready for the second part of the day – the shopping experience.

We headed downtown, where the malls are located and we started to blend with the streams of people, flowing along the streets of central Kyoto. The malls, situated on Shijo Dori and Kawaramachi Dori didn’t took us so many time as we anticipated, though.

The sportswear zone was our main interest and we have found a big Sports Hall in Takamiyacho area, named Sports Mitsuhashi.

That was a place where we spent quite a while. Asics and Mizuno are the names that captivated us the most.

Afterwards we had a good long walk in downtown area, visiting some of the small shrines we found in our way. The evening was about to fall and we had to prepare our final stage in our shopping chapter in Kyoto.

As a travel photographer, on such a relaxing day with no reason to run anywhere, I thought it would be great to travel even lighter than I already normally do (since I have switched my DSLR with a Mirrorless system – more on that here, on my Blog), so I have left my main Fujifilm camera at home and took the small and light, yet powerful Fuji X100S, which I have used to capture my memories through the whole day.

The last part of our shopping time was in the Teramachi and Shin Kyogoku Shopping Arcades. It is all about two covered streets, designed only for pedestrians, filled with small shops, boutiques and restaurants that sell any king of goods and especially souvenirs – our last point of interest for the day.

Interested in buying something or not, the whole participation in meandering through the shopping arcades is a very eye-catching one.

There are places where you could sit and gather your strengths, get social, talk on the phone or just wait and look at the people.

We stayed here for maybe two hours, looking for the perfect souvenir shop with the best prices. We found more than one – there are many boutiques with a huge variety of amazing products and the prices were really attractive.

The night was already there, but we made sure we have checked almost all possibilities.

And when we finally had found what we were looking for, we decided it was time to head home.

After we got out of the bus, a few meters away from the bus station, we found a very small and nice restaurant. We were hungry and the atmosphere inside was inviting us, along with a good and powerful flavor of a delicious ramen. The menus in English were quite funny – everything looked friendly and cozy.

The place was really small, the music was good, the food was delicious. And so close to our home – I decided this was a good venue where I could invite all my crew for my birthday, which was coming two days later.

We left the restaurant and walked just a few minutes our way home, where our arrival was synchronized with the arrival of the other two “Cousins”, coming a long way from Nagoya. We finished the day with a small briefing (what did we see, do, eat and buy versus what did they see, do, eat and buy). A very close Family Mart store provided the “logistic support” for our late night meeting, discussing and planing the adventures for the next day. Magic!

All photos and text – © Sebastian Boatca 2016 / http://www.sebastianboatca.com

Sunrise Country – DAY FOUR

This was a perfect day! A great complement to the previous day, when we have seen a part of the history-enriched Gion and the prodigious Kiyomizu-Dera temple. Well, the following day was about to be even better – perfect.

We started by foot from our base-camp on Horikawa Dori and took a bus to our first destination of the day. And what a destination : The Golden Pavilion, known as Kinkaku-Ji.

The Kinkaku-Ji 金閣寺 is located in the northern side of Kyoto and it was on our initial lists of “sites to be visited at all costs”. It is one of the most important tourist and cultural attractions in whole Japan.

This was a sunny, warm day, but not so hot as other days we’ve seen in our spring journey. And talking about crowds of tourists… it was crowded. Outside, more buses filled with tourists kept on bringing more groups, so we decided to step up the pace and enter the inner gardens.

This place was marvelous, a real iconic site enriched with history and beauty. The gardens keep the same usual natural balance, everything seems to be in the right place with the right shape. There is no need to change anything. And after a few steps, there it was :

This golden pavilion, as its name says, has the 2 top floors covered in gold leaf, with its structure built overlooking a large pond. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history, including twice during a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto; and once again more recently in 1950 when it was set on fire by a monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955.

Surrounded by gardens, in a go-around style, this is a place where you could stay much longer than anticipated. I’ve seen some photos of this beautiful architectural masterpiece taken during the winter. Contemplating Kinkaku-Ji covered in snow, surrounded by the beautiful scenery, is pure poetry, something I cannot describe in words, not even the words of my mother tongue.

Indeed, this is an ideal venue for contemplation. Just stay here for a while, and make peace with yourself and your thoughts. Of course, this would be one of my most important locations where I should go back on a different time of the year. The autumn and the winter, too, should bring a perfect background for this marvel.

Going round on the alley in the garden, we have reached the souvenirs shops and finally the exit.

After a traditional lunch break with excellent fresh food in a very small restaurant (around 700 yen per person) it was the time for our next destination for the day : the lovely Arashiyama area with the unforgettable Bamboo Groves.

We went to Arashiyama by Keifuku Railway train. The small and beautiful train connects Arashiyama with Omiya Station at the intersection of Shijo Street and Omiya Street in central Kyoto. Keifuku Railways, or Randen also provides access to Kitanohakubaicho Station in northern Kyoto, not far from Kinkaku-Ji, Ryoan-Ji and Ninna-Ji Temples. One transfer of trains is required along the way. Keifuku Arashiyama Station is placed in the center of Arashiyama.

This was the most glamorous railway station we’ve ever seen in Kyoto with very nice decorations – it wasn’t a classic railway station, more of a museum of art. Getting away from the Kyoto’s center, in such a small train was already creating the feeling of a relaxing journey to the silent beauty of western Kyoto’s outskirts.

After going out of the station we were enveloped by a unique atmosphere of rural, yet perfectly civilized paradise. Across the Nagatsuji-Dori street, we had a modern and elegant shopping center and this was our first stop, since our arrival in Arashiyama.

We stayed here for a while, admiring the small boutiques with souvenirs and traditional commodity. I had no idea this was the place where my friends had a plan for my birthday, which was about to come really soon.

The gift I was about to receive in a few days from this moment, was quite a perfect gift, especially for me, being there in Japan : elegant traditional chopsticks, beautifully hand-crafted with my name and my birthday date engraved on them.

There were so many models and sizes, it was really a hard choice. From 2 – 3.000 yen up to more than 40.000 yen, a pair of chopsticks, well, there were models, sizes and colors for every taste and whim you could imagine.

I was waiting for them, quite a while. Staying outside, on a bench, I just felt it was the perfect moment to admire the people, their quiet rhythms, gather my thoughts and dive into the beauty and tranquility of the moment. Carpe diem!

When the group was ready to leave, we commenced walking north, along the Nagatsuji-Dori, looking for the entrance to the Bamboo Groves. The street was quiet, not so much traffic – the only traffic we have got was from the tourists. We were in no hurry, even though the sun was on its way to set.

Houses, bars, restaurants, small shops, the street was quite a tourist attraction itself. And just when we were wondering where would we find the entrance to the bamboo forest, there it was.

I have dreamed about this place, seen so many pictures on the internet and frankly, I hoped it wouldn’t be so flooded with tourists – for my photos. The sunset wasn’t that far, the light was beautiful, until I have realized that we will make our way through a deeper and thicker bamboo forest. This means even less light for photography.

I was worried about my photos – I think I just expected them to be perfect, with the ideal light and not so many noisy tourists, unaware of getting in front of my camera, just when I was ready to take my shot.

The photos don’t always represent the accurate reality. It was a little cold and quite dark, so I had to raise my ISO and try to get my shots staying as still as possible. This is one of the times when you would trade your lens for another one with image stabilization, or a super fast lens, with a very wide aperture, like F1.4.  Mine was used at F2.8, its maximum constant aperture with quite good results, the pro-grade Fujinon XF 16-55mm F2.8.

Because of my photographs, most of the times I was left behind, so I always had to run and catch up with my group. The alleys in the forest, the peace and the silence, the ocean of pure green and the fresh oxygen were fascinating. Breathless! You walk those places in a state of continuous admiration. Man and nature, reunited for a common purpose: Beauty. Contemplation. Nature does this by itself, following some secret, sacred laws. Man destroys nature, most of the time, but not here.

I wished those moments could be locked in time. Surely they will never be lost in time. I will treasure them for the rest of my life, because they were pure beauty and for the modern man, if there is something that we terribly lack in our modern, metropolitan lives, well, it is the contact with the nature.

We need to get out of our “comfortable” and “plentiful” homes and embrace nature in its beauty. Meditation, contemplation, self-acceptance – we must re-learn those things from the old ways of Japanese people.

The maze through the Bamboo Groves in Sagano is much bigger and deeper, but we have found a way out and discovered a very peaceful neighborhood, filled with houses and beautiful gardens. One of my favorite things to do, while traveling to Japan – to walk the small streets, away from the maddening tourist crowds, to taste a bit of a peace and silence that surround those places and those people.

Traditional houses, modern houses, some of them mixing up the new with the old, it was a pleasure to discover those areas. The beautiful gardens added the right amount of exquisite flavor to each house. After leaving the Sagano bamboo forest, we had encountered not a sigle tourist. In fact, the evening was very near so the streets were completely silent and empty. All for just the five of us.

After a while, we have realized we were really lost. Impossible to follow the same route we took when we came, but that was the beauty of it. Explore! A map in your pocket and a smartphone with a digital map, based on GPS and you are good to go.

The fact of getting lost, revealed to us some more amazing small streets. Eventually, after consulting our map, we had our clear way to a train station, so we could return, back to the center of Kyoto. A few more streets, passing under a bridge, walking close to an important building named “19th Century Hall SL & Piano Museum”, where an old steam-powered locomotive was exposed in perfect condition and there we were, at Saga Arashiyama Station.

Quite tired, after such a long day, we decided to take the train to somewhere in the Kyoto’s center. After leaving the station, we begun to do what we did best : explore.

And we headed our way to the shopping street of Kyoto – the Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcades. It was 8:30 PM, already dark and quite late for shopping, where almost every shop was closed. But our last point of interest in our plan was not to go shopping. Very close to this shopping street was the famous Musashi Sushi restaurant and we really had to give it a try.

This small restaurant, located on Kawaramachi Dori is one of the most pleasant attractions in Kyoto. Really small, really crowded, so we had to wait for a while, on a long bench just close to the door, to get some free seats (we were 5 and we preferred to stay together, so 5 free places in a row – not so easy). Just 140 yen for one small plate and I had not more than 5 or 6 plates with different kinds of fresh, raw fish.

How would I summarize this experience? To be short : Sushi and Sashimi (capitalized) at the highest level in this world! Exquisite!

After this amazing diner it was time to make our way home. Walking in Kyoto by night is one of the greatest experiences as a traveler : you feel secure, there are no hazardous back alleys, not a single reason of intimidation. The main streets are still full of people, cars and lights. Enough light to easily read a book, in the street and still get great pictures at reasonable low ISO settings (ISO 640 at F2.8 as an example for the picture above).

Leaving the exuberant Kyoto’s center with its “quiet” & civilized crowds, we arrived at home, after some good miles of walking and, of course, urban exploring. So we were back on the same sweet pattern, that we held so dear : Horikawa Dori, Family Mart, Asahi Super Dry for the take-off, the late night briefing and a most welcome good night sleep!

Such a perfect day! I wished it would last forever. One of the finest days of my life. A perfect day!

All photos and text – © Sebastian Boatca 2015 / http://www.sebastianboatca.com

Sunrise Country – DAY TWO

Hello again! This was the second full day in the Sunrise Country. Very eager to visit what we tried to see in the previous day, but it was closed at Ginkaku-Ji Temple and for the Imperial Palace it seemed a better deal to be visited with an English-speaking tour guide.

Thanks to our maps and willingness to explore the city, we left home from Horikawa Dori and made our way on little, narrow streets right to the Imperial Palace – 京都御所. It’s always a joy to walk down those quiet streets – you get the chance to take a glimpse of the settled down life of Kyoto people. Small houses, small cars, small parking spots (sometimes bigger). The flowers, plants and trees they have add a drop of beauty to their garden.

For a tourist or photographer, these corners are pure joy. According to Travel & Leisure Magazine, Kyoto was named the best city in the world for 2015. That is something!

We have reached the Kyoto Gyoen quite easily from our home. We had our tour of the Sento Imperial Palace Gardens scheduled for 12:30 PM and we joined a pretty large group of tourists. A very hot day with the sun shinning at its maximum.

The English tour guide was speaking not so loud so we heard only fragments of her story. Most of the times I prefered to stay away from the group, and to absorb in silence the atmosphere and contemplate the beauty of the architecture.

The gardens are beautiful. That typical Japanese care makes you admire amazing gardens that have a very genuine natural random look (but in fact it requires a lot of work).

All buildings are mostly made from natural materials and keep the “natural” and traditional look. Do you think there are some differences between the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and Versailles, regarding the size, number of chambers, statues, used materials?

Surely the Emperor was a very important person in world’s history. I like the architecture of Versailles – it seems like one of the most important achievements in Earth’s architecture, but what I see at the Imperial Palace from Kyoto (compared to Versailles and other important palaces from England, Germany, France, Austria, Russia, etc) is a different concept.

Grandeur, built on simplicity. Zen principles built on natural materials – the sizes and shapes I have seen in this architecture call for meditation, moderation, concentration and awareness. Versailles? Hedonism and luxurious gratification. Japanese Imperial Palace? Awareness and contemplation.

We left the Imperial Palace of Kyoto, home of the emperor until 1868 and headed to the Ginkaku-Ji Temple, one of the most important temples you need to see in a long list of World’s Heritage.

We just took the same route as the previous day, passing by Demachiyanagi Station, the Kyoto University, once more up to Philosopher’s Path and reached the climbing way to the temple.

The Silver Pavilion is an amazing place to visit, a complementary item to our deep impression left by the Imperial Palace on our spirit, already filled with the touch of history and tradition.

Of course, the gardens and the preciseness in traditionalism can be seen in all those beautiful shapes and alignments. Tourists are everywhere, including students from local schools.

The visitors path starts to climb on the backside hill and you can get a beautiful view over the forest, the inner gardens and the city.

As much as I wanted to stay more, to find a moment without tourists and maybe wait for a better light for photography, we had to go and find more beautiful places in this vast city you cannot fully “do”, not even in a completely dedicated month of walking and discovery.

Once more down the alley, with plenty of traditional shops and then back into the Philosopher’s Path, full of energy and fervor to walk into new neighborhoods and find our way to more interesting corners. The small shops were a delight to visit.

Demachiyanagi Station was a milestone for us in our many days of wandering – it served us also as a departure / returning point when using the subways and trains.

Fatigue could be something you start to feel after a while, but being on vacation, being where you want to be and in the right company, you can really temper any disturbing perception of physical weariness.

Kyoto Station was our next waypoint. An essential place on Kyoto’s map, Kyoto Station and the surroundings can offer many opportunities to visit, eat and shop.

We had a great meal very close to the station and then we all welcomed the shopping time. In Japan, shopping could be fun because you find plenty of things that you don’t find elsewhere in the world, and from 10.000 yen and up, you could get it tax-free, based on your passport.

Aeon Mall is a great place to eat, shop, have fun and spend the end of a long day. Two big buildings linked with a nice bridge over the street – you can spend many hours in there. And we did.

What did we need the most? Shoes! Good for many kilometers of every day walking! As many of you might know, Japan is the home of Asics and Mizuno, two of my favorite sports brands. So everyone got a pair of Asics from the “Running” section. A very big wall was full with sport shoes only, designed for different sports : running, football, baseball, basketball, tennis, walking, you name it.

The day was almost over. Fully equipped with new comfortable shoes, we felt new resources of energy flowing through the system and we were ready to go home on our cushioned, comfortable steps.

Back again to Kyoto Station, quite near from Aeon Mall – then by foot for a while, in the freshness of the night, following the map, until we decided to find a bus station on our way and wait for the bus to get us home on Horikawa Dori.

Indeed it was a long day! Perhaps we did not see many tourist attractions on Kyoto’s map, but it’s all about quality and less about quantity. This is what you get from walking all day long – a type of experience I cherish and I am already used to.

We, as human beings, need to settle down our pace (at least on vacation) and we need to do the things in a more comfortable, relaxed way. Everything! Walking, resting, breathing, speaking, seeing things, eating, our actions through the day – just take your time and try to live the present moment – no hurry. You will do less things, but the things you do, will be better. They will be naturally absorbed by your mind as life experiences, in a deeper approach.

Back home, we had our typical briefing to sort the things we did and see. A snack, a beer, a cookie and a small cake created the frame to end our long day in joy and laughter. Family Mart is your friend, especially at midnight. Tired? Indeed – but after a good night sleep, another day was waiting for us with new places, new streets, new people and new feelings.

All photos and text – © Sebastian Boatca 2015 / http://www.sebastianboatca.com