It took a while for Japan to win me over. It was not the nonchalant third-world Asia that I’d grown to love. There was order, guardrails and drinkable tap water. And, tour guides with megaphones.
The secret to travel is getting up painfully early while the tourists and shopkeepers are still asleep. The reward is silence, photos with clean backgrounds and a glimpse of the real culture.
I got up at 4:30 a.m. and endured 30+ mosquito bites to beat the crowds to the Fushimi Inari Shrine outside of Kyoto. I didn’t see another foreigner for hours. This was by far one of my favorite moments and photos from Japan.
The Golden Temple in Kyoto
Bamboo Grove in Arashiyama
Daishō-in Buddhist Temple in Miyajima
The Japanese are a tiny bit obsessed with vending machines. Kurashiki near Okayama.
Stone lanterns outside Toshogu temple in Nikko (an hour outside of Tokyo)
Geta (traditional Japanese Flip flops)
Daiyu-in temple in Nikko (an hour outside of Tokyo)
The Kanmangafuchi Abyss in Nikko is lined with statues of Jizo, the Zen Buddhist deity who watches over the vulnerable – mainly children and travelers.
My first volcano! Sakurajima (on the far left) spreads clouds
of ash across the bay at Kagoshima
Ancient cedar forests on the island of Yakushima
A view from one of the bridges in Yakushima – the greenest place I’ve been!
