Japan & Boudoir Photography: Part 3
One of the coolest parts of a trip with AdventureWomen is that their itineraries include a portion of epic, heart-rate-inducing, get-into-nature adventuring. For Japan, that was our 4 day trek along the Kumano Kodo. The Kumano Kodo is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes on the Kii Peninsula. These sacred trails led to many shrines and apparently over 1000 years ago, the Emperor would hike it with his entire army (of like 800 men!) as a “sacrifice” to please the gods. Talk about a bad day at work…Our guide also told us that when some patrons of the trail set off, they’d bite gold coins as they hiked…Why?? You know, just in case they DIED! Yep. That way when the locals recovered their body, there’d be something to contribute to the funeral. Yeah. That was a real optimistic start for all of us. I mean, points for being considerate I guess.
We basically hiked each day to our respective ryokan (traditional Japanese housing). The first day was only a half-day, but girrrrlllllssss. That hike was 4 hours straight up! The kind of hike that makes you look at your behind later in the mirror to see if it is indeed three inches higher after all that climbing. The beautiful thing was rounding the bend and arriving right as the sun was setting. First thing to my left in the ryokan was a bar, so you better believe I dropped my gear, decided my shower could wait, grabbed a glass of wine and savored the sun going down amongst all that beauty.
The next day we were up and on the trail early. After sending our bags ahead, we immersed ourselves in the quite of the forrest. It was equal parts awe-inspiring and creepy. I’m one of those who thinks about how many people have walked this path before me…especially if they were possibly biting gold coins, hoping not to perish! That day we hiked straight into a super tiny village (only 400 people live there) and the local women taught us how to make sushi. Not tryna brag or anything…
This was my favorite day on the Kumano Kodo because when we came to our ryokan for the night, I was literally surrounded by more beauty than I could even take in. Between the river, cherry blossoms and sunset, I was BEYOND giddy! And this was the spot that I got to shoot a GORGEOUS woman named Sonal. She is a 61 year old powerhouse who is about to take the world by storm! She’s one of those people with a really awesome laugh. Don’t you just love people like that!? If you have an awesome laugh, I’m 10 times more likely to want to be your new bestie.
I seriously can’t. Even. HANDLE. Her beauty!!! <3 Finally, we ended the Kumano Kodo trek by hiking with a Mountain Priestess (I know, right!?!?)—on her own mountain!!!!! We literally picked her up from the bus stop (which was quite comical given her traditional garb!) and she began our hike with by blessing us. She asked us to open our hands towards her and receive “many hundreds of sweet memories” while we were in Japan that we could unlock in our minds throughout our lives and reflect fondly upon. I though it was such a beautiful, profound tribute to what always happens when you travel. You do have unique experiences and make lasting memories that you get to treasure forever.
After our hike, we got to have lunch with the Mountain Priestess and I found everything about her absolutely fascinating. How she became a Mountain Priestess, about her children and her (ex)husband, how you get to take charge of a mountain-all of it! But what I was most struck by was the fact that she is also a woman. I asked her if I could snap a picture of her and she giggled and threw her hands over her mouth exclaiming to our translator. I learned later that she felt her face “wasn’t fit” to be photographed. Just like so many of us feel when a camera is pointed at us.
To me, she’s striking. Bold. Beautiful.
Because on that mountain, she shared with us her soul.
Up next, Tokyo!!!