Here in Vang Vieng, I am reminded of what it means to go beyond your initial encounter with a place. If you’re patient, and persistent, sometimes there is hidden beauty to be found – beauty hidden in the hills.
Before arriving on Shodoshima, I’d been wondering if there would be any connections between this pilgrimage and the one I did last year. Here in a souvenir shop on the island, it seems I’ve found my answer.
As I sketch, I keep looking out over the city spinning and swirling below me, feeling like I’m not only in the center of Tokyo, but in the center of the world itself. I found the Wakō after all – and so much more.
It is this vista that will remain with me the most from Nokogiriyama – because of the view, because of the cherry blossoms, and because of the way they really won’t be there for much longer.
Sometimes, when I think about all these little pockets of existence around the world – existing with only bicycles for cars and docks for roads, existing without us ever knowing it – it’s almost too much to comprehend.
I’d come to Jimbaran Puri Bali resort to sketch, not be sketched, but my brief friendship with Made is humbling, reminding me for the thousandth time that we have little idea of the vast web of connections around us.
Since I started this blog, I’ve never had an idea of what my niche is. Indeed, the very idea of pigeon-holing myself felt opposed to the way travel has opened up the world to me. But one morning it hit me: Let travel sketching be my niche.