Photographer By Night | Behind the scenes with Tomasz Wagner
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  • January12th

    Asia 2008 | Day 23 | Kawaguchi Lake, Japan | Travel Photographer

    Posted in: Japan, Kawaguchi, Travel

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    Mount Fuji and Kawaguchi City from Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway

    Woke up to another beautiful morning as the sun shined in through the blinds. This may sound hard to believe but I managed to have a very fulfilling sleep last night; no joke, as claustrophobic as it seems to some I certainly enjoyed it. At the top floor was an was an open men’s bath facility, which meant you had to get naked with your other capsule neighbors. I’ve gone through it once in Hakone, what’s another couple minutes anyway!
    No plans were set so I decided to visit Kawaguchi Lake, but before leaving I made sure to move the luggage to my next awesome stay at the Capsule Inn in Akihabara! It saves me the trouble of paying for a locker and moving it all twice later that night. I’m going to apologize for how much this blog journal might lack today but i’ll make up for it with good photos. I don’t think you want to hear what I was doing for 3-4 of those hours traveling there and back anyway.

    Arriving in Ostuki was the end of the JR Line and the beginning of the Fujikyu Railway which is made for a steeper climb to a whole new noticeable elevation change. As the train pulls up beside you can’t help but notice the strange mountain paintings all over the side and front of it – definitely creeping yet visually pleasing in a way. Surprisingly along the way there were a few towns and villages the train stopped in and the further it went the snowier it got. On arrival in Kawaguchi City, I locked up the laptop and stopped into the tourist center to read up about the city and some of it’s hotspots to view the moutain from. The small city had a couple buses which cirlced through and around the city to each location, but just 15 minutes walk from the center was Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway. Opened in 1959, the line climbs Mount Tenjō from the shores of Lake Kawaguchi. The observatory has a view of the lake, as well as the city, Aokigahara forest, and Mount Fuji. As the tram started it’s steep incline up the side of a mountain, what was revealed was a snowed in city banked along Kawaguchi lake. There’s just a sence of quietness and a pause in time when a entire city is blankeded by fluffy white snow. I couldn’t unglue my eyes from the view.
    At the top, Kachi Kachi Ropeway entertained even the young ones by placing cute characters of a rabbit and bear in set positions which made photo ops or just to entertain the kids. There was also The Bell of Tenjō; when struck while watching Mt.Fuji granted your wish. Here is a PDF I found online which describes a bit more about the rope way.

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  • January8th

    Asia 2008 | Day 19 | Kyoto, Japan | Travel Photographer

    Posted in: Japan, Kyoto, Travel

    Kyoto, one of the most beloved places to visit in Japan. If you ask any local or tourist they would agree. Just last year the city government announced a record amount of tourists visited Kyoto for the sixth year in a row, and rated Kyoto second most beautiful city in Japan. Kyoto is rich with heritage, culture and traditional architecture; even the Japanese escape to Kyoto for their holidays.

    During the night you could hear the rain pouring off the side of the roof. It was a cold morning and an even more miserable experience to wake up to. The weather had other plans though, at about 10:00am the sun started peaking in through the Shoji blinds to warm my space.  I peaked out from under the blankets to feel the ray warming my skin. There’s something about the it’s energy; it happens to all of us but the feeling I get turns me into a new person. Within minutes, the energy of 10 men flows through me and I’m ready to take on the day – no matter what! I get myself ready, throw on my trusty runners and head back to the Kyoto JR station, where the Kyoto’s tourist center is located. If you’re having a hard time planning the day, just ask the staff! They will help structure your day trip(s) to fit in the attraction you’d like to see with the time you have.

    The first stop was to Sanjusangendo Temple, only 15 minutes by bus from the JR station. “Sanjusangendo” means a hall with 33 bays, the number is sacred in Buddhism, for it is believed that Buddha saves mankind by disguising himself in 33 different forms. Also not to forget the most important part is the 1001 statues of Kannon-Bosatsu which are placed within it! Each as big as 5 1/2 feet tall, carved out of wood and leafed in gold. In the center, the principal image of Kannon is 11 feet tall. In front of the Kannon statues are 28 different guardian disciples of Buddha with intense expressions and impressive detail. No photography was prohibited within the temple, so I captured a couple outside to compensate. If you ran from one end of the hall to the other it would be equivalent to a 200m sprint. Took a few photos outside by the garden and set off to the next destination.

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  • December25th

    Asia 2008 | Day 5 | Angkor Wat, Cambodia | Travel Photographer

    Posted in: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

    Big day, Ankgor Wat was on the menu, the biggest attraction in Cambodia. 4:30 was my wake up call, but the early bedtime last night combined with the excitement to visit the temple had me awake in no time. The morning was dark and very cold. With the temple situated in the jungle, only the half moon lit the way. Before sunrise, the main temple was filled with eager individuals all awaiting the first morning light of Christmas at Angkor Wat.

    Clouds filled the sky above, and only parts of the horizon were clear enough for the sun to peek through. Despite all the wait and anticipation, within minutes the sun had disappeared into the clouds just overlooking the horizon. Angkor was built in the early 11th century, discovered in the 17th century, founded as a Archaeological Park in 1925, and finally made part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992. Angkor Wat is now made of up 52 Temples within the 2,500 sq/km region. So getting around by foot is out of the question. For this reason, the park offers 1-day, 3-day, and 1-week admissions. With only a 1-day admission pass, I had to choose the nicest and most popular temples.

    Angkor Wat was the most famous monument of Angkor. Built by Suryarman II from 1113 to 1150 and known as Vrah Vishnuloka, the “Sacred Abode of Vishnu” was dedicated to the second deity of the Trimurti. The present name means, “Royal city [that is] a monestery,” and in the 13th century was transformed from the Vishnuite sanctuary into a Buddhist wat – a word of Thai origin that means monastery. Angkor Wat was by far my favorite Temple. Many of the etchings in stone haven’t faded and much of the architecture stood stood intact.

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  • December24th

    Asia 2008 | Day 4 | Phnom Penh and Siem Reap | Travel Photographer

    Posted in: Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

    Phnom Penh wasn’t a travel stop for me whatsoever. I had no choice, as the price of airline tickets were a bit steep to fly straight to Siem Reap from Singapore, so I figured six hours on a bus wouldn’t be so bad. To get a good whiff of my first Cambodian experience, on arrival I decided to board a tuk-tuk from the airport and asked to be taken to the nearst bus depot. The culture shock wasn’t too overwhelming, considering I was in Guatemala and Belize last year. I found Cambodians to be a lot more interactive and a lot warmer. I saw plenty of tuk-tuks I saw, and there were just as many smiles to match them.

    I arrived at the bus depot pretty early, so I was able to buy my ticket early. Now I’m pretty sure the bible states, “thou first cometh, thou first served”. Perfect — then I should have been seated somewhere in the front, and if not I’d wait first in line to pounce inside. It wasn’t until I got on the bus that I found out we were all assigned specific seats. I couldn’t believe they sat me at the back of the bus, without asking if I’d like it. If I had known where I’d be sitting from the beginning, I would have taken the cargo room under the bus. There was no way to sleep because there was no seperation between the seats, the chairs didn’t recline, there was nowhere to put your feet up, and no view whatsoever because I was in the middle. This was the beginning of a painful 6 hour ride!

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