Michi and I headed to the lake early. A crowd was already waiting for the sunrise (spoiler alert: only clouds, no sun), and a group of professional photographers were out and about. Some wanted to take beautiful morning photos of nature, and one of them sat down with us to chat with Michi about his expertise. He had a Hasselblad, but he was also friendly with people from the lower category 😊
The other photographers were looking for people who needed beautiful portraits. They had bouquets of flowers and tablets connected to their camera equipment to show their results. They had different styles of arranging their victims on a rock in front of the water, with trees in the water and the failed sunrise, and gave them instructions on how to look this way or that, and how to hold their hands.
Later, our whole group visited various shops to find costumes for photo shoots. Compared to before, the area in front of the lake was ten times more crowded; many were already in costume and almost in an 1:1 ratio mixed with photographers offering their services.
Our costumes, combined with our European appearance of some, led to even more photo sessions than usual, as some other tourists and photographers wanted to integrate us.
We took a lunch break on the grass in our costumes. Tony had rented a bike and was our private delivery service, as it took him three rounds to deliver all the gear for ten people.
As we changed back into our everyday clothes, we felt a certain loss of borrowed dignity—”Clothes make the man!”
We were running late to visit a temple complex that stretched uphill. Every time you thought you’d reached the highest building, you’d find something beyond it, even higher.
Eventually, we gave up, partly due to time constraints, and I should mention that we were distracted by two cute foxes playing a game of tag and some squirrels.
South Exit, not Entrance, not North, East, or West exit, only South. According to the word “exit,” exiting is permitted, whereas entering at the exit is not allowed otherwise it would be an entry and not an exit
As always, dinner was to be the final highlight of the day. This time, it was a mushroom-focussed hot pot, and we had no leftovers, not only because everything was delicious, but also because we were already well advanced in solving the supply-demand problem – the eyes are often bigger than the stomach.
Eating or even touching the mushroom stew was not permitted until the alarm was raised. Video surveillance was in place to ensure this. Some of the mushrooms are extremely poisonous, and the restaurant is responsible for the health of its guests and doesn’t want to take any risks.
On the way back from the touristy old town, the rain slowly but steadily got heavier, and most of us were unprepared for it. Eventually, it wasn’t so much fun anymore, but to cut a long story short, everyone got home and was able to warm up again.