Out after 10 Years (14): When I Feared for my Life!

I went to this hotel which is technically considered to be part of Kyoto but in fact is closer to Arashiyama and that was the scariest night of my entire life! I was shopping online before my trip, of course, for the hotels in different cities and came across this hotel called Hotel Sanago (Adults only)! I never paid attention to the last part and didn't care much about the low rating given by the reviewers. I thought to myself: I will be only spending the nights in the hotel. I'd be mostly out. So, I would not bother me much. Wrong! 

My plan was just to stay in the area for one night which now I know it was wrong! It's such a beautiful area and I will certainly go back the first chance I got! In fact it's already in Japan Trip No. 2 Plan! So I get off from the train and this guy, according to the message he had sent me, is supposed to pick me up but I need to let him know I'm there. There's a telephone both right next to the station and I have some change. I try the damn number but there's a massage in Japanese which, of course, I don't understand a word of it! I don't know how he expected me to call them! The thing about the mobile phones in Japan is you cannot use them for calling. They're only for use of Internet. That's what I was told when my SIM card was sold to me. 

So, now the call isn't going through and I wonder what I shall do. It's a hot afternoon in Kyoto and not very pleasant like most of the days I was in Japan, in terms of weather! I started walking to the hotel through the small town. I took some 20 minutes. The problem is the hotel's check-in time is 18:00 and I'm there around 14:00, I think. So the lady whom I communicate with through translator(!) tell me that I can leave my bags there and come back at 18:00. I agree. What the hell else could I have done?! 

I go out and walk alongside Katsura River. It's a very beautiful area but before that I need to get some water. The lady gives me a bottle and then I buy another one from a convenience store. I spend the next 3 to 4 hours in Arashiyama area, walking and enjoying the beautiful area. There're lots of tourists but it's not bad. 

The path was really quiet, led to a short peak but I didn't finish it

Then I go back around 18:10 and tell the lady that I would be going out for a walk around 05:00 or so the next morning. One might ask why I did that. Why would the hotel wants to know what I'm doing at 05:00, the next morning?! What the hell business of them, that is?! The answer lays here: The rooms gets locked when you go in and the only way to open it is to call the office to ask to open it! The door had a small window, exactly like the ones in prison cell's, which you would be, probably served your meal at different times through the day! I still regret that I didn't take any photo of that but I guess I was so anxious to get out of there alive(!) that I forgot to snap a photo! Now the second question must arise: Why a hotel should have doors that lock when you go in and why those doors shall have cell windows?! The answer is in the last two words in the bracket after the hotel's name: This is a hotel that adults can do stuff! The room has a big double bed, perhaps even King size! It has painted pink and it has a TV with access to adult films! I think that is a mechanism to prevent the person to leave without paying, probably!  There was also a menu for cosplay! I was quiet shocked because this means that hotel has full control over you! What if in the morning they do not open the door and say I owe them something from the night before?! What if the person is out for any reason and I keep calling without any result!? This would not be very pleasant! 

with that kind of thought circling in my skull, I decided to give the number a call. I think it was a little passed 20:00 that I called and asked the warden(!) to let me out for a walk! She opened the door. It was already dark. I decided to try the other side of the town. There were a few lights seen in distance. I started walking parallel to the river and towards the lights. I noticed lots of people were jogging in pitch dark, next to the road, without any light or reflective clothing! It appeared that there were a few small Japanese style bistros and a convenience store. There was also a gate or as the Japanese call it a Torii. I went back to the hotel, took a shower and went to the bed while was really uncomfortable. I woke up early in the morning as I wanted to go for a walk and see the famous bamboo forest. Happily it was not very busy and by the time I got there, which was only a few minutes walk, there were only a few people. I then continued on the trail to the point that there was no one at all. The path led to a local summit, not too tall, but beautiful and uncrowded. I didn't reach it as I feared I might be lost(!) and I also needed to check out in the afternoon and go south. So went back down and toward the hotel. A sandwich was ready for me upon my arrival, which although not the type I usually eat, it saved me time and money and gave me some strength. I took a shower and then asked the jail guard(!) to open the door. Here I had been told that I needed to pay ¥200 upon departure as a kind of tax. I paid the amount and then asked the lady about a cab. She asked a guy who could be her husband to give me a ride to the train station. It saved lots of walking and probably some taxi fare. 

I know I will be going back to the area once day soon because I would like to see more of Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and all the smaller communities in the area and do at least a couple of hike and lots of photography but I don't think I will stay in that hotel, despite the good service that I received and the price I paid. It's simply not worth the stress I got because that's all a trip is about being from stress and relax.

(Photo, top: Togetsukyo Bridge at Arashiyama over Katsura River. I will go to the other side, next time!)