This was taken on the Huihang Ancient Trail (徽杭古道) — an ancient passageway that people used to travel between provinces back in the day.

I was just there for a Toastmasters club outing. At the time, I was fanatically shooting film on a Canon AE-1P with a manual lens.

We'd already passed the village and walked further up to cross over to the next section. I randomly decided to look back for no reason — and that was when my gut feeling hit. I was led by instinct to the exact spot where I stood and I saw the pathway leading into the village. A serendipitous feeling.

I raised my camera, adjusted my focus, snapped, and moved on. I couldn't see it anyway.

When I got the scans back — the scene was better than I remember seeing it. Shot with Portra 400, I loved how organic the colors were rendered. I'm sure the feeling would be different if I shot digital. It'd be impossible to recreate.

Every time I look at it, it still has the same draw...drawing me in and showing me the passage home.