Autumn Leaves in Kyoto

Trip Start Sep 20, 2006
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Trip End Aug 17, 2007


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Thursday, November 23, 2006

Today, I was supposed to go to Kyoto to see the autumn leaves with some of my friends, but last night at about 11:00, I emailed the guy leading the trip and found out that he couldn't go. But I decided to go alone because I heard that the autumn leaves in Kyoto are extremely famous and it was the best week to go. Plus, I really needed a day with just me and God anyway, so I was actually kind of excited about going alone. But I had to do a lot of research because there are SO many tourist sites (mainly temples) in Kyoto, and I had no idea where to go. But I stopped by the tourist center when I got to Kyoto, asked some questions, got a map in English/Japanese, and just choose an area to go to.

By the way, the autumn leaves in Japan are amazing, even in Osaka where I live. I have never seen anything like them. Well, in El Paso where I grew up, we don't really have much of an autumn 01-Manshuin Temple 1
01-Manshuin Temple 1
 . And in College Station where my university is, I thought it was awesome my freshman year, but it is nothing compared to Japan's fall foliage. Be sure to take a look at the pictures with this entry.

So, I decided to go to north-east Kyoto. First, I visited 3 temples that were close to each other: Manshuin Temple, Enkoji Temple, and Shisendo Temple, and I think Enkoji Temple was my favorite. There was a garden in the center where every tree was colorful and every color was included: red, orange, yellow, and green. Also, there was a trail to go up behind the temple, and I was able to see it from above. It was beautiful!

Then, I took a bus south, and went to 2 other temples (Tenjuan Temple and Eikando Temple) for the "light up". In Kyoto, some of the temples have an "autumn light up" which means that they open again after dark and shine lights on the autumn leaves. It was really amazing! It was a really great day, but I was a little bit tired of temples by the end. It is crazy that all of the great autumn leave spots are in or around temples, and you have to pay each time you enter one.
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