Spring and Fall are Kyoto's glorious seasons, and although this season's foilage is said to be weak, it seems that I'm getting loads of great pictures every time I go out (and am going out a lot, since it's so nice and there are so many wonderful places close by).

I'd posted many nice photos when I wrote about our summer trip to Ryouanji. Ryouanji (龍安寺 — the Ryouan Temple) is a small temple tucked in near the mountains in the north-west part of Kyoto, near its more famous tourist-spot brother, Kinkakuji (金閣寺 — the Golden Pavilion).

A week ago when the fall colors were in their peak, we went back and were re-astounded at how beautiful it was. My previous post of a wonderful fall scene at Ryouanji is from that trip, and this time I'll show a few more.

We were also astounded at how uncrowded it still was — compare with the madhouse I described in an earlier post about Nanzenji.

Comparison: Summer and Fall at Ryouanji

Here are a few pairs of photos, from roughly the same vantage points....

Many Beautiful Scenes

It was a bit hazy, so the lighting was weak, but just look at the range of colors above these steps. A small tour group of mostly elderly ladies had just passed us.

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At the mini shrine on the island in the middle of the lake

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Fumie & Anthony looking through a gateway to some spectacular colors. (My previous post showed the view through the gate). Note the pattern in the gravel path leading up to the gate? The criss-cross pattern is made by the gravel having been wetted down. I'd love to see how they did it so perfectly neatly. It's a suburb effect.

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Anthony at the gateway

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Fumie & Anthony at another type of gate, on the other side of the lake

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Above the path leading out

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Perhaps I'm easily self-impressed, but there are so many shots I like that I can hardly contain myself. Also, don't miss the summer version as well.

Next up: climbing Mt. Daimonji in eastern Kyoto.