I went on short photo walks yesterday afternoon and this morning, at a cluster of temples near my place. It was quit pretty. I'd never been to the small Eisho-in Temple, and went yesterday on the recommendation of Tal (seen on this post) and found it to be exquisite at the height of fall colors.

I went back this morning with Damien, and we had the place all to ourselves.

I'll write more about it all later, but for today just a few representative from both days' ramblings. (You can see the paths I walked on Strava, here and here.)

I had quite the photogenic day on Monday, with a local outing in the morning to see a nearby temple's fall foliage, then a ride into the mountains to see by bicycle some of the places seen during the weekend's "First Taste of Kyoto’s Fall-Foliage Season, 2017 Edition" post.

Today's post is about the bicycle ride (view at Strava).

The photo that opens this post is the entrance path to the Koetsu-ji Temple (光悦寺), which I pass on the edge of town just before entering the mountains and making the climb toward Kyomi Pass. We first saw it on my [...]

I went out for a short photo jaunt with Damien, Paul, and Adrian yesterday to check out some of the fall color in the mountains of northwest Kyoto.

First we went through the rural Kumagahata area that was hard hit by a typhoon last month...

The road surface is back to normal; compare to this typical scene just after the typhoon.

I ride my bicycle on this road often (it's part of the Kyoto Heart Loop, for example) but had never noticed this weird bit of brick construction. At first I thought it might be the leftover foundation of some [...]

In Japanese, bicycling a full loop around Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is called 「ビワ1」("Biwa 1"), and depending on the route you take, is about 180~200km (112~124mi). It's a concept and phrase well known among cyclists, and even promoted by the Shiga Prefectural government, and that of various cities around the lake.

It's a lovely ride to do on a long summer day, with lots to see and enjoy, as I present in the story about the first time I did it 2½ years ago, in "Bicycle Ride Around Japan’s Largest Lake" (and its Part 2).

Part of what [...]

This past weekend Typhoon #21 of the season ("Lan") blew past, and it was quite the different experience from most. (It was the 21st typhoon in the western Pacific this year, but only the second or third to have much effect on Kyoto.)

It looked like it would make its closest approach to Kyoto late in the evening, so the day leading up to it was blustery and rainy. I find it fun to ride in weather like that, so just as I did a ride in the lead-up to a typhoon in August, I went out for a bicycle [...]