Fall-time in Kyoto...

Kinkakuji Temple... more commonly known as the Golden Pavilion.  Katie and I spent the weekend in Kyoto.  It was one of my goals to check out as many of the cities around Japan during the Fall this year... since it would be my LAST!  Kyoto was definitely number 1 on my list, and it definitely held up to its high expectations!  Many other visitors had the same idea as we did, so it was extremely crowded.  The first day we went to the Golden Pavilion, a huge tour of Japanese high school girls were all running around and giggling, so it was hard to actually enjoy it.  I decided to go a second time on Sunday before I headed back home.  It was definitely worth going again!  The reflection pond in front of the pavilion was amazingly still the first day, but due to the storm that was coming, kind of choppy the second time. 

The colorful leaves framed the pictures perfectly!  Definitely worth seeing in the Fall!

View of the pavilion from on top of the hill behind it. 

Kiyomizudera Temple does a night illumination of the leaves during the fall.  This temple is located on a hill on the Southeast side of Kyoto.  From the wooden deck high above the trees on the hillside, we were able to have a great view of Kyoto's skyline.  The weather was definitely holding out for us.

I liked all the candles, lights and lanterns all over the temple illuminating it.  Such a cool ambiance!

View of the Temple's wooden deck and the Kyoto Tower in the distance.  The clouds looked pretty cool at night.

Katie and I 

The Otowa Waterfall is located at the base of the Kiyomizudera Temple.  Its waters are divided into 3 separate streams.  Each stream's water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life.  However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy.  I definitely did as I was supposed to... hmm can you guess which one I drank from?  :)

Kyoto Tower up close