Hiking in the snow (new and fun experience 20241208)

 From Li Kun

Last weekend, my friends and I came to Oku-Nikko. Luckily, it snowed, so I had a surprising experience to hike in the snow!

京都-Kyoto (a charming city at Autumn)

 Form Kun Li.

The last time when I came to Kyoto was in March 2023. But I did not find any feature of Kyoto, just a big city. Recently, I travelled at Kyoto again at the end of November due to the conference. And luckily, the best time to view the autumn leaves in Kyoto is at the end of November this year. For this time, I realized how charming Kyoto is and why Kyoto is popular at Autumn.

嵐山 祐斎亭 (Arashiyama Yusai-Tei Gallery)

I booked ticket of Arashiyama Yusai-Tei Gallery a month in advance. To be honest, I wanted to visit Rurikō-in (瑠璃光院), But there was no any available tickets. In that case, Arashiyama Yusai-Tei Gallery was a candidate of Rurikō-in. the ticket fee of Arashiyama Yusai-Tei Gallery is very high at Autumn, 3000yen/ a person. Although views in Arashiyama Yusai-Tei Gallery is beautiful, I still think the fee is too high.

大河内山荘庭園

This is really nice courtyard. the fee is 1000yen/a person. I think this is a very worthwhile courtyard to visit, the scenery is really beautiful in autumn.

丹波篠山 - 洞光寺 

（とうこうじ）

京都南丹龍穩寺

These two temples have the most beautiful red leaves I have ever seen.

Because Kyoto in autumn is so beautiful, each temple I visited has its own characteristics. The video below is my short summary. There are also temples I visited that are not mentioned in the video, such as 

圓光寺｜Zuiganzan Enkouji Temple

.

In any case, Kyoto in autumn is worth a visit. If you have time, don't miss Kyoto in autumn.

Autumn scenery——尾瀬国立公園

 From Li Kun.

October is the autumn season. As I know, Oze National Park (尾瀬国立公園) is a great place to hike.

 The hiking route we chosen is from Oshimizu (大清水) to Hatomachi （鳩待峠). It takes about nine hours. Of cause, we slept in hut at Oze. 

If you want to go home on the same day, you can choose Hatomachi as starting and come back from Ozegahara (尾瀬ヶ原, the most beautiful view at Oze). In that case, you do not need to sleep in hut at Oze. But at the same time, you will also lose the fun of hiking.

新潟県—佐渡島

 From Li Kun.

新潟

I was in Niigata and Sado from September 24th to September 29th due to the 73rd Symposium on Macromolecules. This was my first time  to participate in such huge conference in Japan. 

There was no opening and closing ceremonies. We can check the schedule online, and you can choose any oral presentation and poster to learn. Interestingly, I did not need google map to find the path from Niigata station to Niigata University because a lot of students were in the train.

Fried pork cutlet is one of the specialties at Niigata. Oku told me that Soba is one of the specialties at Niigata, not fried pork cutlet. The menu in the restaurant notes that fried pork cutlet and soba are "新潟の名物". But, I don't know whether "名物" should be translated to "specialty" or not. Anyway, Fried pork cutlet is really delicious, but Soba is tasted average, I think. Perhaps I just like eating meat.

Luckily, weather was great when I was at Niigata. I saw the beautiful sunset! 

After conference, I had a short time(4.5 h) to rent a car. First, I climbed a mountain (角田山, Kakudayama). There are three trailhead: Tajima Trailhead, 五りん石登山口, and 湯の腰登山口. According to comments, views from 湯の腰登山口 is most beautiful. But, starting from Tajima Trailhead, the route is the shortest. Because I had no enough time, I chosen Tajima Trailhead. It took me about an hour and a half to go up and down the mountain. Views is not bad.

Then, I was going to 角田岬灯台. Here you can feel the charm of the sea. On the other hand, you can enjoy the sunset if you are lucky.  

I had no enough time, so the video of sunset was incomplete.

佐渡島

Vishal, his wife and I went to Sado by boat. This was my first time traveling with foreigners, no any Chinese.

On the boat back from Sado, I saw the beautiful sunset again!

I learned a lot while traveling with Vishal, but I also felt that my English skills were lacking (Of cause, I always know, but it really hard to improve my English,). 

At the end of November this year, I have chance to travel with Vishal. But he have made another schedule with his wife when I asked him today (So sad!!!!!). 

Who can travel with me? This is a burning question for me!