Autumn foliage viewing

Hello all! Sorry for the long absence...sorry for causing any undue worries on your part especially since I kinda disappeared after the earthquake blog. Thanks for all your concern...I'm ok. My absence was due to preparing for my parents and uncle's visit and the actual visit, which I shall blog about later on. I have lots of backlog to blog about.

The Japanese are a little strange. In autumn, they travel around Japan, toting expensive SLRs with HUGE zoom lenses, to view and photograph autumn foliage (koyo). Even the weather segment during news programmes will announce where would be the best place to view autumn leaves in the coming days/weekend.

I took a 1 hour drive to Okutadami, which was recommended by a teacher as a good place for viewing autumn leaves. At Okutadami, there is a lake created by a dam surrounded by mountains and there are ferry services to let you enjoy the autumn foliage on the mountains. It was really pretty. The lake was a clear deep blue and the surrounding mountains were covered with brilliant hues of red, orange and yellow. These were some of the photos I managed to take while jostling with the hordes of camera-toting Japanese who arrived on tour coaches.

Dam

Other side of the dam