Autumn Colour cruise in Laurentians, Quebec, Canada

Laurentian Mountains [Laurentides in French] 

The Laurentian mountains are one of the famous colored leaves spots in Quebec province in Canada.
The Laurentian Mountains are included in the "Maple Route" which is a famous route for autumn colours.
The Maple Route is about 800 km from Niagara to Quebec city.
Laurentians is located about 60 km north of Montreal.
It takes about 45 minutes to go to Laurentians from Montreal.
The tour bus arrived at Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts in Quebec province.

 

We took a tour bus from Montreal.

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Arrived in Sante-Agathe-des-Monts.

 

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We walked to the harbour.

It's 60 - 90 minutes boat cruise called "Lac des Sables".

We can enjoy the colored leaved of the Laurentian mountains.
The boat moves slowly on the Lake (Lac des Sables). 

 

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-  Lac des Sables Cruise - 

 

 

coloured Maple leaves of the Laurentian mountains.

(The view from the boat cruise) 

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Tour bus stopped by Saint Sauveur village.

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A beautiful Catholic church "Paroisse St-Sauver" 

in Saint Sauveur village.

The shops and houses in the town were decorated with Halloween goods.

 

 

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Tour bus came back to Montreal.

Episode of the Autumn colours tour of the Laurentian mountains

It was our dream to see the coloured leaves of Maple route in Quebec. So we booked the excursion for Laurentians at tourist information in Montreal.

We went to the Laurentian Mountains from Montreal by tour bus. It took about 45 minutes to go to Laurentians from Montreal.
The tour bus arrived at Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts in Quebec province. As soon as we got off the bus, we could see the colored leaves in the town. So we were already excited to see such a colourful scenery. But we were really looking forward to discovering a boat cruise in Laurentians, so we hurried to go to the harbor.
It's 60 - 90 minutes boat cruise on the lake called "Lac des Sables" in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts. The boat takes time and move slowly on the lake. At the beginning of the cruise, we were just surprised to see the huge scale of colored leaves of the Laurentian mountains. Maple leaves were coloured such as orange, yellow and red. Those colourful scenery spreaded all directions! We lost our words. We were captivated by the beauty of the maple trees of the Laurentian mountains.
The scenery was too beautiful from each angle and that made us to take photos at every moment. As a result, we took a lot of pictures.　:-)
After our excitement calmed down, we finally could enjoy the autumn colour quietly. The cruise was very calm, tranquil, relaxing and peaceful. We felt like that time stopped at that moment.

On the way to go back to Montreal, the tour bus stopped by Saint Sauveur village. We had a little bit of free time there so we walked around the town.
There was a beautiful Catholic church called "Paroisse St-Sauver" in Saint Sauveur village. The shops and houses in the town were decorated with Halloween goods, so we could enjoy the autumn more.
Saint Sauveur was very pretty town. Saint Sauveur has full of autumn colors.
We could also enjoy the peaceful time in Saint Sauveur. 

We really enjoyed the splendid and colourful Laurentian mountains. We had calm, relaxing and beautiful time in Laurentians, Quebec!


Information

The tour Tomo&Chouchou joined through the tourist information in Montreal.
The Autumn colours tour of the Laurentian mountains - Excursions

The boat cruise in Laurentians（50 - 90 minutes）
Croisières Alouette - Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Laurentides
http://croisierealouette.com/en  (English or French)

Fukiware Falls (Fukiware-no-Taki) in Gunma, Japan

Fukiware Falls [Japanese: Fukiware-no-taki：吹割の滝] is called as "Niagara falls in the Orient [Japanese: 東洋のナイアガラ]".

Fukiware Falls is one of the Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls.
Location : in Gunma prefecture [Japanese: 群馬県]


 

Got off the tour bus

 

 

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Walked in Fukiware Canyon (or Katashina Canyon)

[Japanese: Fukiware-Keikoku: 吹割渓谷 or Katashina-Keikoku: 片品渓谷].

 

 

We could start to see a part of Fukiware Falls.
We could see the waterfall crevice,

but we couldn't see whole Fukiware Falls from here.

 

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Walked more.

Water drops into the cracks between two mass of rocks.
We could also see the bridge behind the Fukiware Falls from here.

 

 

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Walked more.

We could see the V-shaped rock erosion and basin under the waterfall.

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Near the Fukiware Falls

There was a stream near the Fukiware Falls.

 

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Walked along the stream.

 

 

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We found interesting things.

the first one

A part of the cliff looks like a human face.

 

 

Could you find a face? 

 

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For Tomo, it looked like a eggplant-shaped face with fat lips.
  

 The second one. 

Do you see something?

This rock is officially called "rock of female demon's mask [Japanese: Hannya-iwa: 般若岩]".
 

 

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For Tomo, they looked like a ghost or death.

She saw two scary faces with big mouths open.

 

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After we went further,

we found the Masutobi Falls [Japanese: Masutobi-no-taki: 鱒飛の滝]

 

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We went back to the tour bus. 

Episode of Fukiware Falls

Tomo & Chouchou went to Fukiware falls [Fukiware-no-taki; 吹割の滝] in Gunma prefecture with a bus tour. Fukiware Falls are called as "Niagara falls in the Orient" and also one of the Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls.
Tomo & Chouchou have been to the Niagara Falls in Canada. So we were excited to see the "Niagara Falls in the Orient" in Japan.
In the photo of the travel brochure, water flows into the crack between two mass of rocks. It didn't look same as the Niagara Falls but it was rare for us to see such waterfalls. That excited us a lot.
After getting off the bus, we walked in Fukiware Canyon [Fukiware-Keikoku; 吹割渓谷]. Fukiware Canyon is also called Katashina Canyon (Katashina-Keikoku; 片品渓谷].
We could start to see a part of Fukiware Falls. We could see the waterfall crevice but we couldn't see whole Fukiware Falls from there.
After walking more, we started to see that water drops into the cracks between two mass of rocks. We could also see the bridge behind the Fukiware Falls.
After going ahead more, we could see the V-shaped rock erosion and basin under the waterfall.
Fukiware Falls is about 7m high and 30m in width and located around the middle of the Katashina river. We were moved to see such special waterfalls. We wanted to approach closer to the eroded rift but it was slippery and dangerous, so we couldn't approach more.
There was a stream near the Fukiware Falls. While walking along the stream, we found interesting things. Tomo has lots of imaginations, so she could see some faces on the rocks. Rock of female demon's mask [Hannya-iwa; 般若岩] was very scary. 

We wanted to go further to see more but we had to go back to the tour bus. It was anyway enjoyable to see the colored leaves and to discover the Fukiware Falls. 

Tomo & Chouchou's advice for Fukiware Falls

1) If you go forward further from Rock of female demon's mask [Hannya-iwa], you will find the Masutobi Falls [Masutobi-no-taki; 鱒飛の滝].
Tomo & Chouchou didn't have so much time to look around in Fukiware Canyon because of the tour schedule. But there are so many attractive places to see around the Fukiware Falls. So we advise you to take time and look around there.
For example, you can visit several bridges, all the three waterfall view spots, and the god of mountain called "Jyuni-sama; 十二様". You can also see the Wedded Rock (Meoto-iwa; 夫婦岩) and the wide rock called "Senjo-jiki; 千畳敷".

2) The Fukiware Falls is the good place to see the colored leaves too.
It is very soothing place and it helps to reduce stress. Please enjoy free negative air ionization therapy!

Information

Address: Tonemachi-Okkai, Numata, Gunma [群馬県沼田市利根町追貝]
Access:  It takes for 40 minutes from JR Numata station [JR沼田駅] by Kanetsu Kotsu Bus [関越交通バス] direction to Kamata, Tokura, Oshimizu [鎌田・戸倉・大清水方面行].  Get off at "Fukiware-no-taki [吹割の滝]" bus stop and walk 10 minutes.
Free access 
Best time for colored leaves:  from end of Oct. to beggining of Nov.
Attention! The path along the waterfalls is closed from December to March.


Other places in Gunma, Japan

- Oze Marshland [Ozegahara] hike

- Mt.Motoshirane hike & Yugama in Kusatsu