Laos 2015: Kuang Si waterfall

Luang Prabang is famous for its many Buddhist temples, but there is more to see. Nearby are two nice waterfalls. During our recent stay we visited one of them, the Kuang Si waterfall, located about 30 km south-west of the town. A tuk-tuk took us in about  45 minutes to the entrance of the park. The park is not far from the Mekong river.

GE map

The park is a popular tourist attraction with restaurants and shops. Entrance ticket is 20.000 Kip (~ RM 10). We decided to have lunch first.

From the entrance it is about a twenty minute walk to the main fall. On our way we saw nice torch gingers and interesting trees.

Then there was the waterfall. And what a spectacular waterfall it was! A real wow-experience.

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The water is tumbling down in numerous cascades and has formed throughout the ages walls and ridges of what is called travertine , a kind of limestone.

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In the dry season, there is much less water, but now it was very powerful, with a mist of water at the main cascade. Here are a few more pictures. Officially your are not allowed to climb up, but of course some people do. Irresponsible and dangerous, but the photographic effect is dramatic (click on right pic to enlarge).

Here is a video of the main fall

Downstream from the main fall there are several places where you can swim in the attractive milky-blue water. Well organised, there are changing booths and toilets. Travertine rock is solid and not sharp, easy to walk on it.

Of course we had to take a swim too…:-). The water was not very cold, and it was quite special to swim in this milky water.

Ok, one more video. To prove that I really took a swim. And that at my age, I don’t take risks…:-)

It was a very rewarding trip. Not to be missed when you visit Luang Prabang!

 

3 thoughts on “Laos 2015: Kuang Si waterfall

  1. Hi Jan, when where you in Luang Prabang? We just left a few days ago, but we’re so singularly obsessed with finding a motorbike to buy that we didn’t see the falls! Now i wish we had – they look beautiful.

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