Kuang Si Falls

Isabelle et Jérémie southeast asia …

02 mars 2015

This morning, after a good breakfast, we tried to catch a tuk tuk to go to Kuang Si Falls. There are a dozen tuk tuk drivers trying to take you there but you have to negotiate the price and find other people to join you, so you can have a better price.
We found Mona, a German girl, and she found a group of (stupid) French people. Two Belgian guys joined us too. In total, we were 9 people for a return trip at 30 000 Kip each (which is pretty good).
The waterfalls are located 29 kilometres south of Luang Prabang (a 50 minutes trip) but we wished we had paid more just to avoid the horrible French people's pretentious talks :-(
Kuang Si Falls is a three tier waterfall. The falls begin in shallow turquoise pools and lead to the main fall with a 60 metres cascade. This is one of the most beautiful waterfalls we have seen so far. The surroundings are lush and peaceful.
On the way to the waterfalls, there is a bear rescue centre. Created in 1995 by an Australian woman, the centre cares for 23 Asiatic Black Bears (they are so cute!). Most of the bears arrive at the rescue centre as very young cubs having been confiscated by the Lao Government from illegal poaching and trading. It is likely that they would otherwise have been destined for a life of torture in a "bile farm" outside of Laos (they are making some pills with bear bile...).
We climbed on top of the main waterfall (a very steep walk) and had a swim once we got down. The water was really cold (very refreshing) but so beautiful! We really loved it. After 3 hours, we went back in tuk tuk and had a fruit shakes and a sandwich with Mona.
After a break in the guesthouse, we went for dinner in a busy restaurant to have all you can eat BBQ / hotpot (on ember). It was so delicious and copious! It was unlimited ice cream and fruits as well :-)