After about a week in Cambodia exploring Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, my friend Kayla and I boarded a plane bound for Laos. Our first stop in this new country would be Luang Prabang. In all sincerity I really didn’t put any extra effort into making to-do lists for each city we were visiting. Booking flights and accommodations while working full-time and packing up my life in South Korea was proving to be challenging enough. However, a friend had recently visited Luang Prabang and her Instagram feed from the trip had filled Kayla and I with enough wanderlust envy that we knew we had to add it to the travel itinerary.
We woke up bright and early on our first day in the cozy town of Luang Prabang ready for a day of chasing waterfalls. The Kuang Si Falls to be exact. We met a tuk tuk driver outside of our hotel who took us on a scenic drive through the countryside and up to the entrance to the falls. We quickly bought our tickets and started trekking.
In my time traveling, I’ve been lucky enough to see a whole host of sites that I’d call magical, but these falls deserved a category all their own.
Oddly enough, as you make your way down the path and through the trees you come across a bear rescue center. We took a few minutes to watch the handful of black bears playing in the trees, and then we continued on our trek.
Not too long after passing the bears we started to hear the trickling of the water. The sounds got stronger until we turned around one bend, and there they were. The bottom pools of the falls filled with the most incredible turquoise water I’d ever seen. It took every ounce of will power I had not to jump in right there without exploring any further.
After taking dozens of picture of the first look, we kept moving. The next few tiers of the waterfall were as magical as the first. I kept anticipating the top, every set of falls we saw I thought were the beginning. I was very wrong each time. We kept walking along the trail following a roar of water that was getting closer and closer, waking past a few more pools of crystal clear blue water. And then we found it. The start of the falls that filled the previous mile of pools we’d been admiring. Now, I’ve seen a lot of waterfalls in a lot of countries, but the Kuang Si Waterfalls were unmatched in their beauty.
As I mentioned, I hadn’t done a ton of research about the falls and was simply following a few Instagram posts. That said, I couldn’t have been more surprised by what was standing in front of me. A three-tier waterfall that stood two-hundred feet tall and led into the most beautiful pools of perfectly bluish-green water cascading down the white limestone, all surrounded by lush greenery which allowed just a hint of sunlight to glisten in. We were in paradise.
This time I was sure we’d made it to the end of the trail, but Kayla saw a sign pointing up the mountain that the path continued. She asked if I wanted to keep going, and quite frankly, I really didn’t. But, I wasn’t going to send her up the mountain alone, so I agreed to go with. And holy smokes, am I glad I did.
We hiked another twenty minutes up the trail of the steep mountain where the falls originated and followed the path across one log bridge and then another log bridge when we came across some other tourists. Somehow we managed to discover a little lagoon at the top of the falls tucked away from the groups of people we’d seen below.
Being hot from the hike, I jumped right into frigid water, enchanted by the setting we had found ourselves in. A hidden little swimming spot picturesquely canopied by tropical greenery. It was nature’s own infinity pool, and it was truly perfection.
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The town of Luang Prabang is utterly sweet and runs the length of a few square blocks. It’s a quiet town, but it is filled with restaurants and cafes, temples, and small shops. It also hosts one of the best night markets I’ve been to thus far.
While we only had a few short days in Luang Prabang, it quickly became one of my very favorite spots, and it’s the one I’ve been recommending the most to fellow travelers. Very simply, it’s a marvelous little town in Laos.
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bbm travels 