Kuang Si Falls, Laos: A Tourist Trap Worth Seeing

Valeriya
Valeriya
Sep 5, 2018 · 3 min read

Walk around Luang Prabang for more than ten minutes and a dozen of tuk-tuk drivers will offer to take you to the waterfalls. And even though there are at least three in the area, they mean only one: Kung Si.

Normally, when so many people talk so eagerly about a place, it always turns out to be overwhelmed by tourists. However, it was one of those days when I just decided to just go with the flow and follow the masses. I jumped on one of the mini-busses passing through our hostel that took us to the waterfall park, located 29 km south of the city.

Kuang Si is a 50-meter waterfall that flows through tropical rain-forest and limestone rocks, forming spectacular azure pools on its way down.

Legend has it that a wise old man summoned the water by digging into the earth. After the waters came to Kuang Si, a golden deer appeared and made its home under a big rock protruding from the falls. The sound from the water falling on this rock was so enchanting that it drew people to the waterfall from far away. Kuang Si got its name from this legend. “Tat” means waterfall, “Kuang” means deer and “Si” means to dig.

Most of the people didn’t go further than the waterfall. They either decided to chill in one of the pools or have a beer at the picnic tables in the forest. I decided to explore further up. From the right side of the falls, I climbed a muddy, unkempt, worn trail. After about 30 minutes hiking up through captivating jungle vegetation, I reached the top where a spectacular view of the valley awaited me. I was surprised that the place was almost tourist free. It was so empty that I finally decided it won’t be so embarrassing to use the selfie stick my mum gave me.

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Valeriya

Written by

Valeriya

A Marketing Professional and adventure lover driven by intellectual curiosity🤓

Dare to Travel Alone

Dare to Travel Alone is devoted to promoting the beauty of traveling solo.

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