Day 4 - kuang si waterfall

Kuang Si Waterfall is beautiful. Multiple levels of waterfall near the bottom, reminds me of Krka National Park in Croatia.

There is a bear sanctuary at the entrance of the park, an interesting stop.

Various types of bears. Don't recognize the grey one at the end.

Several small waterfalls make this a beautiful park.

The hike gets more serious after the second swimming area.

There is a post online that talks of a secret pool after passing a fence. This is a nice quiet area we found, not sure if it's the one mentioned on the post. We didn't jump in here though.

Heading into the cave!

It's really dark, and there are no signs or descriptions, so you don't really know how deep it goes. We did get to the end where we could no longer fit in the path forward.

A nice big swing outside the cave.

There is a swimming area just 5 minutes away from the cave. Ivan tries out the rope swing here to swing into the pool. Fun!

A learned how to clear the moss with a long bamboo stick.

Three ladies in pink hiking back down.

We decided to stop at the second swimming spot and take another dip. The emerald water is so inviting, can't resist!

The water is cold here. Ivan's legs cramped up a few times, likely due to the cold water.

The fish really nibbles at your legs and feet, it's quite a weird feeling.

This big tree looks like it's made of many skinny trees.

Megan tries out her new pants from the night market. It's very common here.

Kuang Si Falls near Luang Prabang is beautiful! No wonder it’s the #1 day-trip destination from Luang Prabang. Swimming next to the waterfalls was awesome. Cold, but awesome!

Voyagers tips: You can book a tuk-tuk or car/van to the waterfall, it’s about a 45min ride. A private tuk-tuk is about 300k, we booked a private van for 350k for a more comfortable ride without smelling the exhaust. It’s definitely best to book private transportation to allow flexibility on return time, as you just don’t know how much time you want there. Many group tours only allow 1.5 - 2 hours there; we ended up spending over 5 hours there. Take the time to climb up to the cave and the swimming spot next to it, it’s worth the hike. The cave was scary and you couldn’t see much, but it was an experience. A 5-minute hike away is a nice swimming spot with a rope swing. We spent time there and met some great travelers there. If you’re just spending two hours near the bottom, sandals are find and they’re easier to put on after swimming. If you want to go to the top to the cave area, sneakers are best.