If you come to Luang Prabang and do not see the Kuang Si Waterfall, it would be like going to Seattle and not seeing the Space Needle, or South Dakota and not seeing Mount Rushmore, or Paris and the Eiffel Tower. It's one of many beautiful spots here in Laos and maybe the world.
It's easy to get there. I love bicycling, but it's too far for me to do that because I don't like going so far. Some people do pedal the whole way, but it will take a long time. It's a good ride on a motorcycle because you'll get to ride through the green tropical jungle, enjoying nature the entire way. There are lots of vans and other less-than-comfortable rides like tuk-tuks to get you there, too.
The new parking lot is a big improvement because it's safe, free, and provides an electric shuttle van up the rest of the hill to the entrance. You can eat before you hike up, but if you want to swim and look good with your shirt off, maybe it would be better to eat after you're done. My buddy Danie here from New Zealand couldn't wait, so we ate before we went up. They have the typical Lao/Thai food here.
They charge 15,000 kip for locals and 25,000 kip for tourists to enter. Both prices are about a dollar, so it's not too expensive to get in. The biggest expenses will be your food and transportation. It's nice that they let kids shorter than 120cm enter for free.
We were going to rent this electric ride, but the owner said these are just for going around town and don't have the battery life to make it to the waterfall and back. My daughter still had fun sitting in the passenger seat, though. We ended up renting an old-school Honda Dream motorcycle. My friend tried to ride it at first, but changing gears by foot was new to him, so I drove most of the way, which is usually fine with a local, but two heavy foreigners is a lot to ask for small bikes, so if you're big like we are, it might be better for each person to have their own bike.
It seems easier to find one of these shuttle vans on the way up from the parking lot than it is on the way back. When waiting to go back to the parking lot, when you're done seeing the falls, it's interesting to see how people will segregate themselves by nationality or appearance. Maybe it's because many people come in tour groups, or maybe they like hearing a familiar language. I always find it interesting being around a language I have never heard before.
You'd better have your ticket ready. If you forgot to get one, you'll have to shamefully go all the way back to the parking lot to get one and come on back up.
I wish I could say this was my drone and I took some epic photos and videos to share with you here, but I've sadly never earned enough for a drone yet. I will one day soon, I hope. I would love nothing more than to make cool Hive posts and YouTube videos just traveling the globe, but things haven't gotten to that level for me yet. My YouTube channel is a joke with less than a hundred subscribers, and a really good Hive post will only earn about $5 in liquid cash for me so going out and having adventures costs way more than a post could ever payout, but I have faith that one day people like you and I will be making a living off our Hive posts sharing things that we are passionate about. What's it gonna take for us to get there? One million active users? $15 per HIVE? I don't know, but it feels like we have the technology. We have the rocket ready to blast off, but we just don't have the money or the gas to launch yet.
This is where the warning sign that says don't jump off, but everybody jumps off anyway. The water is deep where you jump from, so you can dive in safely.
Danie and I were hungry after hiking and swimming up to the waterfall, so we hit up a rice field restaurant on the way back to town. We also slammed down of couple of big Beerlaos. It was good to hang out with him again. We met in Bangkok, teaching English back in 2008, and have been friends ever since. We've now met up in three asian countries: 🇹ðŸ‡Thailand, 🇰🇵Korea, and 🇱🇦Laos. I'm not sure where or when we'll see each other again, but I'm sure we'll be lifelong friends.
Thanks for reading about our trip to the waterfall today. I imagine this was a very special surprise to anyone who'd never seen it back in the day, before it was a tourist trap, and their friend just dragged them through the jungle to see it. There are also some lesser-known waterfall spots in Luang Prabang that only locals know about, so you can enjoy nature with more privacy if you can find them.