September 10th, 2019
After the free breakfast we went out to find a motorbike rental for the day. There are some waterfalls in the area we wanted to check out as well as do some shopping to get ready for our 2 day boat ride to Thailand on a boat that apparently does not have any amenities. We got a bike and went to the first falls called Tad Sae Falls.
When you get there you park the bike and then get on a little narrow boat that takes you across and down the river a little ways to where the falls are. Between the parking, boat ride, and entrance to the park we ended up paying about $3.50 total.
We got there and immediately thought this was the prettiest waterfall we have ever been to. It wasn’t actually one waterfall, but lots of little falls and pools of water that cascade down through the trees and forest. The water is bright turquoise because it flows over limestone which has calcium carbonate particles that reflect light and make the water color bright blue. It was so very cool.
It brought the child out in me and I felt like I was in some fantasy land created by Walt Disney, as it didn’t look real. Even though the water was cold, I couldn’t help but jump in and swim around and explore all the cascading falls. It was so much fun! I even skinned my knee like you do when you’re a little kid playing. I jumped off a little waterfall and didn’t realize how shallow it was. I watched five other locals do it before me with no problem, but apparently they know how to jump better.
The other really awesome thing about this place was no one else was there. The five locals who jumped before me were there briefly, and other than that it was empty so we got unobstructed views and pictures of this magical place.
The next place we went to was called Kuan Si Falls, and the entrance there was only about $2. We first went through a rescue center for bears which was an unexpected surprise. We got to see some black bears lounging around and then went to the falls. This is the biggest and most known waterfall around Luang Prabang and where all the tours from town bring people. We got there and it was more beautiful bright blue cascading water through different pools and rocks. It was also super pretty, but I liked Tad Sae better because there wasn’t anyone there, and here there were too many tourists.
We kept walking and then realized what the main attraction was! A big beautiful falls at the end of the path.
Okay… this one now takes the cake as the most beautiful waterfall I have been to! It was gorgeous. We hiked up to a higher point in the falls until we couldn’t hike anymore without getting our socks and shoes wet. This place was super pretty and alone made our $100 visas to Laos worth it in my mind.
We stopped at a market and a couple places on the way back to town. Our idea was to get ingredients to make those awesome veggie sandwiches on our slow boat ride to Thailand. We could not find any avocados, which are the key ingredient. We went back to rest at the hotel before going back out to find a slow boat ticket for tomorrow, find avocados, and hike to the view point for sunset. I guess we were really tired, as we both fell asleep. I was kind of beat up from the waterfall with my knee and both feet getting scraped up so I suggested we stay another day in Luang Prabang to rest and do the view point tomorrow.