Kuang Si: Laotian travertine waterfalls that are simply must-see!

In Luang Prabang (Luang Phabang) in Laos, the Kuang Si Falls should be first on any visiting tourist’s itinerary! It’s an utterly unique-looking cascade of waterfalls and travertine terraces. Here’s the main waterfall (50+m high) ->

And the terraces farther downstream:

You can even swim:

Travertine terraces are a fairly rare natural phenomenon. The largest and best-known are the white terraces of Pamukkale and the Huanglong valley in China; there are also some in America’s Yellowstone, and in a few other places around the world. Apparently, the most magnificent travertine terraces in terms of both size and looks – the Pink and White Terraces – used to exist in New Zealand up until 140 years ago – but they were done in by yet another eruption of the nearby volcano.

Surprise! It turns out there’s a pretty sizable cascade of similar natural formations in Laos too:

If you play around with your camera settings and set a slightly longer exposure, you get simply marvelous shots with “misty falling water”:

The falls are about 30km from the center of town (40–50 minutes by car – such is the speed of traffic around here), but you still absolutely have to go and see them! Once there, it’s only a short walk, slightly uphill (no shoot, Sherlock. Water does run down and fall off a cliff, after all:) ->

The aqua-contemplative wonders begin practically right away:

The narrow river runs through a forest, which adds even more contemplativeness to the views:

Right nearby they’ve set up small cafés, plus simple tables and benches for some civilized R&R:

And then we came to the main course:

The main waterfall is 50+ meters high and a stunning sight; for comfortable viewing, they’ve installed this here footbridge:

The view is just wonderful! You could stare at it for ages…

Alas, there’s just the one view of it. This isn’t Victoria Falls, where you can wander left and right – into Zambia and back into Zimbabwe – along the falls’ kilometer-and-a-half-long “curtain” of water. Here, you can only view it “head-on” or slightly from the side. Well, that, or you can play around with the various filters on your smartphones:

Oh, but wait – there’s a staircase leading up to the top of the cliff that this waterfall tumbles down. We just had to investigate – no matter the 500+ steps!

All those steps up a vertical climb of roughly a hundred meters. That might sound like nothing much, but the local climate makes a massive difference. There’s the sweltering tropical heat, the humidity, the jungle all around, and not even the slightest hint of a breeze. You make it to the top drenched. Take towels with you!…

Up top we found these little elevated huts built around tree trunks:

Up one we went, anticipating alternative views of the waterfall, but… it was nowhere to be seen behind all the greenery and tree branches!

What we did discover, though, were ziplines – with turns and changeovers running from the very top to the very bottom. Not bad! But, alas, those somehow weren’t in our plans…

Still, you can take a stroll along the suspended walkways:

And that was that – time to head back down, into the windless stuffiness and sweltering heat:

And what do you feel like after a stuffy, hot, wet trek up and down? That’s right! A beer swim! And there are a few little spots for that here. And not just for a quick dip, but for a proper swim in the currents – and even climbing into a little cave underneath a waterfall. My travel companion, SK, was brave enough to do it first – and he pulled it off! He managed to make it back out again too :)

My turn… Can you see me? Well, I’m in there somewhere :)

A splendid natural swimming pool!

Now here was something unexpected! There used to be bears in the jungle here! The particular species is called the Asian black bear or the moon bear – apparently on account of the white mark on its chest, which somewhat resembles a crescent moon. Anyway, the 20 or so that remain are kept at the local sanctuary, where, incidentally, I unexpectedly and at long last found out that, at the current stage of our planet-wide evolution, there are exactly eight different kinds of bear left in all (evidently, Wikipedia need some additional work).

// Needless to say, the bears here have been rendered in wildly off-the-mark scale and proportions )

In the wild, I’ve seen the Andean bear and the Kamchatka bear (of course). In zoos, I’ve admired lazy pandas and unhappy polar bears (I dream of seeing those in the wild) – and now the Asian black bear’s on the list too.

The sanctuary keeps something like a dozen males and eight females. They’re housed in buildings with cages like these:

Alas, the sanctuary’s size simply doesn’t allow for any additional offspring, which is why the boys and the girls are kept apart while the sanctuary waits for funding to develop additional land. Poor things. How curious that some species battle demographics in one direction – others in the other…

And now for the most interesting part: bear-feeding time! The moon bear, believe it or not, is a herbivore – even though the species is hardly meager (the males weigh up to 150kg, which is about half as much as a well-fed Kamchatka brown bear). Accordingly, for their mid-afternoon snack they’re served coconuts! Like these:

The coconuts had to be laid out around the bears’ grazing grounds – here:

The bears have loungers here, and hammocks, and all sorts of fun gizmos – a life of pure pleasure! There’s even a pool. Full-on bear spa resort!

With the coconut snacks laid out, it was time to await the guests at the feast:

Dinner is served!…

Oh, the cuties :)

Now that was quite a morning! A very full one. It was time for us to have lunch too – and here came yet another surprise. We walked a little way down along the utterly unpretentious lanes and turned into some kind of back alley, where local life is lived right out in the lane, with laundry drying on lines too:

When suddenly there was a sign: “Carpe Diem”, which turned out to be restaurant. Naturally, we seized the day chance!…

Through the entrance and… – oh my gorgeous! All around the eating area are those same little travertine basins and another swimming pool. There was also nice cooling mist from the splashing falls. In a word: perfect! And the food they brought us was pretty much similarly perfect. In all – a perfect morning in Laos!