Kuang Si Falls is one of the central highlights – if not the highlight – when visiting Luang Prabang. What landlocked Laos lacks in beaches and coastline, it makes up for with these incredibly mystical, crystal clear blue falls. I never came across a single person at the falls who wasn’t unquestionably blown away by them.
You have essentially two options for the journey from Luang Prabang to Kuang Si Falls: a private tuk-tuk driver or a shared van. The private tuk-tuk will cost you around 180,000-200,000 kip ($22-25 USD) to drop you off at the base of the falls, wait for you to hike and enjoy the surroundings, and drive you back to Luang Prabang at the end of it. The advantage of the tuk-tuk ride is that you have total control over the time frames, and you could split with a group to make it cheaper for each person.
The other option is a shared van, which is available to book through virtually every place of accommodation in Luang Prabang. I booked a ride through my hostel – Downtown Backpackers – which cost me around 60,000 kip ($7 USD) total for the whole day. The van picks you up in mid-morning and drops you off again in mid-afternoon. It’s considerably cheaper than the tuk-tuk ride so I chose this option. Plus, they don’t rush you at all – you have more than enough time to make a splash at the falls.
Once you arrive at the base of the falls, you pay a small entrance fee of 20,000 kip (less than $3 USD) and walk through a beautiful jungle for about 15-20 minutes to get there. On your side along the way is a bright blue stream which eventually leads to the falls. There’s tons of tinier, more remote waterfalls along the way that were just so stinkin’ pretty to look at. Its definitely crowded here as everybody wants to see the magical falls for themselves, but there’s plenty of areas along the way where you can venture off and get a quiet moment to yourself. There’s also lots of trees, cliffs, and platforms to do some cliff jumping and diving into the pools if you like that sort of thing! There’s a seemingly random bear sanctuary on your way to the falls as well, where you can get up close with Asiatic black bears, an endangered species.
Once you reach the falls, prepare to be amazed. Huge, striking, and powerful, the falls demand your attention. I stood there in awe for several minutes, watching the energetic water pound into the pools below. Sun rays streams through the jungle to create this glow at the falls that just can’t quite be captured with photos. Guess you’ll have to go for yourself to see what I’m talking about ;).
If you want more of an adventure, when facing the falls, there’s a trail just to the right that takes you on a short but intense ascent to a view of a vast valley. I made it about halfway before my sandals broke in the mud and turned around, though people coming down told me I was really missing out. I suggest you wear gym shoes for your visit to Kuang Si, it can get muddy and footing can be difficult without them!
I made my way back to the entrance of the falls where my van was waiting for our group to return to the hostel. There’s lots of local food options (imagine whole fish, pig parts, chickens smoking on a tiny grill) here but I was vegetarian at the time and ate packaged cookies because that was my only choice, haha. Kuang Si made me fall deeper in love with Laos, if that was even possible!
