Laos — Tad Sae Waterfalls (ຕາດແສ້), Luang Prabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ/ຫຼວງພະບາງ), Laos — part 1 of 4
Time for some more waterfalls
September 2015
I enjoyed my visit to the Kuang Si Waterfall (ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ ກວາງຊີ) so much that the next day I arranged for the same taxi and driver to take me to the Tad Sae Waterfalls (ຕາດແສ້), Luang Prabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ/ຫຼວງພະບາງ), Laos. The falls do not run all year, so check that there is enough water at the falls before you go.
The taxi picked me up from the hotel — Le Bel Air Resort — at 10 am, and we headed off. The roads out of town were very quiet.
We left the main road after about 20 minutes and bounced our way down some dirt tracks. My back took another hammering from the rough roads.
We arrived at the drop-off point in a village about half an hour after we left Le Bel Air Resort.
At the village, I had to take a 5-minute boat ride across the Nam Khan River (there was a charge).
I spent around 2 hours exploring the falls — I could have stayed longer.
My first sight of the falls was disappointing. I had a ‘Is that it?’ moment, but what I had seen was the outflow of the falls into the Nam Khan River.
We moored up, and I headed up towards the falls.
As I got off the boat, there was a Tad Sae Waterfall map, which didn’t look very promising. I finally worked out the ‘river’ along the bottom of the map was the waterfalls and pools.
The walk-in didn’t look very promising. It seemed very dry, and there were only a few people about.
Some exhibits and attractions seemed abandoned.
And then I found the start of the falls.
And my first pool — with an elephant!
As I walked on, the water flow increased, and the scenery changed. But I kept feeling that the place was a little run down.
I followed the trails, and the sound, to the main part of the falls.
One thing that was very popular at the falls, and I was not expecting to see, was elephant riding, and part 2 is all about the elephants in the falls.
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