Laos — Tour — Kuang Si Waterfall (ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ ກວາງຊີ), Laos — the upper pools
Visiting the upper pools
September 2015
The lower pools at Kuang Si Waterfall (ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ ກວາງຊີ) had impressed me and as I headed off to the upper pools I had no idea what I would find.
I got to the top around 2:20 pm, and if I thought the lower pools were spectacular, the upper pools brought things to a whole new level of “wow!”.
First, getting to the upper pools — the trail.
The trail up to the upper pools was not for the faint-hearted. The trail ran up the righthand side of the main waterfall and was challenging. You need good footwear, and I was glad I wore my hiking boots. At several points along the route, I had to negotiate fallen trees, tricky terrain, and dodgy bridges.
And then I arrived at the top, which was beautiful, almost beyond words. Stunning. Amazing. Incredible.
When I reached the upper pools, I had to accept that my feet, boots and trousers would get very wet as there was no defined trail that I could see. I had to walk, in my hiking boots, through the knee-deep water. It was wonderful.
One thing I couldn’t work out was where the raft came from. I was knee-deep in water (which felt great), and a raft went by.
There were wooden barriers to prevent you me going over the falls by accident, but the barriers didn’t look very substantial.
The place was beautiful, and few tourists ventured up the path from the lower pools.
Walking through the trees in the water was a real treat.
I did have to be careful where I walked.
And not only was the jungle and water amazing, but the views. Just wow.
I found the ascent challenging, and the descent wasn’t easy.
And finally, when I got back down to the bottom of the falls, wet, hot and stunned by the beautiful falls and pools. I stopped for a quick snack before heading back to my taxi.
The lower and upper pools at the Kuang Si Waterfall (ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ ກວາງຊີ) are a ‘must visit’ to anyone visiting the Luang Prabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ/ຫຼວງພະບາງ) region. They are truly spectacular.
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