I’m a sucker for waterfalls, so when we read in our Rough Guide that “Kouang Si [is] one of the best day-trips from Louang Phabang” (yes, there are multiple spellings for everything in this country), I really wanted to check them out.
Even though they are 35km north of town over a very bumpy road through the country, it’s no problem to get there. Everywhere you walk there are “tur-turs” — a Lao cross between a Thai tuk-tuk and songethaw — with painted signs and drivers eager to take you out to the waterfalls. Basically these are a tiny utility pickup where the back has been converted into two short rows of bench seats and a canopy to hold on to over the bumps.
The falls did not dissapoint…and this was in the driest of seasons! A cascade of water tumbling 60m (and that’s just the bottom drop) onto some deep limestone pools. The water is perfect for swimming and all the backpackers love to try to get their head under the falls themselves, not realizing what force the water is coming down with. We took a bunch of nice pictures, had a cool dip, and generally enjoyed the not-so-damn-hot afternoon then.
Oh! Added bonus! On the road up there was a little fenced in compound with an ominous sign that said “Please do not stick fingers in fence, the tiger bites!” Turns out that there was a 5 year old Indochine Tiger which had been rescued from poachers as a cub that they had there. When we came by she was peacefully sleeping in a caged in building, but it looked like she had a gigantic yard to play in and she looked extremely pretty there, calm on the ground (no, I didn’t stick my fingers in the cage!) I asked Lex if we could get a tiger when we got home and she said no, her sister is allergic to cats…darn!
Rand Wacker 
Leave a Reply