Kuang Si Falls
Turquoise pools stepping down under a two-hundred-foot fall, twenty miles out.
Duration
3 hrs – 5 hrs
Difficulty
●●●○○
Best time
At opening
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
Kuang Si falls drop some sixty metres and then spread into a series of stepped pools. The turquoise colour comes from dissolved calcium carbonate: it precipitates on contact with air and forms the travertine dams that create the basins.
Some pools are open for swimming and marked as such, others are not. On the entrance path, a centre takes in moon bears seized from the bile trade — they cannot be released, and the centre is funded by the entry fees.
Getting there
Thirty kilometres south of Luang Prabang, an hour by road. Shared songthaew from the night market, with an agreed return time.
What the price covers
paid site entry, rate to be confirmed; the tuk-tuk from town is extra
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Swimsuit
Rules on site
Only swim in the marked pools: the travertine is slippery and some areas are closed to protect the dams. Flow and colour vary enormously — spectacular from October to February, muddy at the height of the rains.
