Sneaking into Kuang Si Waterfall Laos on Motorcycles
Day 29 – Day 30 | 17th June 2016 – 18th June 2016
After some persuasion from the 2 french buddies Bruno and Victor, I decided to go with them on this adventure for 1 night with them. Visit the natural waterfall of Luang Prabang, The Kuang Si Waterfall. Thing is, they have the thought of sneaking into the waterfall without paying to cut cost.
Sure do, lets go. I have thought to go through my trip with an open mind. I am learning to open my mind more, every single day. I am leaning so much from meeting new people from different countries. I now learn first hand that everyday the world is really teaching me real life experiences. I would have never thought I would learn all these if I was stuck in a damned country.
Just like what Craig Harper said: “The world is my classroom. Each day is a new lesson, and every person I meet is my teacher.“
A photo with the 3 french in an open aired hut before we sleep.
We decided to sleep in a makeshift hut by the road (made by farmers/ villagers) for the night to cut cost. Lodging cost is the 1 that actually kills budget fast. Pretty comfortable as it was actually sheltered by straws, though its open. Only bad point was there wasnt a river/ stream to wash our clothes, so we slept in our sweaty clothes. Damn. Probably the first time I slept in sweat clothes.
It would have been perfect if we have a nearby source to wash ourselves. Slapped on mosquito coils and repellants around us and the mozzies stopped attacking us. Fell asleep fast and we woke up at 4.30am to sneak into a beautiful natural waterfall the following morning. We escaped paying 20,000 Lao Kip (USD 2.6) entrance fee as we entered the beautiful waterfall extremely early (That was what they planned).
They wanted to let me listen to their local song in french. Of course I am obligated to listen. Pretty awesome to hear 3 people singing in the middle of nowhere with the surrounding in total darkness.
When we said we gonna wake up at 430am, we woke up at 445am instead. Pretty late already as the sun rise in Laos as early as 0530 hrs in the morning. We still managed to sneak in to the waterfalls somehow without paying.
When we arrived at the entrance of the waterfall, we were actually early. Earlier than the gatekeeper. Unfortuantely there was a road sweeper there and he told us to pay the entrance fee. No..if we can cut cost.. we cut..its stupid to pay for a waterfall in which we do not utilise machinery, manpower nor damage anything. haha. We went to the waterfall through a back route (through a forest) with the motorcycles. It was a hell of a motorcross ride. Hid the motorcycles in the bushes before we walked into the area.
This is my first time seeing a natural #freshwater waterfall. #kuangsiwaterfall is about 30km southwest from the main town of #luangprabang. No proper public transport here as usual in #laos. The only way here is by your own vehicle(cheapest option), or by bargaining as much as possible with the locals/ #tuktuk/ #hitchhike.
Was worth it waking up at 445am before the crowds started coming in.
Absolutely breathaking.
The aqua colored water is unbelievably natural.
Did not bring my tripod as it is too bulky. Braced myself against the bridge for a shutter speed as slow as possible for the silk effect of the beautiful waterfall.
24mm (35mm equivalent), ISO 100, 1/3th sec, F16, Centre weighted Average
The waterfall water is colddddd. We had a really refreshing bath (no shampoo) prior to not bathing the previous night sleeping in the makeshift hut.
After the super refreshing swim and bath (really cold morning water) at the Kuang Si waterfall, we went back to the motorcycles and back to #luangprabang. We left our stuff there, the owner allowed them to leave their stuff there securely without a charge. They were all splitting ways after this. Bruno and Celestine was going to continue to Thailand or Myanmar, victor was going back to France.
Went with them to sell their motorcycles in the town area before they leave. 1 of the bike was passed down to a westerner buying it for her local lao boyfriend, the other was sold to a #southafrican couple. The cycle continues when the new owners leave this country. Amazing thing is that the motorcycles were registered in Vietnam, came from Vietnam, still have the original owner’s name on it’s papers, and its just being sold like that abroad, without doing any proper documentation. Original documents and spare keys were just passed down just like buying a bicycle.
No idea what kind of brand were the motorcycles. Body was written #honda but engine was Meritus. Lol. Must be some local brand, or China. Though these motorcycles look at least 15years old, they perform pretty hardy despite the bad terrains. Lost was actually only USD5. Much better idea than renting a bike which is too costly. Well not all country you can do these, buying a vehicle even without a proper license, especially in a first world country.
We passed by the hut/ veranda (in which we slept the previous night) again after our visit to Kuang Si waterfall. It is a pretty small paddy/ crop field compared to other gigantic ones we saw. A few locals actually came in at night to search for stuffs in the field. We greeted them with a smile to tell them we are not gonna cause any trouble. In fact one of the locals offered us a whiskey! We stopped by for a photographic memory in the day.
We slept in the same hostel the same night and we bid each other farewell as we carried on our different ways the following day.
