"Stunning, cascading beauty, and turquoise flowing water" are terms used to describe this popular waterfall about 18 miles from Luang Pragang.
.
I met Thomas (forgot where from) at breakfast at the hostel one morning. After the usual banter about where we were from, how long traveling, where have we been, etc. we talked about things to see in Luang Prabang. It turns out we were both interested in seeing the waterfalls that seems so popular. Many of the tuk tuks have signs hanging on the sides offering rides to the falls. The ones that do not have signs, call out to you as you pass by, offering trips to the falls. It's just one of the things tourists want to see while here.

By the time we got ready to look for a tuk tuk, we had almost a dozen people coming along for the trip. Tadeo, from Argentina, Thomas and I found a tuk tuk and the others joined in. The more people going along helps to reduce the cost as it is divided between everyone on board. The tuk tuk driver stopped before leaving town and enlisted another tuk tuk to take part of the load. The small truck would not be able to carry all of us up the mountain .

The Kwang Si Falls are a tributary from the Mekong River. Riding in the tuk tuk, which is a small truck with wooden seats in the bed, was about as scenic a drive into the mountains as the waterfalls would turn out to be. The 45 minute ride into the mountains was an adventure in itself.

We passed small Hmong and Khmu villages, surrounded by numerous rice paddies. At times it was all the small tuk tuk could do to keep moving up the steep mountain. 

Once near the falls, there were the usual souvenier shops and food stalls to buy from. Thomas, Tadeo and I started the hike to the falls.

Along the path into the mountain we passed a Bear Rescue Center. It houses bears that were rescued from illegal pet and Chinese medicine trades.

The turquoise water flowing over the several falls made for some serious photo shots . We all took a lot of photos of the beauty of the falls. Then, we decided to hike to the top of the falls. The muddy path was slippery from recent rainfall and difficult in places. Once or twice we lost our way through the wooded forest. But, eventually, we found the very top of the waterfall.

We waded into the water and got right to the edge of the top fall. There is a log fence along the edge, right where the water starts to drop. We carefully waded through the swift running water, walking on slippery rocks and through pools of leeches. We removed our shoes to wade across and held onto the pole fence or tree limbs to keep our balance.

Thomas cleaned some leeches off his foot once we were across the water. The view from the top was more than worth the hike. We all enjoy hiking, so I guess the waterfall was just an added bonus.

 Once we hiked back down the opposite side of the mountain, we found an excellent place to swim in the beautiful water. The small fish that eat the dead skin from your feet at the foot massage places in some towns nibbled on our feet and legs.

I had a good day with these two new friends from other parts of the world and the waterfalls did not disappoint.