Kuang Si Waterfall

Today we went to some amazing waterfalls!! So pretty. That's what I imagined SE Asia to be.. At the waterfalls there was also a bear sanctuary where they house bears rescued from people who kept them for their bile, a common ingredient in ancient Chinese medicine apparently... The bears were pretty adorable! Funny that a bunch of Canadians would be so intrigued by bears like we've never seen them before ;)

Anyway, the waterfalls. I can't even describe how pretty they were! We started out at the bottom of the falls and were greeted by a clear blue pool being filled by a small waterfall coming off of another clear blue pool being filled by a small waterfall coming off another clear blue pool etc etc. Just layers of water! It was pretty spectacular. Then there was the main waterfall itself which was just gorgeous. We hiked up to the top of the waterfall, and by hike I really mean more like climbed.. Shoes were useless because the rocks were so slippery from sand, and the way up was just a path over rocks and roots. No stairs or anything convenient like that, it was sketchy not gonna lie! But I made it, even with my knee and a bum toe. Did I mention my old foot injury, the one I had surgery on, decided to start acting up again? I've been trying to keep quiet with the complaining even though each step is painful now. Not quite sure what I'm going to do about that. Hoping a few days of light use will just ease it up a bit.

At the top of the waterfall there was a pool that we swam in and was super refreshing after the climb! The water was cold but not overly so, and I thought I could have lounged there for quite a while. But as not the entire group did the climb we returned down to meet up with them and swim in the lower pools. The lower pools were just as nice! Just busier and not shaded by overhanging trees. But still very nice to sit in and just chill for a bit. There were sharp rocks in the water that we're difficult to see as people were kicking up all kinds of sand and a couple of us definitely have some scrapes to show for our efforts. Also, there were fish in these pools that would suck your dead skin if you sat still long enough! Was kinda cool haha. Wish we could have stayed longer just so that they'd give me a free pedicure ;)

But we had to move on and make it back in time to go visit the temple at sunset time!Read more