Kuang Si Waterfall and a Déjà Vu

I love a breakfast buffet!

My hostel had a free one waiting for me. It was simple enough, but a level above spongy toast and strawberry-flavoured spreads. Okay, they had that too. But also eggs, pancakes, rice, vegetables, and fruit.

After breakfast, I was picked up and got ready for another tour.

First stop: Kuang Si Waterfalls.

Wow, what a beauty! It’s a waterfall with multiple tiers and milky turquoise water. You can hike up a few metres to see the next tier, and then again, and again, until you reach the main waterfall. Stunning.

From there, if you feel up to it in the heat, you can hike to the top. Which I did. While manageable, my knees were protesting.

Once at the top, you could choose to go to a viewing platform - in exchange for money. I found the idea preposterous, since you can’t even see the waterfall from the platform, and I just walked around instead. There were a few pond sections in the forest before the waterfall. It looked simply serene.

While I was up there, I saw a bunch of monks going for a bath. The table next to the pond was just one big, fluffy orange mess with all their robes on it. 😁

From the waterfalls, we were driven to a spot by the river - for an hour. What a horrible, horrible road. Curvy terrain, most suited to a 4WD. Not for me!

I needed a moment when we finally arrived and I hopped out.

We arrived at a lunch spot - more buffet! - that also featured two elephants: a mother and her baby.

While having lunch, it suddenly dawned on me. Hang on! Were we heading to a cave next? And then the necessary neurons fired. Pak Ou Caves. The same caves I had been to the previous day!

Well, crap. They didn’t even look cool!

But nothing to it, I was going to go there again. I survived one hellish hour in the car for this!

After lunch, we said hi to the elephants and fed them some sugar cane and bananas. It was adorable to see the baby elephant still trying, and often failing, with the fine motor control of its little trunk. I loved that clumsy little gal.

Momma elephant had a party trick up her trunk. When the ranger gave her a hat, she took it with her trunk and put it on the person in front of her. 😁

Soon thereafter, we walked down to the river, got onto a boat, and went to the caves.
Upon arrival, I swiftly hiked up a few steps and headed to a resting spot I already knew existed. I chilled there and waited for the others to conclude their spelunking.

Back in the boat, we were given a drink we had previously ordered: beer, iced tea, or water, in my case. Only they were out of water. I mean, who needs that anyway after a hike in intense heat? Hydration is so overrated.Read more