Luang Prabang: Day 3 (Part 3)

19 November 2016

After lunch, we had Lao coffee (with condense milk and plain hot tea on the side) and then we were off to Kuang Sy waterfalls. After the heavy lunch and a can of Beer Lao, and despite the strong coffee, I fell asleep in the car. But of course.

“Kuang” means deer and “Sy” means hermit. According to legend, there was a hermit who was thirsty but couldn’t find any water. He saw a deer and asked the deer to find water for him. The deer also couldn’t find any water and sadly reported this to the hermit. The hermit said that if no water was found soonest, he would most likely die. The deer went again in search of water, and, frustrated, he struck his antlers into the ground and lo and behold! There was not only water but a waterfall! The hermit was saved and Kuang Sy waterfall was found.

The view of the waterfall is simply beautiful. This is definitely one of the more beautiful waterfalls that I’ve seen in my life. The water is almost turquoise in colour, due to the limestone rocks. The water is quite cool due to the shade provided by the lush tropical jungle surrounding the falls.

On the way out of the falls area, we passed by sun bears frolicking in enclosures. These are bears rescued from the wild and taken care of here. One was sleeping in a hammock! It’s the cutest thing.

We then headed back to town, where we were supposed to go up Mount Phousi. However, it was already getting late and instead of rushing, we decided to keep Mount Phousi for tomorrow, and visit the remaining important temples today.

Upon our return to the city, we visited the Vat Visoun temple. This temple was built in 1512 by King Visounnarath and is the oldest temple in town. It’s style is reminiscent of Khmer architecture (especially the windows), and there are statues of Buddha here made from stone dating back to the 16^th century.

On the grounds of this temple is a domed shape stupa referred to by locals as the “watermelon stupa”. It was built by the wife of King Visounnarath. According to legend, it was built over an ancient lake that was a danger to the locals as people kept falling in and drowning.