A day trip to Kuang Si waterfalls

A taste of paradise

The Kuang Si waterfalls park is popular tourist destination from Luang Prabang. In Kuang Si, the river streams down from a 30-meter cliff, then forms a cascade of multiple, large turquoise-blue pools. No matter the swarms of tourists, the spot is incredibly beautiful and deserves a visit.

It’s a great destination for children:

-       There’s a small bear conservation center at the entrance of the park, where kids can observe a handful of animals that were rescued from poachers.

-       The walk alongside the waterfalls is easy and pleasant. For a longer walk, climb to the top of the cliff and enjoy the view!

-       Last but not least, it is possible to bath in the refreshingly cool water of the cascade pools. Bring swim suits and towels for the whole family, and remember to cover your bodies when not swimming.

In short:

Transportation from/to Luang Prabang: 300000 kips for a private vehicle, or 50000 kips per person. To bring the costs down, join a group of other tourists and negotiate a discount for the children (we spent 150000 kips for the five of us).

Entrance fee: 20000 kips per adult / free for children

Where to eat?

There are numerous local restaurants and shops outside the waterfall park. A grilled fish cost 30000 kips.

Northern Laos: Nong Khiaw with children

The small town of Nong Khiaw, if slightly less peaceful than Muang Ngoy, is a great spot for vacationing families! There's no shortage of fun activities in and around Nong Khiaw. Biking, kayaking, hiking... You name it! 

We particularly enjoyed the trek to the 100 waterfalls. Other highlights included walking to 2 kilometers along the relatively quiet main road to the caves (entrance fee: 5000 kips/ 0.6 USD per adult) or completing the strenuous climb (access fee: 20000 kips/ 2.5 USD per adult) to the spectacular viewpoint in less than 2 hours! 

Stunning view from the summit (it's a tough climb!)

Undertaking the 100 waterfalls trek with children

The "100 waterfalls" is a popular one-day guided trek, starting from the village of Nong Khiaw, in Northern Laos. The tour involves a 1-hour boat ride on the Nam Ou river down to a village, where the actual trek starts with an easy and pleasant walk across rice fields. One hour later, you reach the bottom of the waterfalls. Now it's all about walking and climbing upstream. Tour guides will serve lunch at the top of the waterfalls, then it goes down along a steep forest path, back to the village. A wonderful hike with beautiful views!

Can the trek be attempted with children? 

Here’s our return on experience.

The trek includes a moderate 3 to 4 hours walk; the only minor difficulty is the ascent in the water. The rocks aren’t very slippery and when a passage is too difficult for a child, there’s an alternative way on the side.

Our 7-year old jumped up the waterfalls like a salmon. Our 5-year old followed quite easily with the support of an adult (ou local guide was very helpful in this matter). Our 3-year old was safely secured in a baby carrier on the back of her dad. Walking up the stream would have been too difficult for her, as she would have had water up to the waist. All five of us surely enjoyed our day!

Walking up the stream

Trekking in northern Laos with children

Northern Laos is a wonderful trekking destination. We did a 3 days/2 nights trek in the mountains around Muang Khua and had a great time enjoying the stunning scenery as much as quiet, rustic village life.

Undertaking a trek with young children is possible if those are good hikers. Guided treks can be expensive (usually around 350000 kips per person per day) but you should be able to negotiate a discount for participating children.

Trekking with children in Laos

Before you depart:

• carefully confirm the itinerary with your guide: how many hours of daily walks are planned? How high will you climb? How difficult does he rate the trek? Our trek involved strenuous walks up the mountains, but also left us plenty of time spent in ethnic minority villages. Time that our children clearly enjoyed, playing with village children.
• foresee a good baby carrier if necessary.
• confirm with your guide if purchasing gifts for the village kids is appropriate. We brought pencils and notebooks for local school students.
• if trekking in winter time, pack extra clothes for the nights, as it gets really cold in the mountains.

Enjoy your trek!

Hiking mount Lang Biang with children

We decide to climb the Lang Biang Mountain, one of the highest summits around Da Lat, 2167 meters above sea level. Our guide first seems to have little confidence in the physical abilities of the children and asks us several times if we did not book the wrong excursion. The ascent, he says, is difficult, especially in the last kilometer, when the trail climbs steeply.

Ready to climb: the Lang Biang mountain is right behind us.

We are determined to attempt it: our children are definitely good hikers! The trail climbs gently at first, amidst coffee plantations, then more steeply in a pine forest. Lucie, 3-year old, finds it sometimes hard to follow our steps, but keeps on climbing, while we encourage her with songs and stories. Four kilometers further, we reach a wooded ridge, just in time for a lunch break.

The Lang Biang peak

 After a hearty picnic, children are full of energy to start the final kilometer of the ascent. We now walk on a narrow path lined with wooden planks that make the steps of a high and irregular stairway. We’re only 400 meters away from the summit when Lucie abandons, exhausted: the steps, sometimes as high as her, are extremely difficult to climb. She gets in the baby carrier and falls asleep within seconds. Lise and Loïc reach the top easily. The weather remains clear; the view is gorgeous.

Summary of the hike: 3h30 ascent, 2h descent, 10 kilometers walk and more than 670 vertical meters climbed. Who would think children aged 3, 5 and 7 years could climb that much with little to no help?

Great family hikes: the Erawan waterfalls, in Kanchanaburi province,Thailand

Before I close the topic, I have a few remaining comments that I would like to post about the great experiences we had in Thailand with the children. The hike to the top of the Erawan waterfall was one of them. 

Admitted, it's a very touristy destination and there's a lot of (pedestrian) traffic. Admitted, I wished tourists would stick to the rules and guidelines of the National Park and not wander around in plain shorts or bikinis. What a lack of respect towards the Thai culture as well as towards other hikers!

Enough of grumbling, the walk itself is worth doing and the scenery amazing. In Erawan, water falls down the hill in seven steps. The path along the river takes you to each step, one by one, higher and higher. Step 1 to 3 are very easy, step 4 and 5 a good hike, and the final two get you up rocks and across river arms in a quite strenuous climb.

The view on the waterfall at every level is a discovery that keep children excited and eager to see more.  And when our wet and dirty kids reached the final level, we rewarded them with a swim in the fresh river pool.

On our way back, we avoided the crowds by following one of the nature paths that run down through the jungle.

A great day hike with kids! Plan good footwear for all, pack swim gear and towels, enough water (use of plastic bottles is restricted in the National Park) and mosquito repellent.