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

A gem in northern Laos: Muang Ngoy

For families exploring northern Laos, the village of Muang Ngoy is a true gem. The perfect spot to unwind, enjoy quality time with children or be active with them!

Beautiful Muang Ngoy

Muang Ngoy can only be reached by waterways, one hour boat ride north of Nong Khiaw or three hours south of Muang Khua. The village has no roads, therefore no cars and no motorbikes. Children can play undisturbed while parents enjoy the sweet life on the banks of the Nam Ou river and the dramatic landscape designed by surrounding peaks.

For sportive families, Muang Ngoy offers a wide range of activities:

- kayaking on the Nam Ou river 

- caving in the Buddha cave (bring multiple flashlights, the second cave is a very long one. We didn't reach the end of it but it's said to be several kilometers long). Entrance fee: 10000 kips (1.25 USD) per adult (children free) - the trail continues up to a fantastic, if difficult to access, viewpoint.

- hiking to nearby villages. Toll on the track: 10000 kips per adult. The walk to nearby Ban Na village is moderate and very pleasant, leading though rice fields and along small rivers (approximately 11 km return). There's a small restaurant along the way and one in Ban Na village.

- biking: bicycles are available for rent in many places. We didn't find kid's bikes though.

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!

Selecting family-friendly hotels in South-East Asia

When traveling with the family, selecting the right hotel or guesthouse can be a challenge. It's not just about booking a simple dorm bed or a nice double. The place should be right to satisfy the needs of each family member, from the oldest to the youngest one.
During our trip through Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, we chose and booked hotels as we went. We had a lucky hand and stayed mostly in pleasant rooms. Over time, we elaborated a mental checklist. What were the most important criteria for our family when selecting a place to stay?

1) The availability of a family room, a family suite or the like. Booking two doubles is rarely our preferred option as we, adults, need to sleep in separates rooms with our share of children. Luckily, in South-East Asia, we found many creative alternatives: from a huge 5-person family room (The Balcony in Kratie, Cambodia) to a tiny triple where children shared a single bed (Jasmine Garden Villa in Siem Reap, Cambodia), over a twin where we judged the single beds large enough to accommodate 2 persons (Mariya Hotel in Kampong Cham, Cambodia) or a large double fitted with one (Vayakorn House in Ventiane, Laos) or 2 extra beds (The White Mansion in Phnom Penh, Cambodia). The luxury family option is the suite, which is not necessarily an expensive choice (Paradise Palm Resort in Koh Chang, Thailand or Thmorda Garden Resort in Ko Kong, Cambodia). In short, selecting a hotel for our large family has been much easier in Asia than it has ever been in Europe!

2) The cleanliness of the place in general and of the bathroom in particular. As a general appreciation, we found that hotels and guesthouses, even in the low budget range, offer clean rooms and bathrooms. Shared bathrooms were fine, although we often preferred to enjoy the luxury of a private bathroom to shower the children. Always ask to view the room before booking it, there are so many good hotels available that it would be a pity to fall in a tourist trap and select a neglected place. One point that you might want to check upfront is whether the accommodation offers hot showers. We stayed in great places that had only cold water. Our 6-year old loved it but the cold showers caused many tears with the two younger children.

3) Kids-friendly facilities and a good service. There are a few amenities that can definitely make your life, and your family travel experience, easier. The most obvious one is a swimming pool. I guess all children love playing and swimming in the pool. Nevertheless, we seldom selected hotels with pools. We were on budget, and the availability of a pool often drives the room fares up. Instead, we swam in rivers in Laos, in the sea in Cambodia. Many hotels also grant access to their swimming pool for a small fee: a cheap alternative, unless you’re planning to devote your time to swimming every day. But, honestly, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, there are so many things to see and do that you’ll hardly want to spend your days in a hotel pool! With younger kids, I find the presence of garden or a yard more important, a place where children can play safely while parents enjoy a moment of rest – or blog. Mut Mee Guesthouse in Nong Khai, Thailand has a beautiful garden with hammock and swings, on the banks of the Mekong. On some occasions, we appreciated eating in a fine in-house restaurant, where we could enjoy a late candlelight dinner while the children were already sleeping in the nearby room. A last word about the service: I can hardly voice a complaint, most places we stayed in offered good to outstanding service!

4) What about something more exotic? Sleep in a jungle bungalow, or right at the beach, spend the night in a tree-top cabin, share a meal with locals in a homestay, are few of the unusual alternatives that we tried out. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s easily found in Asia!

My packing tips for South-East Asia with children - part 2

Before starting our 7-week trip to South-East Asia, I shared a few packing tips. 10 weeks later, I'd like to add few ideas that proved very useful while traveling.

- Packing items in separate pouches - one for each family members - helps keeping items well-organized. Focus on the trip, not on the luggage, and enjoy every travel moment. In all places, we were able to pack and go in less than one hour. Pack all swimming gear, with one or two ultralight towels, in a separate waterproof pouch. In that way, wherever you go, you always have all items at hand and you can easily have a swim in a pool, a river or the sea - after which you put all wet items back in the pouch and continue your journey.

- Don't pack too much. We had clothes for 7 days, which was more than enough. There are laundry shops in every city, take advantage of the inexpensive and convenient service! 2 large, good-quality laundry bags will be useful for separating, carrying and giving away dirty laundry. Pack light, comfortable clothes, but none made of fragile or sensitive fabric. We usually got clean items back, but some stains would not wash away.

- Don't forget for every family member: a sun hat, sun glasses, a poncho or light rain jacket and a pair of good sandals. I looked for new sandals for my son but, unfortunately, only had a choice of uncomfortable plastic shoes or poorly counterfeited articles. We never used the light sweaters that we had packed, not even during "cool" nights on the Bolaven plateau in Laos.

- Finally, I split my large pharmacy bag in 3 smaller pouches:

  a) one that we kept with us at all times: sun block, hand sanitizer, mosquito repellent, antiseptic lotion and strips, 

  b) one that was easily accessible when we needed it:  light pain killers, probiotics against light stomach disorders, after-bite cream...,

  c) and the last one, that we hopefully never open: wide-spectrum antibiotics, large bandages...

Our packs for 7 weeks in South-East Asia with 3 children: one mid-sized suitcase, one large backpack,  with the baby tent strapped on the backside, one good baby carrier, and 2 children backpacks.

A touch of luxury: Inthira hotel, Takhek

After 5 hours riding in an uncomfortable tuk-tuk, we reached Takhek in the evening. We were exhausted. There were several guesthouses in town, but seeing the Inthira hotel, we felt as if we had found an oasis in the desert. The nicely decorated rooms, in Lao-western style, the large, comfortable beds and the modern showers were all we aspired to after a long trip. The hotel has neither family nor triple rooms, and the price for a double room was slightly over our planned budget. We benefitted from a special price for a twin and a double room, including a complete breakfast for all 5 of us. The breakfast, western or Laotian, is excellent. The place also includes a restaurant, where we enjoyed dinner for two after the children went to bed - an unusual touch of luxury for tired parents. 

Rice soup (Laotian breakfast)