It seems there are a number of "three clean villages" along the way! The village scene is rather typical: thatched houses of two storeys with bamboo walls, with rather cool interiors, where the women of the house had got together to gossip, while the menfolk were presumably in the fields. Some of the houses had huge silos but we dont know what they contained. A typical rural scene, with trees laden with jackfruit and banana and mango, almost at eye level! And as it is with these things, we actually saw some boys bring down some mangoes with their catapult: boys will be boys!

There were just the two of us in that dusty 20 minute ride in a tuk tuk so enormous that it could fit at least 20 people sitting and another 20 standing!

We thought that the entrance fees to the falls was pretty stiff at 16,000 kip. Of our entire Laos trip, we felt that this was relatively the most tourist exploited sight. Starting from the continuous touting and advertising of the caves/waterfall by the boatmen/tuk-tuk operators in LP, high entrance fees, and a large number of kitschy shops and restaurants selling "souvenirs" all the way upto the falls, we were accosted by signs of tourism. The waterfall itself more than makes up for this though, with crystal clear water falling from a height of 60m. The spray from the falls made the whole surroundings cool even though the temperatures were around 36-38 deg. C that day. There is a lower pool and an upper pool. We saw some tracks leading upwards and decided to climb up to see where it led. After a somewhat slippery but good climb of 20-30 mins, we came upon a lovely grassy meadow with butterflies, and surrounded by mountains, completely removed from civilisation, with only the sounds of cicadas and the other insect inhabitants of the forest to keep us company.

We saw many bathers in the pools below, but had not come prepared and so did not get in ourselves. We did manage to wet our feet however, and the sudden coolness of the water in the stifling heat is a real surprise.

All told, we spent 1-1.5 hours at the falls, but the trip is more worth it if you plan to spend a half day there. Also, while the trip can be done fully by tuk-tuk in a shorter time (1 hour to the falls), it will be potentially dusty and bumpy. Hiring motorbikes could be another interesting option, though it may suffer from the same disadvantages. The boat option is the best, especially because the river is quite quiet this time of the year, thereby minimising that commercial touristy feeling.

June 22, 2004