Staying at Fasay Gardens
One of the most stunning waterfalls and popular attractions in Laos sits at the foot of a tiny village a mere 50 minutes from Luang Prabang. Because of this, it is typically thronged with hundreds and hundreds of tourists. So, how to see it without the crowds? Stay there of course!
Unfortunately there’s not a lot of good options, but there is one terrific one at Fasay Gardens, a true, local homestay with a lovely family, who lets you take part in the free English classes they run, make meals, and participate in community activities. AND, you get to witness the gorgeous Kuang Si Waterfall in her early morning, crowd-free glory. Win, win, win!
The kids of the village are taught very limited English in school, but much more for free every afternoon from 5-6:00 pm at Sai’s house, some of it funded by the money we provide through our stay. A stay with them typically also includes a visit to the local school but unfortunately, we chose to go on a weekend so we missed this opportunity.
Clearly excelling in her studies, we chatted with 12-year-old Mong for quite awhile, as she asked us a barrage of questions in English. Despite the challenges many Laotian rural communities face getting education, this village has a true gift. Also, Sai’s mother-in-law and his daughter. She may already be practicing her peace sign.
Another cute kid…not sure who she belonged to. 🤣
The guesthouse where we stayed was separated from his actual house and surprisingly held at least six private rooms. It cost $36 for both of us and included four meals and our activities. The rooms were very simple and shoebox-y, but they did the job.
And, we can also honestly say this is the first time we’ve had one of these in our accommodation. The outdoor shared kitchen.
Not that we needed a kitchen. All our meals were whipped up by Sai’s wife, and included basic Laotian family-style cuisine, which we got to help with for dinner.
We then shared with nine other guests…all very friendly French people who easily translated to English to clue us in. There are beaucoup de French people in Laos. And guess what? No surprise, every one of them wants to talk about the world’s most dramatic reality show of US politics. <insert groan.>
The kids, fortunately, are a little bit more protected. It was actually the happiest bunch of kids we’d met since being in Laos. Their constant smiles showed us they have all they need…a strong sense of community, education, food, roofs over their heads and a waterfall that looks like it fell out of Eden.
This is a photo of Sai’s living room. We find it interesting how similar it looked to living rooms we’d sat in Egypt…or in India. There was no furniture…only pads that could be assembled into pallets on the floor and a couple plastic kiddie chairs. There were gold framed photos of royal-looking wedding days and ancestors who had passed. There were several pictures of Buddha. And there was even a tent, where their 16-year-old son slept so he could have his own “room.”
The village of Kuang Si
There is even a local health center. Still, we’re glad we didn’t end up there!
We also got an invitation inside a very important event…Sai’s aunts’ funeral. Like what we experienced in Bali, the entire village came together, both financially and literally, for the event to celebrate her life with this giant offering covered in goodies, and gathered singing songs, eating and chatting all night long. No one got much sleep, including us, but it sure was a unique experience.
Despite this, the next morning we were instructed to meet Sai’s son at 7:00 for our local tour of the waterfalls. Although he is only 16, this kid had terrific English, and was clearly motivated to go far in life, wanting to be either in IT…to make money….or to open a bakery…because the village needs one. He is self teaching himself multiple things on YouTube and is already using Chat GBT to improve his English and learn chemistry.
Visiting Kuang Si Waterfalls
We’ve seen a lot of inspiring waterfalls in our travels, but visiting the turquoise tumbling waters of Kuang Si by early morning light might just fit the definition of Shangri-La. It’s molded by seemingly endless limestone travertine pools gliding from one direction to the next, tucked away and swimmable lagoons accessible only to locals, and a ring of lush jungled landscape. Combine this with a stay at Fasay Gardens and you won’t be disappointed.
The water source for Kuang Si is a mountain spring about 45 minutes away. On its journey to this point, it assembles many limestone particles which include high levels of calcium carbonate, that reflect light making the water appear as a hypnotic turquoise blue color. This photo was taken at one of the upper falls, accessible by a trail to the right of the main falls.
The travertine pools create terraces to poetically make the water plunge from one section to the next. Eventually these travertine pools seem to slide almost deliberately to meld with the village below.
This is the same village where we got to stay and accompany all these kids to their favorite swimming hole the afternoon we arrived. The kids, naturally, dove right in to the chilly water and were ready to play supermodel for their photos.
Mandy preferred to lurk near the surface. She stayed about here until a little boy came and completely pummeled her with water. Not naming any names…but this one is wanted now. 🤣
After a swim with the kids, we followed another local “guide” under a hole in a fence for the classified secret entrance into the park.
We had arrived to the actual park so from here he dodged and weaved our way through the mostly Chinese tourists and presented us with…the water!! Ta-da!!! What a ham. His friend, who was also tagging along, rolled his eyes and told us, “he does this every day!”
We walked amongst the crowds a bit checking out the mangled trees…
…the mesmerizing travertines, and the waterfall itself, feeling very happy, and yes, a bit smug, that we’d get to return in the morning.
Which was VERY different because we and our French family were the only ones there.
Water wheels like these are still used as a clean source of energy in many Lao villages where there is fast flowing water. This wheel has been here for many years and was originally used by villagers who used to live here (before it became a National Protected Forest) to husk rice. There was something about this place that brought considerable serenity.
This shot would have been impossible the afternoon before because this bridge by the main waterfall was totally clogged. It felt like Eden. Truly. We’ve never been anywhere quite like it.
And very few mosquitoes too, miraculously! From here we would hike to the upper waterfall, which we also got to wade in.
Absolutely unreal. After our plunge in a waterfall, we continued on a secret trail hiking upward to much closer to the source of the waterfall.
Here we crossed into the most breathtaking blue lagoon we’ve ever seen, enveloped by green. The only thing missing was monkeys. 🙈
The view from the top of the highest waterfall with nearby traps used for fishing. Now that seems like a pure catch!
Heading down, we used the platforms and stairs used for zip lining and also walked through the park’s Moon Bear rescue facility. Although it wasn’t nearly as spacious or cozy for the bears as the one we visited sun bears at on Borneo, the bears are still being rescued from illegal activity from which they’re being captured for the medicinal properties of their stomach bile. 🙁 We were happy to see the information translated from Laotian to English AND Chinese considering the massive amounts of them who visit.
