Kuang Si Waterfall and Bear Rescue Center - Luang Prabang, Laos

Sometimes there are several options for eco-tourism in one city, and other times, there is THEE thing to do in a city.  For Luang Prabang, THEE thing to do is the Kuang Si Waterfall and adjacent Bear Rescue Center, housing several Asiatic bears.

Free The Bears fund has rescued almost 1000 bears from poachers and other threats preying on them in Southeast Asia.  Laos' center is within the grounds of the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls area.  When I heard that this was the thing to do in Luang Prabang, I was a little disappointed.  I hadn't heard much about the bears, but having seen some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world (and admittedly not the biggest waterfall fanatic anyway), I was hesitant to shell out the kip for the tuk tuk ride out there.  Meeting two other solo travelers wanting to see the falls, I decided it was worth it to split the cost of the hour-long ride out and back.  I'm so glad I did!

So strange and awesome

Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre was established by Free The Bears Fund Inc. in 2003 after local authorities confiscated three bear cubs and asked for assistance to help look after them.  The rescue centre has continued to provide care for these bears and also accepted further bears that have been confiscated by the Lao authorities.  Most of the bears at the centre are Asiatic Black Bears (Moon Bears) that were illegally captured from the wild as young cubs – it is likely that they were destined for use in the traditional medicine trade.  -Freethebears.org

Last summer I took a trip with my mom down to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in TN/NC, America and I got to see a black bear up close.  He was nothing like these bears, which were also black but sported a clear boomerang of white hair near their neck.  There are other differences between these bears and American black bears as you can see in the photos!  Yes that bear is standing on his two hind legs.  Like a human.  You aren't seeing things.

Come on in, the water's fine!

After we spent a healthy length of time staring at the bears and taking photos, we set off to find the Kuang Si Waterfall.  In the lower pools of the falls, the water shone through the sun rays with brilliant turquoise colors.  The falls were not impressive at all as I am taking up none of his post's space to display them.  The fantastic part about Kuang Si were definitely the turquoise pools below the falls.  We swam for hours, playing on logs and jumping off of tiny falls.  The pools were clear and cold, just what we needed in the warm sticky heat of the morning.  Laos, like most of Southeast Asia, is humid and tropical.  These forests were covered with flora and fauna that I'd never seen before.  I wish I'd had a nature expert with me to find exotic bugs!  After swimming we checked out the bears one more time before heading back into town.  Laos may not be everything I was hoping it'd be, but there's no doubt about it, the scenery is drop dead gorgeous.  

Kuang Si