Behind me, the trail I had followed to the top of Kuang Si Falls in the north of Laos dropped out of view. In front, water rushed through the trees and curved down a limestone bed. Water surged around me. Deeper. Cooler. Enticingly so.
Perhaps I was entranced. Maybe a little foolhardy, driven by adrenaline even. Regardless, I didn’t have a choice—I was going down.
I lifted off my dress and in one motion hooked it and my bag over a branch. Looped also my flip-flops. The branch drooped under their weight. But my instincts told me to ignore it and wade on.
Further down the limestone my foot slipped. My arms flailed. The water took me. For the first time I had doubts, maybe climbing down a waterfall into the unknown wasn’t my brightest idea. I grasped frantically for something, my hand closed over an object, it was foreign and cold and didn’t belong.
Water thundered over the cliff below. Strengthening my grip, I floundered for a foothold. My heel caressed the surface of the rock, discovering a different texture. Texture turned to shape: a perfect step for my foot. I relaxed.
My handhold was an iron bar protruding from the rock. My foothold was hand carved out of the stone. A manmade trail opened up. Obediently, I followed, any doubts swept away with the realisation that man had been there before. I ran my hand over more bars, wondering who put them there.
Before long, the trail flattened out into wide steps, natural beds of stone trapping shallow pools of water grazing my ankles. Almost hypnotized by the sound of the tumbling water, I paused.
Then I leapt.
When I broke through the surface, my skin prickled from the fresh embrace, refreshing after the short sticky hike up the mountain. Screams of joy filled the space. My friends had made the very same leap. I’d been unaware they had followed my rejection of the tourist trail.
The falls were a watery amphitheatre and we were centre stage. We had found the world’s most exquisite infinity pool.
Perched high up in the cascading waterfalls of Kuang Si we rested. Forests stretched out into the distance. A river meandered away from us, cutting a path through the trees. Somewhere out there was our “home” for the week, nestled in the heart of Laos’s old capital, Luang Prabang. The gate manned by the friendly caretakers of the park who had collected my 20,000KIP ($20US) entry fee was hidden somewhere in the trees below.
The clock ticked and our time to leave drew closer. Each of us knowing we would soon be weaving through the throngs of tourists exploring the falls and pools below in order to reach our return shuttle back to the city in time. But for now, we relished in our discovery and the consuming tranquillity.
I was sad to learn that there have been recent fatalities at the infinity pool. Due to this and the obvious dangers of climbing down a waterfall), the infinity pool of Kuang Si Falls s is now barricaded off to the public. This blogger would like to express her deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the travellers who lost their lives in their pursuit of adventure.