Kuang Si waterfalls are easily Laos' biggest tourist attraction and most photographed waterfall. They're absolutely beautiful - there's multiple levels of these cascading falls that have a gorgeous blue color which comes from calcium deposits in the water. You can swim in two of the levels, although you're joined by leeches and nibbling fish.

I took a Tuk Tuk out to the waterfalls with my new friend Kelly. Kelly had a flight in the early afternoon, so we only had a few hours to explore. Leaving early helped to avoid the crowds, but we still arrived at the same time as a few mini buses full of tourists. We walked through the bottom levels of the falls quickly, with the intention of going back for a swim after we scoped everything out. We took a lesser travelled path up the waterfalls, which was an intense climb but reasonably short. At the top, we walked across the top of the waterfall on little bamboo bridges.

We saw a small sign for a "crystal spring" just 3 km away from the top of the waterfall, so we went off to explore. The spring itself was a bit small and potentially disappointing compared to the beauty of the waterfalls themselves, but I loved that we were the only tourists there. There were a good number of Laos families and monks hanging out, so it had a bit more of a "real" feel.

Our detour to the springs meant we didn't have time to swim in the waterfalls, but the crowds had increased quite a bit while we were up at the springs so it was less peaceful and I was a bit wary of leeches, so it wasn't a huge deal.