Read this blog: The one where we learn that Matilda’s grip doesn’t milk buffalo
Thursday 20th February 2025
Many tourists visiting Luang Prabang make the 20 mile trip south west of the city to the Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls. You can hire a mo-ped and drive yourself; pay to go in an open cab on the back of a tuk tuk or you can hire a car with windows and air-con to take you there and back, allowing you to go at your own pace during the day. We asked at our hotel and a round trip to the waterfalls, including a visit to the bear sanctuary in the grounds and the Lao Buffalo Dairy en route would be $45 and take about five hours.
The more rural roads in Laos are usually not wide enough to have road markings defining the two distinct sides. In addition, the edges of the roads have frequent pot holes so traffic travelling in both directions gravitates rather alarmingly towards the centre.
We were very glad we had chosen to hire our own car and driver. There were works underway to widen the carriageway and these were creating a significant amount of dust in the dry season. Matilda would not have wanted to be out in the open inhaling the dust on a mo-ped nor be bounced around in the back of a tuk tuk.
Our driver took us to the entrance to the Tat Kuang Si Waterfall Park, where foreigners are charged 65,000 Lao Kip each. Currencies where the denominations have a dizzying array of zeroes can be alarming until the conversion function on the iPhone calculator reveals that you are spending just £2.38 to enter this beautiful park.
The entry fee includes a ride in an electric buggy taking you closer to the falls. The walk from the drop off point to the falls passes the Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre run by the Free the Bears charity which was established in 1995 to stop bears being caged and their bile being painfully extracted for traditional Asian medicine.
Loss of habitat is also a threat to these beautiful creatures.
In addition, Free the Bears has helped over 500 families in India, who had been supporting themselves with dancing bears, to establish new livelihoods. The last of India’s dancing bears was handed over in 2009.
The Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre was opened in 2003 near Luang Prabang. Free the Bears has a policy of never paying for a bear, as this would itself create a market for wildlife, but welcomes animals when they are rescued.
Moon bears have a distinctive crescent shaped yellow or white marking on their chests.
Although this bear was right by a sign which clearly said in three languages that visitors were not to feed the bears, it stood up, sniffing the air hopefully at the sound of rustling cling film as a woman started to unwrap a parcel of sticky rice. It was obviously a sound the bear recognised and she could not have been the first to try to flout the rules in this way.
One of the wardens stepped in and prevented this transgression but the bear did not look impressed.
Although these bears would not survive if released to the wild, it was lovely to see them living as naturally as possible and doing simple things like sleeping in the sunshine, splashing in water and eating leaves.
Beyond the bear sanctuary, the path winds up along the left of the Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls.
The water passes through limestone rocks, and therefore has a high concentration of calcium carbonate which reflects the light sometimes creating a striking shimmering turquoise colour.
The falls are multi-tiered.
Swimming is permitted in certain designated areas of the falls.
We were asked before we left our hotel if we planned on swimming as towels could be provided.
Matilda almost wished she had brought her costume with her as . . .
. . . the water looked so vibrant and inviting.
In all the falls are 197 foot high [see also Selfie of the day].
There are various places to stop and picnic or eat on the way up and Robert took advantage of one of these to sit in the sunshine with a chilled Beerlao.
Although Matilda briefly entertained the idea of swimming, she remembered the advice of the pharmacist at the Travel Clinic to avoid wild water bathing. It seemed foolish to have spent hundreds of pounds each on travel vaccinations only to risk unnecessary exposure to water borne diseases. The water nevertheless called to her but when Matilda went for a paddle she decided that it was too slippery underfoot for comfort.
On the way back to Luang Prabang we had asked to visit the Laos Buffalo Dairy, which is the only dairy operating in Laos. We chose to go on the “Speedy Mini Tour” lasting about 45 minutes, but this proved to be rather an inaccurate description. We went to the office so we could pay by card rather than using cash and then waited in the café area for a guide. We were told the tour would start in about ten minutes but we were delayed for longer than this awaiting the arrival of a pre-booked group. Eventually we started without them only to have them turn up five minutes into the tour.
In some ways the tour itself was a bit like visiting a petting zoo in the UK. We started not with buffalo but with pigs and rabbits.
Our guide told us that if you tickle a pig’s tummy, it will send it to sleep.
We were not sure if this was true of all pigs or whether these had been conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs.
But it did seem to work.
Matilda realised that she needed to work on her flexibility and crouching technique as she leaned over to pet the pigs while the young Asians on the tour with us squatted effortlessly down to ground level.
Laos Buffalo Dairy was established not only to milk buffalo and produce cheese, yoghourt and ice cream but also to support the local community.
Foreigners are not allowed to own property or land in Laos and the business is funded, owned and managed by foreign investors and two Lao nationals. Now employing 40 local people, the business also provides members of the local community with additional income by renting land and buffalo from them. As part of its socially-responsible ethos, the dairy provides animal husbandry training and free English classes.
Although the milking is automated now, part of the tour involves a lesson in milking buffalo. Robert, who was taking the pharmacist’s advice about the rabies risk and avoiding animals very seriously, declined to get too close to the livestock. Matilda tried but completely failed: it seems her grip was not strong enough. She will never make it as a milkmaid but the buffalo [above] was very patient and calm.
The dairy rents pregnant female buffalo from various local villages starting from about a month before they are due to give birth. This allows time to ensure both the mother and baby are in good health and the pregnancy is progressing well before the birth. Postnatal care improves the survival rate for the calves.
Instead of completely separating the mother from its calf, they are only separated overnight so that the mothers can be milked in the morning. They then spend the day together so the calves can continue to suckle.
Apparently buffalo also like to be brushed and hosed down.
The herd comprises approximately 200 buffalo at any one time. Once a buffalo has been milked for approximately six months it will be returned to the village until shortly before it is ready to calve again. While the dairy has the animals it pays for the feed and ensures they are vaccinated and well-cared for by dairy staff. The villagers retain ownership of their livestock.
Sufficient milk is kept back from the production process so that visitors can bottle feed the calves.
Largely because it didn’t involve getting too close, Robert agreed to take part in this activity and bottle feed one too.
At the end of the tour we returned to the café. Matilda particularly wanted to try the cheesecake and we thought we should sample the range of cheeses being produced so we shared a cheese-tasting plate [see Dish of the day] which was very good.
Video of the day:
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
Route Map:
