Thailand’s abundance of national treasures includes mystical temples, beaches, their mouthwatering cuisine and massages.
Among the natural wonders of this diverse and enchanting country, are some simply incredible waterfalls.
My trip was visiting the Erawan Waterfalls in Kanchanaburi. Located in the Northwest of Thailand home for this 7 tier Erawan Waterfalls, Erawan based on Hindu Mythology mean 3 headed Elephant. So, as usual, I did my studies of knowing about the Erawan Waterfalls before I visited it.
A number of distinctly different waterfalls make up Erawan falls in Kanchanaburi Province.
The first of these is some long, low cascading rivers with natural limestone pools at the bottom which has created a series of calm plunge pools where an abundance of fish thrives. A little further walk is the second falls is simply stunning, tall and wide with a niche in the rock behind the falls. This atmospheric spot is popular for swimming and was quite busy with the locals as it was a Sunday.
My walk begin on the wide concrete trail that passes through low-density trees and bushes, along the way I came across of restrooms, trash cans and a water bottle deposit stations. Polystyrene food packages are not allowed and also water bottles will be tagged and we need to pay a deposit for taking bottles into the park and once you return, we need to check out the bottle tag and get the deposit of 20bht refunded. I admire how the Thai government takes care of their National Parks same with Sri Lanka’s Horton Valley.
At the 1st tier, Lai Khuen Rang I saw the first glimpses of fish and ubiquitous countless pools with emerald water to add the beauty as overall the sun shines through the trees. The fishes like to hang around swimmers and pick on their dead skins as some might find them unnerving while others really enjoy the free fish spa.
Streaks of whitewater cascade over the limestone cliffs at the 2nd Tier, Wang Match. The wide pool of bright milky emerald water tis fabulous for a swim when it is not so crowded.
The trail got lot tougher from the 3rd tier up, so be prepared to wear proper hiking shoes and have drinking water (worth paying the deposit and make sure the bottle is brought back after your trip) if you plan to go further up till the 7th tier.
A side trail cuts a few hundred meters to the 3
rd tier, Pha Namtok home to another phenomenal swimming paradise graced by a high cascading 25 meters waterfall plunging into turquoise waters is the 3
rd pool which is surrounded by rocky cliffs and greeneries.
A steep stairway is the first test of endurance for me, I hate steps though I took the challenge with my friend motivating me to reward myself as an achievement. After passing through the steps, I came to a breezy viewpoint overlooking a valley.
After a short break and caught up with my breath and some water, I continued the walk, as I passed through the narrowing and into the dirt trail that winds under canopies of trees and bushes. I came across of few huge trees that were adorned with bright ribbons, silk dresses, shoes, food, etc – all offering to the feminine terrestrial spirits believed to dwell here. As a belief, these kinds of beautiful places have spirits that guard them. It’s easy to see why the area has long been sacred to the locals.
As I passed by few of these offering sites, my goosebumps were straight up and I felt chilled. Obviously, my thought greeted them and asked for permissions to pass through. I dare not take any pictures of the offerings in due to respect.
After this point, the walk to the 4th is much less steep and you will come across of few sequences of smaller, less dramatic but extremely pretty waterfalls cascading down the hills and through the jungle, winding past trees and creating more pools with more fishes thriving in there and which is also perfect for a dip.
The 4th Tier – OK Nang Phisuea features another splendid emerald pool surrounded by boulders and shaded by huge trees which has a natural water slide that we can slide down smooth into the water.
From here once again the trail gets rougher and tougher requires me to climb over fairly steep rocks and cross small puddles, we need to be careful as some rocks are still wet and slippery. After few minutes of a tough hike, I came to the 5th tier – Buea Mal Long which has many smaller waterfalls have polished the rocks into rounded slopes that appear like sofa though it carries therapeutic qualities, mineral-rich water drops gently into the stacked pool which is worthy for a dip. The water strikes a milky shade of ice blue thanks to the minerals.
I stopped for a break at the 5
th tier for a moment, I attempted to try to reach the 6
th tier, but my stamina was low and the path was trickier to 6
th and 7
th were much tougher, I turned back to 5
th tier while my friend continued to the other two tiers.
I got myself into the 5
th tier falls, the water was freezing and there were lots of fishes. I had a good time letting those fishes nibble on my leg and toes cleaning away the dead skins while waited for my group f friend who headed up much earlier than me and my friend.
Once the group were back, all of them rested at and took a dip in the 5th pool and finally, my friend reached back from the other 2 falls. We were spending sometime before we headed back down which was much difficult as there were more crowd and the walk down wasn’t easy.
End of the day, it was an amazing hike to the waterfalls and what an adventure.
