As we with the child do not travel especially (trips on estates do not count), I want to offer you a guest post from our virtual friends Gil and Yulia, who have already tasted the whole the charm and all the difficulties of traveling with a child in Asia.
Even before the wedding and before our son was born, we always traveled on their own. I do not remember that we ever We ordered a tour at a travel agency, and we managed to travel around most of Europe, and the experience of traveling abroad, so to speak, we had. After our last trip there, we realized that there we were no longer Interesting – everywhere everything is the same: hotel, monuments, squares, cafes and restaurants, but I wanted to taste some exotic stuff.
If the vast majority of people quietly spend their lives in format work-home-vacation-work-home, then we wanted some speakers – find some new expensive or, if you want, unprecedented paths, or, as they say, give a chance to another life. After all, a long journey will surely affect you and your a look at the world, and even if you have to return to the same place, you still come back a different person with different views on a life. Already, we feel these changes, over time, is lost the meaning of chasing material values, you understand that in the final the end result is trash and the moments of happiness in life are rarely associated with the fact that you have accumulated in the chest under the bed.
Let’s just say that the trip was planned long, but for beginning we needed a soft landing – a place where you can fly around, look around, acclimatize and get used to Southeast Asia. And, thus, it was decided to first fly to Thailand on 3 month, and then try to visit the neighboring countries. On the beginning of our journey, our son was a year and 8 months.
Like all other people who are going on such a trip, The training took place through the Internet – forums were read articles from blogs and collected all sorts of information. how it turned out in the future, most of it was absolutely superfluous. On in fact, one big porridge reigned in my head, and there was such a feeling that you will never figure it out. But gradually the information postponed and somehow gained a certain meaning, and by the time departure 08.11.2011 we were more or less ready to go.
At that time, our environment was horrified – where did it take us? Throwing questions that will be then and scarecrow us scary bikes about the fact that Thailand is a third world country, there is always solid poor sanitation, no normal doctors, prostitution, drugs, etc. It got to the point that we were told about flourishing in these parts Child trafficking and our boy can just steal. Well, we, like stubborn young parents, they decided not to listen to anyone and go to before to your dream and see everything with your own eyes.
Thus, leaving behind everyday work and the usual way of life Behind us, having bought backpacks, we flew to Thailand and began to get comfortable. Not to say that at first there was no culture shock, it was, but quite for a short time . In the end, it turned out that a better place for acclimatization and to begin our journey was difficult want..
The first time we, of course, lay on the beaches
Enjoy the colorful sunsets …
Or just days after days spent at sea
Gradually, we began to get used to the local order, customs, image life and mentality, local cuisine. Since then, we have already managed visit Cambodia, Laos and Manyama (Burma), but always Returned to Thailand as home, I will not lie if I say that we very fond of this country.
It’s only been 7 months since we left our home, but during this time we saw and experienced so many beautiful moments, how many did not have time for all his life before. And our the journey is still going on, very soon we will fly Vietnam and China.
And we are the whole family. I’m rarely a family photographer. I get into the frame, and this is one of those cases.
The most important thing was to understand that the child does not interfere travel, and if you really want to go, then the kids don’t are a nuisance. I will not say that it is easy, definitely there difficulties – a small child needs daytime sleep and regimen, so that forget about the night festivities or some of the joys of life— or look for a decent nanny among the local population.
Walking tours can be significantly reduced because of your baby’s mood, heat, etc. But despite everything the difficulties, it is still worth it, believe me. When else we had would be able to spend so much time together? Our son learned All animals are visual, and not by pictures and are not afraid of anything. is he bathes in the sea of attention that people give him and give him in any from Asian fear and in general, in my opinion it’s better here than us, for adults. He is with his parents, and not in some kind of kindergarten, where he would be sick every month or with nannies.
We are sometimes asked how permanent children affect moving So I tell you that when we travel with a child many new experiences and emotions, and he is calm, and when we linger in one place, after a few days it starts bored and capricious, so it seems we are growing traveler.
Here’s a kid at the pool in Cambodia in Siem Riepe
Going to Asia with a child for a long period, you need to decide some questions about your family – get vaccinated against local sores, arm first-aid kit and get insurance on case of trouble. If the first things were relatively simple, then collecting the first-aid kit turned out to be problematic, I wanted to have everything with me and for every occasion, but in fact it turned out that almost all drugs and medicines are sold in pharmacies, and the rest is for you will issue a doctor.
Arriving in any of the tropical countries, always use means from mosquitoes and the sun, it will save you from unnecessary troubles.
The most painful topic in traveling with a child is, of course, luggage . If alone you can be completely satisfied with a 55-liter a backpack and a bag for a passport and money, then the family is already 50+ kilograms in backpacks + hand luggage kilograms on 15. And if in detail: we have 2 backpacks one 55 l, the second 75 l, in addition to this is still quite a big bag on wheels, which go All children’s things – pot, e-mail. single burner tiles, porridges, diapers, etc. With so much luggage, walkways limited to meters, but it’s not scary, because everywhere there is always taxi or tuk-tuks, we had no problems with transportation in Asia never.
Baby stroller, in principle, needed, at least for the first time. With choosing a stroller the biggest role is played by its size and weight, for it very often will be carried on hands, and not go. Sidewalks in Asia – this is only a name – they are either not at all, or they are bad adapted to carry a stroller, very high curbs or too broken. A good alternative is a sling, we did not have it, but very often we thought about its necessity. We ourselves used the stroller for the first 4 months, after our the baby got stronger and started walking well on the streets, we her thrown out.
This is how our entire luggage looks today, all our life in three bags (one was torn off a little in the plane, it was necessary in a hurry to glue up with a plaster), I don’t understand what we have there in the container in the container lies on stock, because there is everything you need for life.
This is how our entire baggage looks today.
There are also some features of home and hotel search. when traveling with a child. Leaving alone or as a couple, not too think much about where to live, as if thinking too, but priorities are completely different. With a child, there are minimum criteria for rent a house and hotel room:
At the first stage, we searched for hotels in which there is an opportunity cook baby porridge or some soup, in other words it is hotel rooms with kitchenette or so-called serviced appartments. They are in Bangkok, Krabi and on the big islands, but The problem is that their quantity is relatively small, and the prices for they are much higher. Later in Cambodia a thought occurred why don’t we buy an electric burner. What a pity that this the thought did not come earlier, it would immediately expand our range hotels and guesthouses, as well as, would save a lot of money.
The second criterion is air conditioning and the absence of any gaps. in the walls of your home. Since Yulia is with a medic, she cannot allow and thoughts about sleeping with the windows open, through which can fly mosquitoes that are hawkers diseases or some other poisonous-biting evil. We can would have endured such a disease, but endanger it baby? So we always settled in places with air conditioning and without any gaps.
Security of the house itself and the surrounding area. Houses we rented, always been either without steps and balconies or with protective railing, through which the child can not get out and fall, too The same applies to hotel rooms – balconies should always safe.
At the first stage, we booked hotels via the Internet, but Internet sites take a fee for their services, and, rather, All in all, if you call the hotel directly, it will be cheaper. or at least at the same price as on the Internet. But if you pay attention when booking for example on the website of Agoda the price is one and when you are going to pay you take extra taxes that makes the price higher by 12 percent. So find a hotel in online and call them directly. In Cambodia and Laos, for example, the difference between internet and direct arrival to the hotel and ordering the place was often half price, not to mention that half of Guesthouses do not exist at all on the Internet.
Cots are in most hotels in Thailand, but in neighboring countries they are rare, so your child will sleep with you or on the attached sofa.
This is our first home in Ao Nang, it was a little expensive for local standards, but then we were still green, inexperienced, could not ok to deal with finding a home and, as they say, time was pressing and it was necessary to solve something.
This is our first home in Ao Nang
Food: The most difficult thing is, perhaps, to figure out how and what to feed. child in Asia, the local food is likely to not like him, and then some problems will arise.
You can, of course, ask the hotel staff to in the kitchen cooked something else, such as scrambled eggs or pancakes or go to the tray on the street where they sell food, and ask to cook chicken soup or something like that. But the best solution is to have with a small hotplate.
Although infant formula and diapers are available in all countries in which we visited some of them it was difficult to find such the shops. Fresh milk is everywhere in Thailand, but in other countries only in big stores in big cities. Therefore often had to buy pasteurized milk. If oatmeal can find in Tae without problems, buckwheat and semolina is not everywhere, so your Take your favorite cereals with you.
Traveling and travel: Do not drive yourself to travel. When we We move, we try to stay in one place for about a week or 4 nights minimum This makes it possible to get to know a better place. take a break from moving and everything connected with it. After each “Heavy” (with long crossings, bad roads, etc.) of the country we stay Thailand for a month, that is, for the entire duration of the visa. This gives the opportunity to relax and gain strength before the next country.
Avoid long journeys by bus, for in them relatively cramped, and the child may be bored and capricious, not saying that long journeys are just tiresome.
Alternatively, use trains better The place to turn around and terribly convenient. But there is a little nuance See that you are not sold to both the ticket to the upper shelves, there little space and just scary to sleep at a height of 2 meters from the floor with a small child.
In many countries, traveling around the country is better by boat or the ferry. If you have to sail the ferry, try to board big and slow, such that carries cars, not high-speed boat For high-speed ferries that ply between Suratani and Phangan / Koh Samui, for example, is very heavily swayed and 2-3 hours per the ferry can turn into hell. Carry pills from motion sickness just in case and take them before you get on ferry.
On the boat, we swam only once, but the trip lasted 2 days. It was a rafting on the Mekong river with Huayksay in Luang Prabang (in Laos) . In this place it was the best way to travel country, the alternative was a 14 hour bus ride mountain serpentines. Rafting was absolutely calm, without Adventures, on a boat the child has a place to run around, and she swims along the river slowly and absolutely motionless, and on the sides beauty .. local landscapes, mountains and a lot of interesting things.
Photos from this trip, good mood
Mekong rafting
Moto-bike: Here every parent must decide for himself, will whether he use a motorcycle or not, for whatever one may say, this is all equally dangerous. On the other hand, if you don’t rent it, it’s severely limits your ability to choose your home, your movements, and sightseeing in the area. We enjoyed Moto-bike on Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Kep in Cambodia. If a did you decide to still ride a motorbike with a child, then be sure buy a helmet for him, such that it covers the back head and never drive at a speed exceeding 40 km / h.
Moto-bike
In our blog, we describe the places we visited, share experience and of course a lot of photos. Household posts with us for the time being, for the simple reason that because of the large the amount of movement, we just do not have time to describe everything. But how just settle down for a longer period, be sure We will describe everything, but for now we can answer with pleasure all of your questions
Some photos from places where we were:
Inle Lake in Manyama (Burma)
Bagan, Manyama (Burma)
Mandalay, Manyama (Burma)
Valley of Jars in Laos
Vat Hieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos
Ayuthaya, Thailand
Sukhothai, Thailand
Dawn, Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Ao Nang, Thailand
Well, favorite Koh Phangan
So, of course, you can continue indefinitely, photos it turned out to be much more than can be accommodated in one guest post. Come and visit us at NashThai.ru. Have a nice day and interesting travel friends
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