Are you worrying about travelling to Thailand with kids? We can help you with that. If you’d like to dip your toe in the water of Asian family travel, taking kids to Thailand would be my top recommendation. We have been to Thailand with our children 20+ times, each trip has been fabulous and problems …
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia travel blog. Information on travelling in, touring and backpacking southeast asia, for families with kids, solo travellers and couples. Southeast asia travel all ways.
Which countries are in Souteast Asia? Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Timor-Liest and The Philippines.
We posted already about our experiences of travelling around Southeast Asia with kids (for 5 years!) now let’s have a look at where you should go in Southeast Asia. What are the standout, must-see places, attractions, and destinations You’re probably in the process of planning your Southeast Asia trip, or thinking about taking your children …
It’s time for us to write a post on our favourite and recommended hotels, hostels, and guest houses in Southeast Asia. Hostels in Southeast Asia are generally very good and many have family rooms, however, they’re not always the cheapest accommodation option. You’ll find that guest houses and cheap hotels in Asia are often cheaper …
Tha Kha floating market is a smaller, less well known floating market near Bangkok. It is a much better experience than visiting the popular Damnoed Saduak floating market, which is the market most tourist tours will take you to. Amphawa floating market is also near Bangkok and trips can take you to any of these, …
Northern Thailand is one of the best places to visit in Thailand if you want to see beautiful temples, villages, unspoilt landscapes and “real” Thailand, away from the holiday beaches. This post coverst the best, most beautiful places to visit in Northern Thailand and gives you a Northern Thailand Itinerary. Things to do and places …
This week we’re touring northern Thailand by car, it’s amazing, fascinating and fun with the added bonus of being incredibly cheap. This part of the world is pretty affordable anyway and for a family of 4, hiring a car beats bus prices hands down, but what’s made our holiday within a holiday super cheap is …
We’re loving this city in strange and unexpected ways. I’m loving the Thai environment sure, the Old City of Chiang Mai with its ancient walls, stunning temples and teak houses, the amazing Thai food and it’s abundant availability, the clear blue skies and tropical heat, but I’m loving it in more than a tourist-sort-of-way. I’m …
Everyone knows you need to haggle over prices in Thailand and most other parts of Asia. Some are good at it, knocking prices down casually with a confident smile, some are rubbish. I fall into the second group. Luckily my 10-year-old son is a haggling ninja. A post and very short video on How to …
We loved Battambang, this is the sort of town that’s great to just hang out for a few days, or weeks. It has a good vibe, quieter streets and a lovely riverside walk with a playground for the kids (and grown ups!). The area around Battambang is also wonderful to explore, you’ll find rural Cambodia, …
Everyone knows about the Bamboo Railway in Battambang, but there are many more things to do and see in this cool Cambodian town. It’s the second largest town in the country and lies in the heart of rice growing country. Despite it’s size, Battambang retains its quiet riverside charm and remnants of French colonial architecture, …
If you’re travelling in Laos, a visit to Pak Ou Caves, Luang Prabang would be a great trip to add to your must-do list.The caves are around 25Km outside Luang Prabang and are fascinating for their history as a significant Buddhist site housing thousands of Buddha images and icons. A visit to Pak Ou Caves …
If you’re heading to Luang Prabang, Laos, you’re in for a very special treat. We have already posted about browsing the amazing markets, things to do and excursions from Luang Prabang and adventures with food in this UNESCO listed town, but lets have a look at some of the amazing sights you can discover when …
A reader has asked for information on the kayaking and caving trip we took in Vang Vieng Laos, so, happy to oblige, here’s the run down. We took this tour twice, we enjoyed it so much the first time we just had to go again. This was, to us, far more fun than tubing ( …
We were lucky enough to be able to visit the brand new Legoland Water Park Malaysia near Johor Baru just a couple of weeks after it opened. We spent the previous day at Legoland Malaysia (review here) and loved it , time for round 2, a day of splashy, wet family fun in the tropical heat of southern …
This post is about how to get to Legoland Malaysia from Malacca, the bus journey, where to stay near Legoland and more. It’s also about our experiences of travelling in Malaysia. I’ve been really struggling with travel in Malaysia lately. After the first couple of days in Malacca, loving the ancient buildings and churches, I …
Keeping the children happy in Malacca isn’t hard at all. Malacca with kids is a great destination with plenty for them to see and do. The town is bright, colourful and filled with interesting sights, tastes and smells. There are forts and canons to climb on, great museums and great shops, plus indoor and outdoor …
Malacca doesn’t seem to be much of a backpacker town, most of the tourists we see are local and/or considerably richer than us, which isn’t hard. Maybe all the backpackers are in other districts rather than the Old Town. Finding cheap accommodation (for a family of 4 in particular) in Malacca has been tricky. We …
One of our readers wrote: I’d love to simply hear more about your day-to-day lives. What do your kids do all day? How does one spend six weeks in a remote place….I honestly have no idea. Don’t you (and the kids) run out of things to do? I just can’t fathom how you pass each day! Six …
We have absolutely loved staying on Haad Salad, Ko Phangan for the last 6 weeks. It’s a beautiful beach paradise with calm, clear waters that my children can safely swim in and kayak on. We found good, cheap family accommodation and enjoyed good Thai food and rainbow sunsets . But there are a few dangers …
This morning, 4 months into our trip, my husband is having emergency hernia repair surgery on Ko Samui. I’ve always said medical care is great in Thailand, but I wasn’t expecting to test it out! My fit, healthy, Iron Man husband was absolutely fine on Saturday afternoon. He was playing around with the kids. We got a taxi …
Years ago, in Vietnam, when we were on our first RTW, I had a go at driving the moped we’d hired. I got my twisting, pulling and pushing mixed up and mounted the pavement extremely inelegantly, scattering the picnicking Vietnamese family who were quietly enjoying their lunch. I hadn’t been near a moped since because …
Ko Phangan is a beautiful and relatively unspoiled island off the east coast of southern Thailand. It is easy to reach from Ko Samui by ferry. We spent 6 weeks on Ko Phangan because one of us became unwell and needed emergency surgery. One day on Ko Phangan the coconut-picking monkeys came to visit. Coconut …
You have plenty of options for getting from Bangkok to Koh Samui in the far southwest of Thailand. Modern Thailand is an incredibly easy country to travel around, thanks to its long-established tourism industry, you’ll certainly be able to find a way of getting to Koh Samui from Bangkok that suits you. Once you reach …
COPE Vientiane is a non-profit organisation in Laos which provides prosthetic limbs, mobility assistance and rehabilitation for Lao people who can’t afford it. We took a look at their visitor centre in Vientiane, Laos’s capital, this morning. It was one of those incredible places that had me rushing home to get a post written and …
Beautiful Vang Vieng, Laos is known for tubing and a crazy backpacker party scene. Not many people would associate it with family travel and it hasn’t always had the best reputation. We’ve spent four weeks in Vang Vieng now with our kids and we all love it here, despite the rain. I can give you …
If you boarded your bus, took your assigned seat and looked up to see this over your head, would you be worried? You’d be right to be. We had the seats with the built-in internal rain shower. Every time we climbed a hill (and there were many), at a particular angle, water from the air-conditioning system gave …
We’ve been in Luang Prabang, Laos, for almost a week now. It’s been a strange few days and we weren’t enjoying Luang Prabang as much as we’d hoped second time around, it’s changed a lot. Luang Prabang is all about wealthy fly-in tourists these days, they’ve built an international airport here since we came last and …
We’ve been in Vang Vieng, Laos for 5 nights now and we’re loving it. It’s raining, a lot, but it hasn’t spoiled our experience of this little town. There has been flooding, the Nam Song river was over its banks yesterday morning, I had to wade through the river to buy my morning coffee, all …
Getting to Laos from Thailand. This post is about the journey from Kanchanaburi Thailand, to Bangkok, to Nong Khai on to Laos, Vientiane, and on to Vang Vieng. We had to get out of Thailand, we loved Kanchanaburi and were very happy just chilling there, but our visa was running out and we needed to …
We’ve been in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, sitting here on the River Kwai for a week now. What have we been doing? A Kanchanaburi blog from this sleepy riverside town in Thailand. Well, nothing, really. Sleeping on a raft, eating, reading, using computers and just watching the world go by. We did managed a little bit of …
Wat Arun, The Temple of The Dawn or Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan stands on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River at Thonburi in Central Bangkok. It is almost immediately opposite the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. A small shuttle ferry will take you to Wat Arun’s doorstep via Tha Thien Market Pier. The temple …
I’ve mentioned Dusit zoo before as a great place to take children in Bangkok, we went for a return visit yesterday. There are many cool things to do in Bangkok with kids and Dusit Zoo is not one we particularly recommend or not recommend. There is a zoo in Bangkok, it is called Dusit Zoo. This …
Kek Lok Si Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in this region of Malaysia, and is one of the best places to visit on Penang Island. I think it’s possibly the prettiest Malaysian temple I’ve ever visited, each section of Kek Lok Si has its own charming style and the temple, and its compound, were …
It’s great to be in Bangkok again! I fell in love with Bangkok as a solo traveller back in 1999 and now I visit with my children, they love Bangkok too. This post is about our first few days in Bangkok at the start of our nomadic family travel adventure. This was year one of …
Fort Cornwallis is a historic fort and tourist attraction on Penang Island, part of the state of Penang, in Malaysia. The fort is on the outskirts of the state capitol George Town, and makes an interesting place to visit on the island of Penang. Your visit won’t take long, and there is an admission fee …
Malaysia is in the middle of an environmental catastrophe. If you read my last post, things we didn’t like about Kuala Lumpur, you’ll remember me mentioning the air pollution. I didn’t realise what was going on back then. Vast quantities of smoke from fires on Sumatra are blowing across the straits of Malacca engulfing Singapore …
Kuala Lumpur isn’t perfect. We’ve had a great time, seen some cool and interesting things, enjoyed excellent cheap and free public transport, eaten some fantastic Indian food and stayed in top-notch accommodation, but all cities have their drawbacks. Kuala Lumpur has some not-so-nice bits, too. This post is about the negatives of Kuala Lumpur that …
Yesterday we checked out modern Kuala Lumpur, today we stepped back in time. Chinatown is on our doorstep here at the fabulous Back Home Kuala Lumpur just a short walk up the road, which is good. The heat, the traffic, the uneven pavements and the exhaust fumes don’t make walking much fun for the kids. This …
Boy it’s hot in Kuala Lumpur! But somehow it’s quite a pleasant hot, the sun isn’t beating down on us as it does in a Queensland summer, the sky is mostly overcast here and it’s very easy to get around the city using shady covered walkways. This post is about visiting a Kuala Lumpur roller …
This post is from our first day of travel, our first day as a nomadic family, not quite digital nomads yet, our travel blog wasn’t making enough money for us to call ourselves that. These early months of travel were funded by savings. We’d saved for a year, planned for a year, and now we …