travelling with kids

Hi we are going to Cambodia and then on to Laos and thailand with our 4 children aged 3,5,7 and 9

any suggestions from people who have travelled with young children through these countries

We will of course be going to Siem Reap but if anyone has ideas of some other special places that are a must do , please let me know

Thanks

travelling with kids

Others will tell you about the obvious places, but let me recommend a little community service while you are there with your children. It will add a whole new dimension to your trip.

It%26#39;s very inexpensive to buy a bunch of pens and pencils or to provide lunch for the afternoon session of primary school kids. My experience with families who have done this is that the western children are touched deeply by getting to know the Khmer children in person. Letting them see how most of the children in the world go to school gives them a new perspective that sticks. If this sounds interesting to you, please visit www.theplf.org. We have 4 schools in Siem Reap, 3 of them are in the countryside, and one at Koh Ker.

You don%26#39;t say where you are going in Lao, but if it%26#39;s Luang Prabang, please consider doing something similar for Big Brother Mouse. You can google it.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

travelling with kids

Thank you very much.

Thats exactly the sort of thing we are after

Its sometimes too easy to just go and see all of the tourist sites and think you have seen all there is to see.

As you said the children will get so much out of this kind of experience rather than just another temple.

Don%26#39;t get me wrong we plan on seeing many of these as well but we also want to see the real Cambodia.If any one else has more great ideas please add them

Thanks again

The temples are amazing, to be sure. But the people are even more so; they are resilient, humurous and kind. Finding ways to get to know them on a personal level will greatly enhance your experience here. The Khmer children are particularly engaging.

Doing something for the Khmer children that is organized and productive (like at a school) will also make you feel a little better about not giving them money on the street. It%26#39;s valuable for them to learn that help comes from school, not from begging.

There is a butterfly garden in Siem Reap, a crocodile farm, the Cambodian Cultural Village is good for kids and a boat ride on the Tonle Sap might be of interest.

Hi

Any more tips anyone

Only 1 month to go

Thanks

Tassie

I second the school visit idea - in the years we have travelled in asia with our two daughters (now 17 %26amp; 19) we always made a point to visit a school. We usually took some simple picture books about Australia as a gift for the school library/classroom.

On a trip to Vietnam in 2004 we visited an orphanage and took clothes and games for the kids. We didn%26#39;t speak vietnamese and the kids didn%26#39;t speak english but we spent a day there and communication turned out not to be a problem - chess is the same in any language (and I got whopped by these kids), so is soccer.

One of the simplest and cheapest things we took - and the one the kids (mine and the ones at the orphanage) liked the best was one of those jumbo buckets of chalk (you can get them at lincraft). the kids spent hours tracing their handprints on the concrete (and writing their names inside their print) and drawing pictures of each other. It really was magical to watch and we have some fantastic photos.

Travel teaches our children things a classroom never can, and interacting with children in other countries develops a tolerance and compassion in them that will be with them apways. good luck and have a wonderful trip

Helen

We just returned from Cambodia with our two kids, ages 10 and 13. The highlight of our trip was our time at an orphanage where we have been sponsoring two kids. They have guest rooms where you can stay and they cook Khmer food for you. You can interact with the kids as much as you like. We all LOVED it.

The email address: emailfosterparents.org

Check it out.

We just returned from Cambodia with our two kids, ages 10 and 13. The highlight of our trip was our time at an orphanage where we have been sponsoring two kids. They have guest rooms where you can stay and they cook Khmer food for you. You can interact with the kids as much as you like. We all LOVED it.

The email address: emailfosterparents.org

The orphange is outside Phnom Penh

Check it out.