On October 2, 2011, my husband and I and our 4 month old baby set off on our unexpected journey. I called it unexpected, since a few months before that we could not have imagined that we would be somewhere in Asia, because we had a baby in our arms. The decision was made abruptly and almost immediately finally. The child was not even a hindrance, but rather an incentive to leave for a more comfortable climate and closer to the sea, because autumn, winter and early spring in Kharkov with a child for such lazy people as we seemed like a nightmare š Only force majeure could prevent us. All intimidation, doubt, scary stories and the conjectures of our acquaintances and relatives, we passed on deaf ears. Since we had already decided to go, it was almost impossible to convince us, we are both very stubborn and a little frivolous š
Thailand turned out to be the most suitable country for us, although we had never been there before. Our choice was influenced by many various factors, but the main ones are a huge amount of information about life with a child in Thailand, the ability to live long without problems and low prices for everything.
So, on October 2, 2011 at 6:00 we left Kharkov by car for Borispol airport, from where we flew to Kuala Lampur (Malaysia) with a change in the UAE. Why to Malaysia? Yes, because we decided that going to Kyiv and making Thai visas there in terms of money and time would not be much cheaper than flying into Malaysia and combining business with pleasure. Because we stayed in Malaysia for 3 days. We got visas, got enough sleep after a hard road, looked at the city. To be honest, we didnāt see even half of what I planned before the trip, as we were very tired after the road, in which we didnāt manage to sleep at all, because there was a baby in my arms. But we got the general impression of the city, of the people. The city is very decent, modern, pleasant, but, unfortunately, Muslim (I'm not against Muslims, I just Muslim countries uncomfortable). View of Kuala Lumpur from the roof of our hotel:
One of the main streets. There are almost no pedestrian crossings, there are almost no paths for pedestrians, constant traffic jams:
This is how our baby rejoiced at the beginning of our journey against the backdrop of the famous Petronas Towers:
On the 5th of October, after saying goodbye to the pleasant country of Malaysia, we flew to the island of Phuket, after reading a lot of rave reviews about this place. We stayed at a hotel in the Kata beach area and started looking for a house or apartment to rent. A day later, both of us did not leave the feeling that in vain we dragged the child there. Two days later, everything annoyed me there. On the second evening, I just sat on the bed and almost cried because I didnāt know what to do next. It was somehow stupid to go home, but it was wrong to live with a child in such a place. There are too many representatives of the sex industry and their clients, a lot of tipsy and stoned tourists. A place where it's cool to relax for a while or hang out, but where I couldn't imagine life with a toddler. Without a child, and even more so without a wife or husband, Phuket is very cool and fun. But we were looking for another rest .. When the whores in the streets ran up in droves and pawed the child with squeals and giggles, I was ready to fly home at any moment, if only no one else would touch him. In general, Phuket is quite a nice place, with very beautiful beaches and squalid streets. I wasn't in the mood to take a lot of pictures. Kata beach with beautiful blue sea and soft sand:
Narrow streets, reminiscent of a poor provincial town. There are a lot of motorbikes everywhere, an unusual driving style and left-hand traffic. I was really afraid to ride the first weeks:
The streets are wrapped in a web of wires. It seems that a cable is laid separately for each house:
I also really liked the first weeks and seemed something unusual and interesting to the chapels of good spirits that stand in every yard and where the Thais constantly put water, food, decorate with flower garlands. Later, I got very used to these ubiquitous cute things and they surprised me no less than palm trees:
So, after staying in Phuket for 2 days, we could not find a place to live and continued to live in a shabby hotel, where our neighbors brought their taeks or ladyboys for the night. Cheap Thai housing, which is so eloquently written about on many sites and forums, turned out to be not so cheap. Prices in cafes with edible food and fruits were also not at all encouraging. I understood that I just needed to know the places, but we began to regret our idea of āāwintering in Tai very much. A decent one-room apartment in Phuket in a normal, secure location cost about $1,000 a month. And we wanted a 2-room house, with a pool and a lawn for the child. Everything went to the fact that we will live in Phuket for a month and a half and fly home. But quite by accident, I stumbled upon the vtailand.com blog, the author of which was recently looking for a house to rent himself and had a good database of vacant houses. We really liked one of them and quickly decided to take a taxi and go to Hua Hin. The price was unrealistically low for a house of this level. 14,000 baht per month for 6 months rental. 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, European kitchen, spacious living room, security, communal pool. Here is such a house:
Our baby in the pool:
Tropical shower from the porch of our house:
We spent the next 5.5 months in Hua Hin, going 1 time to Laos and 1 time to Malaysia. We lived there, communicated mainly with locals, and webmasters we knew lived there for some time. We worked, we swam, we visited some interesting places. The town itself is more Thai than tourist. Tourists come here for a relaxing holiday, and whites (especially Russians) are not as common here as in Phuket. Thais are not spoiled by tourists and are very pleasant to talk to. The city is located 200 km southwest of Bangkok and stretches for 5-6 km along the beach. It is famous for its golf courses and the summer palace of the Thai king. Nightlife and entertainment are almost non-existent here. Here are the summer residences of many wealthy residents of Bangkok. The city, the people, the prices - we all liked it very much. The perfect place for calm family lifeš The city looks like this:
Schoolgirls and monks:
Central beach of the city:
We meet the dawn on the beach:
The sea, to be honest, is so-so. This is not the sea for which it is worth traveling so far. For a good beach holiday, you need to go to the Thai islands. But certainly the beach here is better than in Pattaya.
I canāt say that we traveled a lot and constantly traveled. We just lived and sometimes traveled somewhere. There is no other way with a child. Because of him, all sorts of safaris, elephant rides, kayaking, diving and much more turned out to be inaccessible to us. We chose more peaceful and safe entertainment. The first interesting place we visited was Mount Khao Takiab (Monkey Mountain). Here we introduced the kid to funny monkeys:
Romance:
We also admired Thai architecture:
Climb up the steps to the temple:
I showed the kid what bells are:
And of course, we enjoyed the beautiful view of Hua Hin and the Gulf of Thailand with might and main:
The next time we visited the most beautiful and uncrowded beach of Hua Hin Sai Noi, which is a small beautiful bay:
If you climb through the jungle along the steps up to the cape, you can get to the statue of the Big Golden Buddha:
Underneath is a cave. Unlike similar places in Russian-speaking countries, here the cave is very clean, well-groomed and not turned into a public toilet:
There is an observation platform from where a very beautiful view of the city opens:
At the beginning of December, our visa was running out and we had to either renew it or go for a new one. Since when renewing, we would have to go for a new one to new year holidays, then we decided to go without an extension. And we went to Laos, for a double entry visa. Loas is an unusual country. It miraculously combines Buddhism, communism, poverty and Asian mentality. The capital of Laos, Vientiane, looks like a provincial town and looks like this at best:
It's very strict here. open relationship between a man and a woman, foreigners are forbidden to bring Lao women to the hotel, and the women themselves dress most often in traditional skirts with a blouse:
People, as in other Asian countries, are often transported like this:
There are no sights that are worth going to this country for them in Laos, but we looked at something, as time allowed. Triumphal arch in Laos:
Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Laos:
Temple Pha That Luang:
Buddha Park in Laos is a sinister place, with statues depicting various mythical creatures and scenes of violence.
View from Laos to Thailand across the Mekong River:
But most importantly, our main goal was achieved - we received double-entry Thai visas:
This concludes our short trip to Laos.
We visited the next few places thanks to friends of our friend Vova, who kindly invited us to join them and explore interesting places that are relatively far from Hua Hin. The first such place was the Palau waterfall, which is located in a reserve deep in the jungle, towards the border with Burma. The waterfall itself is low and consists of several levels, but it is very beautiful place and untouched nature, real jungle:
Sasha could not stand it and fell asleep in his arms during the return back:
Two days after the waterfall, we visited the indescribably beautiful lake Kaeng Krachan, took a boat ride on it with a stop near the island with diving monkeys:
And here are the impudent diving monkeys. They swam to our boat and tried to take the bananas from us:
Another amazing place that we visited while living in Hua Hin is the mountain and the cave of bats, from which millions of bats fly out every day at sunset. An indescribably breathtaking sight!
We also met in Hua Hin New Year. Since we have a baby, it turned out quietly, peacefully, like a family š This is how the Thais decorated their city for the holiday:
A couple of weeks after the new year, our baby fell ill and we had to spend 2 days in the hospital. Nothing serious happened, just an intestinal infection, because children at this age put everything in their mouths. But we were very scared.
We ate differently. At first, they cooked either themselves, or a Thai neighbor cooked for us for an additional fee. In the end, I got completely lazy and we often ate in one Thai cafe, where it was cheap, tasty and safe. These are the delicious dinners we had at first (then more and more often I wanted cutlets or dumplings):
awa came to visit us and we had a barbecue:
You can buy this at the night market, I canāt say that itās cheap, but itās quite affordable:
True, something incomprehensible Thai with a disgusting smell is more common:
And meat is sold in the markets like this in the heat of +35. We even sometimes bought this (it tastes better than the store) and by some miracle we never got poisoned:
This is a young cobra that started up in our yard and for 3 days we were afraid to leave the house and open the doors until the guard dealt with it. 3 days, since at the slightest noise she burrowed under the stones, and by the time the guard came running, it was no longer possible to find her. This was my first and only encounter with a snake in Thailand:
And here is our baby in the yard of Vova's neighbor in the dead of winter:
One of the guards who constantly tried to teach Sasha to speak Thai:
Hua Hin Railway Station:
Sasha on the train during our most misguided trip to the border run in Malaysia. We then decided to save money and go to the border run on our own by train, but we were very tortured ourselves and tortured the child, it was our most difficult trip, after that we decided that it was better to stay somewhere less than such savings. The most terrible moment was when the air conditioner broke down in the full train, and it was +36 outside.
Then, in the 36-degree heat, we visited the usual Malaysian town of Alor Setar (Alor Star), in which, apart from us, we did not meet a single white man and not a single woman with an uncovered head. They looked at us like we were a miracle, they ran up to take a picture with the baby, they did not take their eyes off me. Very nice, calm, quiet, hot and simple town. Without interesting sights and with nice locals:
After 5 months Hua Hin got so tired of us that I was ready to go home. The hot spring season has begun. During the day it was impossible to go somewhere, and in the evenings at 6 it was getting dark. We lived in a village on the outskirts of the city, and there was nothing interesting or fun going on there. Very lacking good sea. There were always waves on the beach, which the kid was very afraid of. And in recent months, we didnāt go out much, we wanted variety. And the baby began a difficult age, when he is already actively moving, walking by the hand, he wants everything, but he cannot say. The most difficult thing was that because of the heat he refused almost all food, except for my milk, his teeth were falling out and in general he was very capricious. I started whining to my husband from time to time that it was time for us to go home. But he came up with something better. After some discussion, we decided to go to Koh Samui and did not regret it. We really liked it there. We initially considered Koh Samui as a place where you can go to spend the winter. But the lack of communication with the mainland in bad weather frightened me, since I had never been to Thailand before and had no idea what the standard of living, service, and medicine was there. It turned out that everything is fine! For a long time we studied how convenient, fast and inexpensive to get to the island, but decided not to risk it and take a taxi. We left Hua Hin late in the evening and early in the morning we were already in Don Sak, where, waiting for the ferry, we met the dawn:
And this is already photographed on the ferry:
An hour and a half later, we saw the island of Koh Samui:
We pre-booked a hotel on the shores of Lamai Beach for 2 days in order to find a house for rent during this time, but we could not find anything. In addition, there were waves on Lamai that Sasha was afraid of. Therefore, we went to look for housing in the area of āā\u200b\u200bthe beaches of BoPut and Maenam. We booked a hotel there for another 2 days and literally a couple of hours after we moved there we found a house for rent. Perhaps it was possible to find something cheaper or better, but on the whole, everything suited us, and itās a difficult thing to look for a house with a baby in our arms. 'Cause we agreed on the first suitable option. The house was a minute or two walk from the sea, 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, a swimming pool for 8 houses (always empty), free water and internet, but expensive electricity. Here is such a house:
The pool was right next to the house. Always clean and empty:
Geckos lived on the walls:
The neighbors had a cool kind dog:
Beach near the house:
Sunset on the beach near the house:
We traveled mostly by motorbike. If in Hua Hin at first we were afraid and traveled long distances by taxi, now we are completely bolder, we even went to the mountains on a bike, only then our back ached, as the child had already become large. But otherwise, nothing complicated. We put him in an ergo-backpack and drove.
Addendum: In connection with death small child on the island of Phangan, which an inexperienced mother was carrying in a sling on a bike and lost control, I decided to escape the photo where I pose with a baby on a bike so that other mothers would not repeat this. I DO NOT DRIVE A CHILD MYSELF AND DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE!!! I wrote about the bike very beautifully and easily, but not everything is so simple. I myself have never carried a child on a bike, moreover, my husband does not even let me ride alone. He drives very well, but at the same time I constantly yell at him to drive slowly and carefully. The first few months, while my husband was just mastering the bike, we did not carry a child on it at all. He himself went shopping or to the market, and I only took a taxi with the baby. When, after 2-3 months of daily driving, my husband got used to left-hand traffic and felt free on the road and on a bike, we dared to take the child to short distances and only six months later we began to travel more or less actively. One husband never drove a child on a bike, as children at this age can make unpredictable movements and create an emergency situation. My husband is driving and I am a child. To the last, I consider this way of driving very dangerous and I realize that it is high risk. Although walking with a stroller in Thailand where there are no sidewalks is even more dangerous. Dear Parents draw conclusions.
We most often went to Choeng Mon Beach for swimming. There is a slow descent into the sea, fine sand and not too many people:
I also liked Lamai Beach. Quiet, beautiful, but there are often waves and there is a sharp descent into the sea, which is dangerous for the baby. Lamai Beach:
On the edge of the beach on the side of Hua Thanon is the most famous "grandfather" stone on the island:
We also visited some interesting places on Koh Samui. Big Buddha statue:
Temple Wat Plai Laem:
Paradise Park:
We celebrated the Thai New Year on Koh Samui, when it is customary to pour water on each other. True, we could not participate in this madness, the baby cried a lot when he was poured over. Photographed from a motorbike:
A few days before departure to Bangkok, we celebrated 1 year old baby on Koh Samui:
After 3 days we flew to Bangkok. It was very sad to leave. Even there were thoughts not to fly anywhere for another month or two. But I had to return. Sasha was also upset:
Our next "brilliant" idea was to visit Bangkok before flying home. In the heat of May and one year old baby. Where were my brains? š It was hard with him there, he once again began to get new teeth and he was very capricious .. A lot of money was spent in Bangkok, and the time seemed completely unproductive. Most of the time we either sat in the hotel or walked somewhere near it. I really didnāt like the city and for the first time I really wanted to go home faster. We chose the highest hotel, Baiyoke Sky Hotel and rented a room on the 61st floor (88 in total). The view from the window was so amazing:
And this is the view from the observation deck on the top floor of the hotel:
The streets around the hotel turned out to be a market. The feeling that we lived in the center of the market:
It was really hot:
Streets of Bangkok:
We decided not to visit all sorts of temples and statues, not to arrange rides on the river and water markets, but chose something that would be interesting for the child. We could spend 1.5-2 hours in one place, then our baby began to actively act up, and we were already tired of entertaining him and distracting him from whims. The first such place was the aquarium. I (thanks to the movies) was expecting something unrealistically cool, but it turned out to be not so impressive. Although it was something to see. The lighting there is terrible, that's why the pictures came out bad:
The next we went to Dream World (analogue of Disneyland), which was located somewhere beyond Bangkok. But while we woke up, packed up and drove, the heat just started, so we didnāt stay there for long, 2 hours, no more:
There Sasha saw snow for the first time:
On the third day we planned to go on a Safari, but then we decided that it would be a torment because of the heat. So I decided to just go to the Royal Zoo. We foolishly went to some show where the kid began to be very naughty, it was boring for him to sit in one place. In addition, the heat did not disappear anywhere, it was very, very hot, so we did not stay there very long and did not even have time to get around everything. To be honest, the zoo is miserable, except for a few interesting animals there is nothing to see there.
We didnāt go anywhere else, the kid in Bangkok was unbearably moody. Stuffiness, stench, eternal traffic jams and dirt irritated us more and more. The baby grew teeth-fangs and he constantly whimpered. Then we either sat in the hotel or walked around the neighborhood and shopping centers, of which there were a lot in our area, for every taste.
This is where our journey ended. We said goodbye to bright and pleasant Thailand and flew home to gray Kharkiv.
P.S.: The article was written specifically for participation in the competition from
Amelia and I on Koh Samui
I often get letters from mothers who are going on vacation with a child to Thailand or wintering on Koh Samui with children. They ask questions - what dangers can lie in wait for babies in Thailand, what diseases our daughter had when we lived on Koh Samui, what to be afraid of, and the like. I decided to answer right away here, however, based on my experience of living on Koh Samui with a child. Perhaps other mothers did not have children at all, or vice versa, everyone has their own story)
There is no need to be afraid to take small children with you to Thailand, but reasonable safety rules should not be neglected. And there are some things you have to be prepared for. After all, all children, for example, periodically get sick, regardless of where they live. Is it worth it to travel with children to Asia? In my experience (the blog has a section about our trips with a child), such a vacation or winter stay will not be much āterrifyingā than a trip with a baby in Europe! And in general - after all, we had many trips to Asia with a child, but, fortunately, she was sick only on Koh Samui, where we lived long time, and where were the doctors in a normal clinic for insurance, on other trips, except in Hong Kong, an allergy began, which even before that was born on Koh Samui ...
My insurance in Thailand
Going for the winter on Koh Samui or, in principle, on vacation in Thailand with a child, traveling with children to Asia, first of all - do not forget to take out insurance! If you are going on a tour, then not the one that the operators include in the price, but the normal one. Read more about What kind of insurance to make in Thailand, how to choose insurance and the most important thing when applying for insurance in Thailand When traveling to Thailand with a small child, it is advisable to check with the insurance company in advance and choose the one that works with Bangkok International Hospital about the Bangkok International Hospital on Koh Samui and about the completely disliked Samui International Hospital.) And read in advance in which case the insurance does not work. For example, most insurance companies do not pay for a visit to the doctor if a child has a sun allergy. In this case, you need to say that the baby has a common allergy, etc., and ask the doctor to make an appropriate conclusion for the insurance (usually they go to a meeting). Or, the insurance company pays for a visit to the dentist only if you or your child has a severe toothache. So, even if there is something with the teeth, but they do not hurt - when you call the insurance company, you should tell about a terrible toothache) Our insurance paid off handsomely!
When we came to Thailand to live, my daughter was 10 months old. Before that, she had not been ill for a long time, because we did not live long in Spain and that climate completely saved her from all colds, allergies and the like.
Acclimatization of children in Thailand
The first thing that parents with children in Thailand may face is the acclimatization of babies. Our daughter didn't have any. In order not to encounter such troubles and not spoil your vacation, you need to follow simple rules. First, try to avoid sudden changes in temperature. It's best to travel from warm to warm. The flight from -20 to +30, of course, will be stressful for the body. And not only for children. But the worst thing will be on returning back from plus to minus. Secondly, if, nevertheless, the vacation is planned precisely for this time, it should last at least 3 weeks, and it is even better to relax with children for at least a month, because adaptation child's body to a new climate lasts approximately 10 days.
Our Doctor at Bangkok Hospital
Childhood illnesses in Thailand
The next thing that almost all parents usually face is the disease of air conditioners - a cold. Our daughter began to walk around with snot and cough until we stopped using air conditioners altogether. Ideally, you need to take housing with a large number of windows with obligatory nets on them. And even better - by the sea. If you get sick, in Bangkok Hospital, doctors willingly give out a bunch of about the same medicines for colds, colds and coughs as we have under insurance.
Of the more serious illnesses, my daughter was ill with Roseola. It's kind of like rubella, a fairly common illness among children in Thailand. The child has a temperature of 40 for three days, then a rash breaks out and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. In spite of high temperature, all three days the daughter was cheerful and was worn as usual. She is not treated with anything, only Nurofen or its local variety P-Pen is given to bring down the temperature. By the time my daughter got sick, we had lived on Koh Samui for about 7-8 months. Friends came to Koh Samui for the winter with a small child three times, and only the third time they picked up roseola somewhere and it went through the baby in the same way.
Six months before our arrival on Koh Samui, there was an epidemic of chickenpox among children, but, fortunately, we did not find it.
Somehow, a huge number of children in Thailand were ill with the Hands-Feet-Mouth disease. (Coxsackievirus is a viral infection that causes mouth sores and tiny blisters (pimples) on the hands and feet.) In other words, this concerned mainly local children and those Russian kids whose parents placed them in local kindergartens and schools. This disease was of such a massive nature due to the lack of the Thai habit of washing hands before eating and following such hygiene rules. But during the outbreak of the disease, the government held mass propaganda campaigns - they called for the implementation of hygiene rules, hung posters in kindergartens and schools ... Maybe it helped - there were no such epidemics during our time, although we heard about cases of the disease among local children. In general - as they say, wash your hands and fruits before eating! And do not gnaw your legs ... (just kidding!))
Poisoning
Here, pah-pah, we were lucky. Although the daughter pulled everything she could into her mouth, slobbered all the stones on the beach and, in general, everything she could reach on the floor and in the area, she never got poisoned. And I didnāt even catch worms, which I was very surprised, I checked it already four times. In general, I have never heard that someone in Thailand was poisoned with something, except perhaps those who eat not the first freshness of chicken from macaroons. And even then - in my first five visits to Thailand, I ate all this stuff from my hands (however, I chose carefully and asked me to fry a little again with me). Paradox) Just in case, I advise parents to take rehydron with them in case the child vomits, smect (it can be done from a month) and filtrum-sti.
Concrete Thai "furniture"
Bruises, falls
Most often, children fall out of bed. Our turntable fell twice in Thailand and the second time we rented it, and then bought a crib. Ideally, ask in advance at the hotel or from the owners of the rented house for a baby bed. Please note that it may turn out that an ordinary bed will not be āordinaryā, but a concrete box into which a mattress is inserted, that is, it will not be possible to move it to the wall. We lived in such a house with concrete furniture for the first six months. Anyway, very high beds in Thailand are very common. When falling out of bed, the child most often gets off with a lump, but it is best to go to the doctor.
By the way, in most cases, the floors in Thailand in houses are tiled.
Children often slip in the pool, so put slippers on them.
Alena - five of us on a bike
Separate story - bike ride with kids. Mom with baby in a sling on a bike in Thailand is a ubiquitous phenomenon and here everyone chooses for himself ... In my purely personal opinion, riding a bike with a small child in a place where traffic rules are not respected, turn signals do not turn on, riding after a couple of bottles of beer is the norm for locals, and there are a lot of drunk Russian tourists on bikes - not worth it. I donāt want to talk about tragic stories with children because of bikes, but, alas, they exist.
We drive these every day.
Insects, snakes in Thailand, etc.
It is almost impossible to meet a poisonous spider in hotels and good houses in resort areas. In villages, on the territory of hotels, Thais order insect pollination from special services on average every three months. I saw scorpions on the road late at night during the rainy season only twice. They do not exist in hotels, but it is better to choose private houses with good grids on windows and doors, without gaps and not in the jungle. It is logical to assume that with a small child you will settle rather on the seashore, and not in the rainforest. So that the baby is not stung by a scorpion (if you ever meet him at all), it is worth explaining to him that you should not put your hands under stones, in minks and incomprehensible cracks (well, or better to watch the children). During my entire stay, I read only about one case when a child was stung by a scorpion - he climbed his hands into a pile of rotten leaves on the site. Everything worked out, the Thais generally reacted calmly to this. They have only one species of scorpions, which is poisonous and is not very common. As for snakes, we saw them all the time (since we lived and walked all the time in especially non-tourist places), one even crawled into our house, but they are all tree snakes and they are more afraid of us than we are of them. From our Russians, who live far from the sea, I heard several times how they met cobras in gardens. I donāt know if itās true or āfear has big eyesā, but I havenāt heard about someone getting stung by a snake. Whoever has stronger nerves can read about Our āpetsā in Thailand, but keep in mind that our third house was in a remote area, with a wooden floor, huge cracks in windows and doors, and was not pollinated by anything for a year.
It is safe to swim in the sea, but keep an eye out for jellyfish and sea āāurchins- costs.
Well, Iāll add about the migrating larva - the chance to catch it is small, but if you donāt want to worry, you donāt need to plant children with your bare booty in the sand, and even better - you should wear slippers on the beach, at least in shady places.
Striped mosquitoes - carriers of infection
That's what you really should be afraid of - so it's mosquitoes. At five in the evening they tie napkins and fly out in large crowds to dine with tourists and their children. Considering that mosquitoes in Thailand are carriers of dengue fever, repellents should not be neglected. Especially when it comes to children. Please note that it is pointless to take something from Russia, ours does not work on local mosquitoes. It is best to use Thai mosquito repellents. Including children's from the pharmacy, especially for the little ones. There are practically no mosquitoes near the beach, they do not happen by the sea in the sun, but in the jungle there are a lot of them. Perhaps, on a safari in the rainforest, kids should not be taken at all.
Dengue fever in Thailand
In the last couple of years, many of my friends on the island have been ill with Dengue fever, at least on Koh Samui. Almost all of them lived in the interior of the island in private houses. In the village where our first house on Koh Samui was, one German fell ill with us, but the hostess immediately called for some kind of service, they sprayed the entire territory, there were no more cases of the disease inside the house. .
Dengue is usually well tolerated. I practically did not hear about cases of dengue diseases in children, it seems that for several years there was only one severe case on the island. Our daughter, as we believe, also had dengue, but this disease in children is determined only on the 4th day, when the temperature is already subsiding. And we no longer began to torment the baby with a blood test from a vein, since everything is fine, because the Thais do not know how to take blood. In general, you should not be afraid of Dengue fever in Thailand or any other fever in Asia, but you need to remember about it and behave reasonably - use repellents, wear light closed clothes on excursions and do not drag children into the jungle, or at least protect them from bites mosquitoes.
Allergies, including heat allergy
Be careful with exotic fruits) By the way, I am allergic to mangoes. My daughter also had something, the local doctors never found out what it was for. If anything, the pharmacy sells fenistil.
Pro sunstroke and burns I donāt even want to write - parents either have brains or not. Somehow they were witnesses - a plane with tourists flew in in the middle of winter to Koh Samui, and we were just on that beach, where most of them apparently settled in a hotel. And so they all dumped with their fair-haired snow-white children at one o'clock in the afternoon into the very sun ... We, by that time, having lived on Koh Samui for half a year, were tanned, and at that time we were sitting in the shade. And they didnāt even wear panama hats for children, and few people smeared themselves with sunscreen ... Just an amazing herd feeling of stupidity ... And they played like that in the sun all day !!! In general, the next day at that place at this time we did not see a single (!) Tourist from those that were yesterday. They probably lay in the hotel and moaned. At least for the hundredth time explain that even more so the child should be smeared at first with children's protective equipment spf 50, be sure to wear a hat and not let him out open sun from 11 to 16-00 !!!
Allergy in daughter
For us it was just a horror heat allergy in a child. Although, it is quite possible that it was an allergy to something else - it began with my daughter after 8 or even more months of life on Koh Samui, just when we moved to the third house. Perhaps there were some allergens in it, or it was just a very stuffy place, the wooden floor was overheated all the time (correctly, Thais usually lay tiles in their homes). We went to Bangkok Hospital many times with this allergy, passed various tests, doctors prescribed us other medicines five times, but it seemed that they were just opening next allergy. It became easier when I stopped giving any medicines in principle, I didnāt even smear them with fenistil. And it completely disappeared only when we returned to Russia, the skin cleared up immediately, the cough went away after about a month and a half.
Help yourself)
And they often ask me if I did any special vaccinations for a child to travel to Thailand.
No, she didn't! There is no vaccination against Dengue fever, and all other vaccinations were from a regular clinic - those that I managed to do before 6 months (since after we left for Spain). By the way, those who decide to move to Thailand with children for a long time can make all childhood vaccinations with good imported vaccines in local hospitals and cheaper than ours.
In general, in my opinion, it is safer to take a small child to Thailand than to any Turkey or even to our resorts. The main thing is to take reasonable precautions and be prepared for common childhood illnesses, bruises and abrasions. And then a holiday in Thailand with children will bring only positive emotions!
I recommend it, we always use it ourselves, and traveled around Asia with a child, and even more so in Europe - booking everything here!
Tuk-tuk driver touchingly guards Mira's dream
Text: Dina Vorobyova
"What did you feed her? What did you take with you? How was the plane moved? Where did you live? Did you swim in the sea (this is my favorite question)? How did you decide to go to Asia with a one-year-old child?" Got it, honestly. I answer all at once.
We traveled throughout January 2012. Two countries - Vietnam and Cambodia. Seven cities. Mira Evgenievna left Russia when she was 11 months old and returned when she was one year old.
Vietnam
Nha Trang (they flew there from Krasnoyarsk). He is Tha-trang from the films about the Vietnam War. Nice little town by the sea. It is famous for its chic diving, but we did not stay in this city for a long time. The sea is stormy and cold. At first, Mira looked for a long time, clearly not understanding what it was. Then she roared and demanded to carry her away.
Mui Ne is a Vientamese village near the sea, where our friends ex-Krasnoyarsk residents Pavel and Irina live with their daughter Celeste Devika, born in Vietnam. They gave birth in a regular hospital in the nearest town, FaƱete. The girl is a citizen of the Russian Federation, all the papers were issued at the embassy. So in the passport it is written: Celeste Devika Pavlovna. By the time we met, the child was six months old, she saw doctors once, at birth. To be honest, this alignment scares me a little - but what if. But Ira believes that healthy child co healthy mom medicine is useless. In addition, you can always call a family friend, an experienced pediatrician who has also seen Ira herself.
We went for two days to Dalat - a beautiful mountain town built by the French to escape the heat. It's almost always +18 there. Many beautiful houses (including the famous Crazy House), the summer palace of the last emperor of Vientham Bao Dai. Fabulous big garden at a Buddhist monastery, flower park. In general, they walked.
Mira moved mainly on a wheelchair (which survived the entire journey, all buses, planes, and even fell from a tuk-tuk under the wheels). Most importantly, the stroller should be compact when folded. That's what we didn't take into account - bandit mosquitoes, on the very first night they bit the child terribly. We bought tulle instead of mosquito net at the local hardware store. Well, they applied repellents. And from the local protection, I liked the stickers on clothes, after all, it's better than applying poisonous cream to children's skin.
Saigon. He is Ho Chi Minh. We were passing through there, moving to Cambodia. In order not to get tired, we moved at a speed of 1 city per day. I didn't like Saigon terribly, although Mira really liked the playground in the park on Fungulao. I remember her with horror. Three o'clock in the afternoon, it was hot, there were only Vietnamese children and Vietnamese mothers on the site. I felt like the only white woman for miles around.
The children tolerated the buses very well. Especially Celeste Davika, who mostly ate her mother's breasts and slept. Mira didnāt sleep much anymore, she had to entertain her - look out the window, sing songs, walk on the bus and pester the passengers. And so many times. And I was worried about how my daughter would endure 7 hours on the plane. Ha ha, 9 hours on the bus - that's a tin, they themselves are tired of traveling. Basically, the difficulties of traveling with a child (and they, of course, exist) fall on the parents. So don't worry about your child.
Na Davy (right) - children's version kiter suit. Allows you to stay in the water for a long time and not freeze, protects from the sun
Cambodia
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. We only had time to spend the night. Well, and go to the "night market" for pants for a dollar and a half. They bought just a bunch of clothes for children, light, made from natural fabrics and very, very cheap. I'm in " Children's World"Now I can't log in.
Naturally, the children were with us everywhere. Davy is in a sling, Mira is in a stroller. Ours was cut down at about nine in the evening and slept peacefully until the morning, and the first half of the night - either in a stroller, or in a tuk-tuk or taxi. In cafes, restaurants, on the beach. Wake up, drink and go back to sleep.
Siem Reap - Temples of Angkor. Well. What can I say, it must be seen. Mira, of course, didn't care about the big stones, although no one asked her. The stroller had to be canceled for this time, because there are steps everywhere. Worn in a kenguryatnik. At lunch, Mira slept in a tuk-tuk (we hired a tuk-tuk for two days at once). By the way, the Khmers, unlike the Vietnamese and Thais, do not rush to grab white children, which is good news.
Sihanoukville. Moreeeee. Finally. Calm, affectionate, like in neighboring Thailand, but cleaner and cheaper. On the day of our arrival, Mira Evgenievna turned one year old, and for the first time she fully swam in the sea (in Vieta, small children cannot clear up). Another plus is that there is a well-developed Russian community in Suanukville. In the Russian cafe "White Rabbit" a Russian was recommended kindergarten with the same name for $15 for half a day and $25 for a day.
Mira tanned, matured, grew her character and the 8th tooth. We are now a one-year-old, one-year-old, one-year-old. And it's time to stop saying "we"
Then we moved back. Sihanoukville-Phnom Penh-Saigon-Muyene-Nha Trang-K Rasnoyarsk. We left at +32, returned at -35. We sat at home for a week, then it got warmer to -20. When we went for a walk for the first time after our return, my daughter stood for a long time in confusion among the snowdrifts.
What to take with you
First aid kit. Anything that might be useful. Food poisoning - time. Colds- two. Injury three. This is for both adults and children, so you need to choose universal drugs that can be used by the whole family. Plus - "Otipak", drops in the ears, which can come in handy on the plane and after swimming. We weren't useful. I already talked about mosquitoes.
What not to take
Clothes. Especially good. From Vientham we brought a pack of hebash panties with Velcro. And here is the thing! Only they need a lot, because in diapers in such heat it is not very convenient. And take T-shirts with sleeves so that your shoulders do not burn. Sunscreens you can take it, you can buy it there, cosmetics are good and cheap in almost all of Asia.
No need to lug a lot of specialized food. I took 2 packages of meat "Tyoma", two packs of porridge and a jar of milk formula, which we ate at night. It could have been easily cut in half. We bought porridge in Phan Thiet, ate shrimp instead of meat, and abandoned the milk mixture altogether.
Instead of a resume
I returned from a trip with two convictions for life. You can and should travel with children - this is the time. Travel agencies are an incomprehensible evil. It is not clear why it exists when you can book tickets and hotels yourself. This is two. We are already dreaming of new countries.
Is it possible to take the baby to the countries of Southeast Asia? Most parents will say a resounding no. Too many fears are associated with this exotic region. True, unfounded.
1 The child can catch a serious infection
This will not happen if you follow a few simple rules.
- Check with your pediatrician before traveling. If necessary, he will advise on preventive drugs for malaria and additional vaccines. Their choice depends on which country you are going to go to.
- Incredible, but none mandatory vaccinations before traveling through Southeast Asia does not exist. If you go to developed tourist centers (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau and others), a basic set of vaccines will suffice, which are given to all babies up to a year old:
Measles vaccine (MMR)
Against polio
from hepatitis B
Against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP, revaccination every ten years).
Before traveling to Thailand, you can not be vaccinated at all. Hepatitis in this country is less common than in Russia. The risk of catching malaria is exactly the same as at home. Yellow fever has not been found in Thailand.
If you decide to travel to remote regions of Asia, then vaccination will be required. First of all, these are vaccinations against hepatitis A and typhoid fever. There is no vaccine for dengue fever and prophylactic. Its carriers are mosquitoes. Therefore, it is enough to choose closed clothing and use protective equipment.
- Choose popular tourist routes. In any Asian country chosen by guests, the trip will be as safe as in Europe.
- Before the trip, assess the situation in the country. Climatic conditions in the same Malaysia, they do not allow you to go there at any convenient moment. If you want to visit remote cities in Indonesia, be sure to find out about the situation with malaria. IN summer season in some regions it is better not to travel with small children.
2 Myth 2: If a child or parents get sick while traveling, you can not count on medical care
In most large Asian countries, there are no problems with medicine. In Thailand, it is considered one of the most developed in the world. Good hospitals and many drugstores can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, major cities India and Bali. In order not to worry about the health of loved ones, you can insure:
- Before leaving, collect a first aid kit with all the necessary medicines for you and your baby.
- Get health insurance. If it is useful to you, then the treatment will definitely pay off. If not (which happens most often), then you definitely wonāt have to be upset because of this.
- Just in case, keep your pediatrician's phone number so that you can consult with him if necessary. Write down the contacts of major international hospitals in the country.
3 Myth 3: If you fly with a child to Asia, then only to the resort
This myth applies not only to Asian countries, but also to travel with a baby in general. For some reason, it is customary to think that young children have nothing more to offer besides the beach and swimming. It must be understood that it is the parents who plan the vacation. Build your route in such a way that it is primarily interesting to you. If you really enjoy the resorts, then a trip to the ocean will give joy to the whole family. But if you dream of visiting the temples of Thailand, the castles of Myanmar or the outskirts of Vietnam, you should not purposefully deny yourself this. The baby sees the world through your eyes. He will be happy only where his parents feel good. Children with great joy explore the ancient architecture of Cambodia, watch huge turtles in Singapore and have fun at elephant farms in Thailand. But the baby is unlikely to be delighted with salt water next to a tired and annoyed parent who hates a beach holiday.
Travel Tips
The best countries for tourists with young children are Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia (especially Bali, Lombok and Gili).
If you still choose resorts, then you should consider Phuket, Krabi (Tai), Nha Trang (Vietnam), Sanur (Bali), Sentosa Island (Singapore), Benton (Sri Lanka), Hainan Island (China).
4 Myth 4: Itās better to fly to Asia with children only on a package tour, and itās expensive
You can fly to Asia on your own. In large cities, you can easily rent private housing. The choice of affordable hotels is also quite large. In addition, you can think over an interesting route for you and go around the whole country in two weeks by public transport. Independently "open" beaches often turn out to be cleaner and more deserted than those that they offer you to visit on a package tour. You will have to use the help of a tour operator only if you are not ready to spend time searching for the necessary information.
5 Myth 5: To travel with a baby in Asia, you need to rent a car
In fact, a car is absolutely not needed here. In most countries there is an affordable and quite comfortable public transport, Railway and even the ability to get from one city to another by boat. If you want to see some settlements make stops so that the baby can rest.
6 Myth 6: The baby will not survive the flight
Indeed, from most settlements in Russia, the road is not close (up to 15 hours in the sky). However, this is not a reason to refuse a holiday in beautiful Asia. You can fly to your destination with transfers. For example, Bali can be reached with stops at the airports of Dubai, Colombo and an overnight stay in Kuala Lumpur. If you prefer to get the hang of it quickly, then you can take the risk of taking a direct flight. In this case, choose night flights. Does not work? Then wake the baby up an hour earlier and entertain until boarding the plane. Then he will definitely sleep half the way.
7 Myth 7: The child will be ill for the entire holiday due to acclimatization
If you want to go on vacation for a week or two, then it is better to fly to Asia in the summer. Then there will be no strong temperature drop and, accordingly, long-term acclimatization. If the trip is planned for a long time, then you can go at any time of the year. Both the child and you will have the opportunity to get used to and have time to enjoy the vacation. In the early days, plan short walks and gradually accustom your baby to unfamiliar foods. As a rule, children are drawn into the life of a foreign country even faster than adults.
8 Myth 8: Asia has specific food. The child is sure to be poisoned!
This is absolutely not true. In all Asian restaurants you will find real children's food: chicken broths, rice, pasta, seafood, cereals, fresh vegetables and fruits (the latter must be washed by yourself). In almost all cafes, you can bring your own products and ask to cook. Restaurants will also gladly respond to your request to make a dish without spices. If the child is on artificial feeding take your mixtures with you. In extreme cases, they can be bought in any major city. Just choose the international brands you know.
If you are still very worried about the baby's health, rent a private apartment with a kitchen and buy groceries in supermarkets.
9 Myth 9: Asian countries are completely unsanitary
In large cities, you will not encounter this problem. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam are considered the cleanest countries in Asia. The only thing that is required of you is to bring toilet paper And wet wipes. You won't find these European "quirks" in most Asian establishments.
10 Myth 10: The main danger is poisonous insects and wild animals
Yes, if you go deep into the jungle. It is unlikely that you will encounter dangerous wildlife in a resort or city center. The most frequent city visitors are monkeys. But your baby is more likely to get a lot of fun running after them. You and your child can safely admire other representatives of the rich animal world of Asia in numerous zoos and reserves.
11 Myth 11: With a baby, everything will be much more expensive.
This misconception applies not only to trips to Asia, but also to holidays with children in general. In fact, a small traveler will have almost no effect on your costs. The kid will not appreciate the difference between a five-star hotel and a cheap hotel, lunch at an expensive restaurant or at a local cafe. Children up to the age of two can fly around the world for free. Of course, the kids will be happy to visit the amusement park, which you might not have gone to without them. But if you choose entertainment that is equally interesting to all family members, extra spending seem insignificant and bring only joy.
And it's true
- Traffic in major Asian cities is heavy. Drivers sometimes don't follow the rules. Bring or book a collapsible stroller at the airport. This will make traveling safer with your baby.
- Local residents will definitely take pictures with your child. They adore European children. Ideas about personal space are completely different here. Absolutely stranger can come up to your baby and pick him up to cuddle or get a good shot. If this kind of attention scares you, you can learn a simple polite phrase in the local language to refuse a photo shoot.
- It is better not to travel to Asia during national holidays. The abundance of people on the streets will make any adult feel bad, not like a kid.
Summary: Traveling in Asia with a small child will be safe if you go to a trusted country, consult a pediatrician, collect a first aid kit and take care of insurance.
Traveling in Asia with two children... The plan for this route has been ripening for a long time. And in the end it turned into something more than just a trip. We decided to live by traveling, starting from this Great trip in Asia with two small children! We did not take return tickets to Russia and have not yet decided where we will go next ... In the meantime, we will tell you about the route, preparation and visas.
1 Definition with route
Since the route is inextricably linked with air tickets (their availability and cost), initially, together with the necessary connections, it looked like this: Hong Kong - Philippines - Singapore - Indonesia - Malaysia - Sri Lanka - UAE ... We planned to stay in each country for about three weeks , except for connecting Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai (2 days each).
However, this route was corrected by children who fell ill on a couple in Moscow 2 days before departure, and by us, who reduced the number of flights in the interests of children already in the process of traveling ... Here we were once again convinced of the undeniable advantages of independent travel, since we lost a very small amount, slightly changing the route and postponing the trip for 2 weeks!
2 Buying tickets
This time besides our favorite flight search engine Aviasales, we were very pleased with the official sites of Asian "low cost" airlines, such as Cebu Pacific and Air Asia. When buying tickets in advance, low-cost airlines often make sales, some of which we got ...
What ended up happening for the whole family (2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant up to 2 years old without a place):
- Flight Moscow - Hong Kong, airline "Transaero": 26500 rubles
- Flight Hong Kong - Manila (Philippines), airline "Cebu Pacific": 7000 rubles
- Flight Manila - Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), airline "...": ... rubles
- Flight Kuala Lumpur - Langkawi (Malaysia), airline "...": ... rubles
- Flight Krabi (Thailand) - Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), airline "...": ... rubles
- Flight Kuala Lumpur - Istanbul (Turkey), airline "...": ... rubles
In total, 6 flights with the whole family cost us about ... rubles. This is the final itinerary, changed at the beginning and during the journey.
3 Hotel reservations
When traveling to Asia, if you want to save money, then there is no point in booking hotels along the entire route. Yes, this must be done for places where you stay just for a couple of days, in our case: Hong Kong and Dubai. Yes, it is advisable to book hotels in other countries for at least the first day or two, especially if you are traveling with children. But for the rest of your stay in Asian countries, you can almost always find better and cheaper options on the spot.
But don't miss out on good deals either. On our favorite search engine Hotellook you can often find prices cheaper than locally, thanks to numerous special offers from hotels or hotel booking sites ...
The average cost of living on this trip to Asia should not exceed 1000 rubles per night.
4 Visas
In most Asian countries, visas do not need to be done in advance. Since July 1, 2009, Russian citizens can visit Hong Kong for up to 14 days without a visa. For a stay of up to 30 days in the Philippines and Malaysia, a visa is also not required.
5 Making insurance
In order to save money, we did not take out medical insurance for ourselves for such a long period. In extreme cases, this can be done at any time via the Internet in a couple of minutes, for example, on the website. But we did not save money on children and issued through the same insurance to all countries for the entire stay: for two children, insurance cost about 3,500 rubles.
What to say in the end? We definitely do not advise absolutely everyone around to go with small children on such a long and difficult journey. This requires experience, training, self-confidence and the health of children. Objectively with babies before the age of two, it is better to fly not far (up to 4 hours of flight), but for a long time (from two weeks or longer) ...
All right, let's go!