Thailand with kids (Part Four)- Swimming with Elephants!

Our last stop on our day tour from Bangkok was an elephant camp near the border with Burma. I have never really been into just riding on an elephant, but I figured that the chance to the bathe in the river with them would really appeal to the kids (indeed!). And it is the kind of thing D and I had never done before. I read a lot about elephant camps in Asia before we went, and it appeared to me that these elephants were well treated, but of course, I don't really know.

We started off with a walk around the camp. I worried that all that gear plus two of us was too much for the elephants. The scenery was beautiful. Our guide took a million photos for us during the day and I am so grateful for that.

Next, we changed into our bathing suits and went down to the river. That was a little scary because we had nothing to hold onto and just had to lean forward and rest our hands on the elephant's wide head. My legs still hurt from the effort of holding on as tight as I could.

We each had our own elephant and trainer (mahout) except that L was too afraid to ride by herself at first. We rode together down to the river and before long, she was having a ball on her own.

Very proud of herself!

We all got wet as the elephants sprayed us. Then the mahouts started telling the elephants to lie down and we climbed onto their trunks and played around like that. It was so much fun.

'My' elephant lay down in the water and let me wash her a bit.

Such a special day. My kids want to do it again next time (I don't know about that...)! I hope that the elephants are living a good life there.

Thailand with kids (Part Three)- Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market

Our rower? What to call her?

When I was last in Thailand 13 years ago, I was so disappointed that I did not have the chance to visit a floating market. I find floating markets and villages so interesting! So this time, I was determined to go. There are apparently many in/around Bangkok. We decided to use Bangkok Day Tours to visit a floating market, the bridge over the River Kwae, and an elephant camp. The company was terrific- very responsive by email and very attentive in person. The tour wasn't cheap, but we figured the elephant thing was something we would only do once in a lifetime, and it was a 12 hour tour covering a lot of distance.

The floating market that we visited was about 1.5 hours away from Bangkok. It is definitely for tourists and sells exclusively souvenirs and food, but it was totally amazing. We piled into a boat and set off around the canal. Most of the souvenir shops were actually on land, on the sides of the river, but there were some souvenir boats too. 

The food and produce/fruit people were mostly in boats, some moving, some not. 

The vendors used these long poles with hooks on the end to pull us in when we wanted to see their goods. 

I plan to visit a different market every time I go to Thailand. They are just too fascinating. 

Thailand with kids (Part Two)- Exploring Bangkok

Hello, Bangkok!

For the second leg of our trip, we drove back up to Bangkok and checked into the Centrepoint Sukhumvit 10 hotel, where we enjoyed a beautiful 2BR/2BA with kitchen and washer/dryer (and great buffet breakfast) in a central part of town for only ~$120 USD. Lodging in BKK is SO affordable!

The hotel has a little tuk tuk to take you to the main drag (the Suk)- it's only a 5 min walk, but there are no sidewalks.

Waiting for the Sky Train

We explored our little area and then took the Sky Train to a delicious restaurant  (Soul Food) for dinner. The next morning, we were up early to explore the city. I am trying to make sightseeing palatable for the kids, so we focus on cool transportation methods (of which Bangkok has many!) and interesting aspects of historical/special sights. We talked about Buddhism before we left and made sure they would be respectful at the temples.

We took the Sky train over to the river and then took the Chao Phraya boat (I must admit, not easy to figure out, but once we were on it, totally fun!) to Tha Tien, where we visited Wat Pho. The weather was delightful, sunny and maybe 85, but not the normal scorching hot weather I think Bangkok is known for.

The view from the river boat is amazing. I could ride up and down all day. 

At Wat Pho, we visited the reclining Buddha and just enjoyed the lovely buildings and grounds.

The kids have started looking at the guide books and asking to visit certain sights, and I am so excited about this development! I think the key to happy child travelers is to let them have some say in the process, so we let M choose the next destination- the amulet market. A tuk tuk seemed the perfect way to get there, and that may have been everyone's favorite part of the day.

After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel and go for a swim. We were tempted to visit one more temple (Wat Arun) where we heard the kids are allowed to climb on the walls, but we didn't want to push it.

That night, we had dinner at Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant whose proceeds support family planning and HIV prevention in Thailand. I came here 13 years ago as a public health grad student, and it was so fun to be back.

Overall, an amazing day. I was just so proud of the kids. They didn't whine or complain the whole time, and really seemed to love the exploring a new city. Bangkok is lively, friendly, and interesting. We all fell in love.

Thailand with kids (Part One)- Dolphin Bay Resort

We just returned from 8 days in Thailand. The kids are off for 2 weeks due to Chinese New Year, so everyone takes off for somewhere.

My heart is full after a truly wonderful vacation. Normally, coming home makes me depressed. But this time, I just feel happy. I won't lie, the warm weather (75 today) and fact that I have another week off of work helps. So does the fact that I really like my life right now. But the real reason is that I just feel full to the brim with happiness about our trip. I loved watching my kids explore and learn about travel, another culture, animals. I had worried that they would be difficult during the Bangkok sightseeing part of our trip; instead, they were amazingly accommodating. We had a few days of relaxation, we swam with elephants, I finally went to a floating market. It was the best.

We first flew to Bangkok and rented a car service to drive us about 3.5 hours southwest to Sam Roi Yot, 38km south of Hua Hin. I had wanted to go to one of the famous islands like Phuket or Krabi, but could not find affordable flights or lodging by the time we were able to book. Sadly, Dolphin Beach was not particularly attractive (I am a beach person, so this was a big disappointment), but the hotel and sealife in the water made up for it.

 

The Dolphin Bay Resort is an adorable family resort with bungalows and 2 & 3 bedroom apartments. Our 2BR (including kitchen, balcony, and buffet breakfast) was spacious and comfortable. The hotel pools are right next to the restaurant so you can literally sit down, order your lunch/dinner, and call the kids out of the pool when the food arrives.  There were dozens of kids there who all played together from morning til night. Best of all, the restaurant was really affordable, so I wasn't stressed all the time about how much we were spending. I tend to stress about that...

We only did one outing- to Monkey Beach and a cave. The hotel sets up excursions to help local fishermen earn some extra money, so we rode on a basic fishing boat.

Upon arrival at Monkey Island, the fisherman gave us a bucket of bananas, and we looked around, not sure what to do. Then, the monkeys started arriving and they knew exactly what to do! Soon, the mamas and babies arrived. It was too cool!

After that, we boated over to see a local cave- about a 30 minute hike. There was a temple in the cave- really beautiful. We finished up with a refreshing swim.

Back at Dolphin Beach, L and I discovered that the beach was home to thousands of little hermit crabs! The tide was usually out, and you could dig your hand into the sand and come up with bunches of hermit crabs. On our last day, we convinced M to join us down there, and they didn't want to leave! We spent 2 or 3 hours swimming around in the warm water, finding crabs, starfish, and sand dollars...it is one of my most treasured memories. I wish I had a photo of that afternoon, but I will just have to carry the memory in my heart.

We are already planning our next trip to Thailand. The people are kind, the water is warm, and the food is amazing. What more can you ask for?