Long haul adventures with my young family
I have two young children, aged 3 and 6 and they are fortunate enough to have travelled well over the last couple of years. I still worry about the flight length, the huge change in climate along with the time differences but I needn’t have worried, they settled into it all better than me!
We flew with Emirates from Manchester via Dubai into Phuket airport. It was an early start for them from home, but they were brimming with excitement and leapt out of bed. If only it was that easy on a school morning! The first flight to Dubai was around 7 hours and being daytime, they were awake for it all, but they were more than happy to sit with their headphones on and make full use of the amazing entertainment system Emirates have on board. They have special channels for pre-schoolers and kids with all the favourites on there and it’s all ‘on demand’ and so easy to use that my 3-year-old was quite happy switching and changing between movies, tv and games which meant that I could sit back with a glass of wine and watch a movie myself, a rare occurrence! Food was a different matter, neither of them liked the kid’s meals provided even though I thought they were great! Luckily, I had pre-empted this and had packed a few snacks and drinks for them. A quick 2-hour layover in Dubai and we were on our way again for a 5-hour flight to Phuket, the kids slept a little on this one, maybe only 1-2 hours max but they were still happy to watch the seatback tv’s without my usual nagging of too much tv!
The hotel we had chosen was in Khao Lak which is just over an hour drive from Phuket and this is where the kids started to flag a little. Due to the time difference it was now early morning in Thailand, but they hadn’t had much sleep and their body clock was telling them it was 1am. The journey to Khao Lak is easy and they did have a quick nap in the minivan but as soon as we arrived at the hotel they perked up again. We were able to get straight into our room and I have no idea where they got their energy from but as soon as they saw our swim up pool they wanted in. Five minutes later after retrieving the swim wear from the case and a quick coating of sun lotion they were jumping in and out and screaming with excitement.
They say the best way to get over jet lag is to adjust to the local time straight away, so we stayed up for the morning, had some lunch but after food we were all feeling sleepy and retreated to our room for a quick nap. Feeling rejuvenated we carried on with the day and had dinner on the beach that evening, memories of the long cold and dark winter in Manchester fading rapidly!
The hotel we stayed at was called Sands and is a great option for families and couples alike. It’s a larger resort but it really doesn’t feel busy at all with different areas for everyone. There’s the aqua wing which is for families offering water slides, lazy river and a great kids club. A swim up bar here offer cocktails and mocktails and is a great place to retreat to when the sun gets too much. There’s also the serenity wing offering an adult only pool and some peace if you want it and a beach wing offering a great beachfront pool with another swim up bar. There’s a great beachfront restaurant, a buffet restaurant and a more informal snack restaurant to choose from but the hotels location meant that we were not confined to dine in the hotel. Only a 5-minute walk and we were in the heart of Khao Lak with an abundance of restaurants to suit everyone or a 3-minute tuk tuk taxi ride away takes you to Biang Niang Khao Lak which has a market 3 times a week and lots more restaurants to choose from. The tuk tuk taxi was a highlight for the kids, they also really enjoyed the street food we had at the markets, especially the Thai pancakes.
Khao Lak has a really great vibe and is super family friendly, it has a beautiful beach and there’s trips to even more exotic paradise islands to be had. A great trip from here is to the Khao Sok national park where you can experience jungle adventure and elephants which we were fortunate enough to do. This was the highlight of our trip and I would highly recommended doing this. We got to experience being a mahout for the day (an elephant keeper), learning about elephants, washing them, feeding them and learning about their day to day life and about the effect of tourism and our ethical responsibilities as tourists. I urge anyone visiting to make sure they only visit elephants where the park looks after their welfare, I personally recommend Elephant Hills or Phang Nga elephant park.
The kids dealt with the weather so well, it never went under 30 degrees and the humidity was high but not a single moan about it been too hot, they just went in the pool if they needed to cool down!
Their appetites did slow down (apart from when ice cream was on offer) but we kept their fluid intake high and they did try a few Thai dishes, chicken satay and rice being their favourite dish. They loved the attention they would get from the always friendly locals and learnt some basic Thai sayings which they were more than happy to use without prompting by the end of the trip.
We were all sad to say our goodbyes to such an amazing place and will certainly return. Our trip to Thailand included culture, new foods, new language and adventure and relaxation for everyone and I would highly recommend it to families with kids of all ages. At certain times of the year a 2-week trip to Thailand will be cheaper than 2 weeks in Europe and is a great alternative, you soon get over the jet lag and we created some family memories.
Please take a look at my video on my Facebook page for a taste of what’s on offer and get in touch if you want me to arrange a family trip you will all enjoy and treasure forever.
