Family Vacation to Thailand and Cambodia

A late start today will give you time to alleviate any jet lag as you unwind by the pool. Meet your guide for lunch at a local restaurant and get acquainted with local dishes, especially those children tend to love, and then set off through the heart of the old city, soaking your senses into landmarks from yesteryear. Impressive coronation halls and thrones in the Grand Palace, and the enormous Buddha at Wat Pho will be baffling to behold with its 46 meters of gold plating. Move next to a flower market for so many colors and smells to take in. Finish the day as you find that Bangkok is enjoyable when exploring time is complemented by quiet time.

Slowly you paddle the atmospheric channels, stopping alongside boats of vegetables and fruit. Casually you can cycle through rural Thailand, ride paddies all around. Gradually you will fill your lungs with fresh country air as this is more like the Thailand of the imagination with enchanting villages, excited traders, so many dashes of color and so many aromas mingling all around. Travel an hour out of Bangkok and spend time exploring Damnoen Nam Saduak Floating Market, a place that always tends to keep kids fully engaged. Move next to swap a paddle for peddles and a family bike tour through rural parts of Thailand, a two-hour adventure that caters to almost all ages and energy levels. You can stop in a small village on the way and travel the last part back to Bangkok by vehicle, the capital not a city you want to be cycling in.

Begin the day with a relatively late start as you take an early-afternoon flight north, landing in a city that is entirely different than Bangkok. The first thing you might notice about Chiang Mai is the tranquility as it is in the heart of this city that you can listen to tinkling bicycle bells and walk pedestrianized lanes. It is quiet here, and it is also safe to walk about as a family, stopping at temple ruins and small street-side cafes. In the afternoon, you can travel to the mountain and temple above the city, where the sunset views are otherworldly. Turn the prayer wheels, admire the glittering pagodas, and join a monk for a special blessing. Your time spent here will be an excellent way for the whole family to feel grounded in the ways of the region, incense fluttering about as the orange-robed monk helps immerses you in local spirituality.

Thick forests surround Chiang Mai, the ancient home of Asian elephants. Although tamed, these animals have been integral to the region for many millennia. And although elephant training centers have a bad reputation in this area, you will visit one that has been carefully vetted and supports genuine wildlife conservation. Learn the calls, mount your elephants, and head off through the rainforest, following muddy trails to the river. Take your elephant for a bath, make a connection with the giant, then walk it onwards to a local temple, where you learn about the role of elephants in Buddhism. While in the forest, you will also visit a lovely waterfall and have lunch out in nature. Back in Chiang Mai the night market is a lively, yet relaxed, place to eat local in the evening.

High in the rainforest canopy, you can glide, zip-lining above and into the trees, and feeling the wind rush past your ears. From the sky bridges, it will seem like the views extend for eternity, and then from other bridges you are consumed by the majesty of pristine forest. Today’s tour is a three-hour air trek through Ban Mae Kampong, an ancient high-altitude forest that remains the preserve of monkeys. As part of the tour, you can trek up to Mae Kampong Falls and come down from the adventure with an amazing traditional lunch. Back in Chiang Mai, there are temples and local attractions you may want to explore, the city easy to get around if you are a confident cyclist. If not two wheels, then local rickshaws are a quick way to get to most places in Chiang Mai.

Flying into Siem Reap, you can glimpse the temples from the air and then look towards the grandest temple complex of them all. Over the next three days, you can explore the secrets of Angkor Wat, but you will begin your Cambodian experience with an impression of the country today. Watch a unique cultural performance, song, dance, and tradition all brought together by Battambang refugees with a story to tell. Young and old are here, your children likely to interact with the Cambodians. These exchanges will be a real highlight of your time here, the modern cultural connection and chance to share time with people so different from you. Spending time with Cambodians is eye-opening and humbling, especially for kids.

Thick tree trunks crash through ancient temple walls and forests wrap themselves around vestiges of a spiritual past. Crumbling stone juxtaposes with the works of nature. This is Angkor Wat, the grandest temple complex of them all. And there are so many stories to uncover. So head out on a family treasure hunt to explore the different areas and temples, learning about how long they have been here and why they were abandoned. Your kids will find a lot of fun searching for hidden symbols and deciphering codes. The best time to explore is in the cooler morning hours, and then again in the hours leading up to sunset, your guide picking a lesser-known temple for you to watch the sky change color.

Distant temple bells accompany you at breakfast as rugged temple summits stand on the horizon. Villagers wave hello as you pass with another day to be together as a family in a gregarious part of the world. Travel to a butterfly center and interact with the free-flying wonders. Visit the delicate temples at Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, contrasting the stories of yesterday. Spend the afternoon in a local village, with a children’s art class that has been shared by your kids and the locals. Finish the day as you head out to an Angkor Wat temple and watch the sunset, another dreamy day in Cambodia drawing to a close.

Siem Reap is a great place to take things slowly. While some come for two days of rushing around temples, this piece of Cambodia is best enjoyed when you take it slow. Today you can head out to a series of small villages on a bicycle tour, peddling amid lush landscapes and immersing yourself in local life. Children play, adults relax, the photos are iconic, and all the senses are entertained. Lunch will be traditional, and there will be an opportunity to get involved in the kitchen should you wish. A final evening in Cambodia and you watch the sunset over Angkor Wat one more time, this time by riding quad bikes to a lesser-visited side of the complex.

Two shorts flights take you from Siem Reap to Koh Samui, a journey from Cambodia to the beach that takes just under four hours. Touch down and transfer to a small beach resort on a quiet part of the island, where there is little around but thick jungle, open beach, and warm, serene waters. Welcome to a tropical island and welcome to four days of doing not much at all. You have barefoot access to the beach, and nothing is scheduled for your time here. Lie back, rest up and feel the invigorating qualities of a Thai island as you enjoying time as a family. There are things you could do, of course, but this time in Koh Samui is mostly designed as a laid-back retreat after the cultural adventure.

Amble to the beach and lie beneath the sun or grab a snorkel and go searching for turtles. Take a walk through a rainforest on sandy trails, or perhaps join a game of beach volleyball,  finish two books, or try scuba diving. These are leisurely days for you to spend around the beach, and you can see how the mood takes you. Many restaurants are situated within a reasonable beachfront walk from the resort, the seafood particularly good in this part of the world. Tours can be booked with the resort and might be an option if four days is a little long for entertaining the kids.

After an airport transfer you fly back to Bangkok and connect with your outbound flight, two weeks in Thailand and Cambodia flying past in a blur of happy memories.