Travelling with kids - Thailand and Malaysia April 2008

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Travelling with kids - Thailand and Malaysia April 2008


As I watch the kids fight in the plane we boarded in Kuala Lumpur (KL), I ponder the wisdom of the decision to take them to Asia. Sheer stupidity or amazing forsight? Time will tell.



8 days ago Andrew and I made our way through customs in Coolangatta Airport, dragging 3 excited kids onto a big red Air Asia plane. The tarmac is windy as we make our way with bags packed full of snacks along the white line to the set of swaying stairs that lead to the door of the plane.



The kids chew on their sickly sweet gum and drive the people in front of them nuts by kicking their seats. My head hurts from stress.



I pass out for about an hour to wake with Hannah grinning at me. She has used the pens Jacob has been given for his birthday to decorate her face. “On the paper” I say and close my eyes hoping it will all go away.



7 and a bit hours later we arrive in KL. The airport is hot and busy. We retrieve our luggage after clearing customs and make our way outside into the bustle of minivans and taxis. We anxiously search for our name amongst the Malaysian faces to no avail. We dump our bags on a bench and look deeper. Eventually we approach a man in a canary yellow shirt who tells us he can contact our guesthouse. We eye him suspiciously, but obey his command “you wait, ok?” We look at each other, worried.



A minibus pulls up and a man jumps out excitedly. To our relief we see our name on the front dashboard and sit back and enjoy the hour long ride in our air-conditioned van.



Rows and rows of housing estates litter the hillsides. Little boxes, all the same. These are the solution to the population boom in KL. Some are completed but vacant, some are half built and surrounded by the chaos that is a building site. They are everywhere. They are identical.



The landscape changes as we approach KL City and the storm that has gained on us lets out a loud thunder clap and unleashes its wrath. The rain comes down in huge drops and is so heavy the traffic slows. We pass motorways with 6 lanes of traffic, supposed to be 3. Why would you drive in just one lane anyway? We pass giant tollways; we pass massive buildings and in the distance see the Petronas Towers and the glistening Skytower.



The van negotiates the narrow streets in the busy Golden Triangle area of KL and pulls up at Anjung guesthouse, on a one way street, our home for the night. We are lead to our room after giving over our passports and ushered inside. The room has 1 air-conditioner, a queen bed, a set of bunks and a mattress on the floor. The window I had hoped for is decidedly absent, as is the balcony overlooking the street. Nevermind. The people are friendly and the room is clean. The bathroom consists of a few rooms up the corridor with gas heated water. (I only work out how to use it on our return to KL several days later).



After a quick freshen up we pop out to see if we can find dinner. We walk up the wrong way on our one way street and spy lights through a back alley. It is dusk and we are pulled toward the lights past the overflowing, sweltering rubbish area. As the alley opens into the street, we are greeted by the sight of hundreds of food vendors, making noodles, roti, rice, and roast duck among other things, fruit stalls and little food markets. A quick exploration of the area leads us into a Chinese style restaurant with plastic chairs and yellow vinyl tablecloths.



We order an assortment of Chinese delights including duck, soup, fish balls and feast on these till we are bursting. The fruit shakes are divine. I am cautious about the ice, but the water and ice seem good in KL. We pay the bill of 700 MRM (approx $25AUD) and follow the lights around the corner.



A world of fake Prada bags and Billabong shirts opens to us and the heckling begins. “Hello, come here”, “over here, cheap for you”, “good buying here”, “raining price for you”, come the calls through the grids that separate the stalls. “Hello baby” they coo to Hannah who pulls herself shyly behind my pants. “Come here boy” they say to Jake as they pull him to their stalls. It is the end of tourist season and they are trying to make hay while the sun shines. I am glad I didn’t pay 125 MRM for the “Chanel” sunglasses, because I bought them at Chinatown for 20MRM ($7), after some serious haggling.



Teigan is dragged into the t-shirt stall and her money is burning a hole in her pocket, but it is too overwhelming after getting of a plane. The kids have their own money they have earned from doing jobs for the last few months and have been saving in anticipation. We decide to retire for the night and tackle it later. The path home uncovers an Indian vendor selling the most delicious banana roti, served with a light curry is to become a favourite for the rest of our trip. The coffee is sweet and hot.



We sleep like logs. The next morning the kids are up before the sun. (Their body clocks aren’t reset yet). The kids chase the rat that pokes its nose from under the Roti stand from last night and poses for a photo before it quickly disappears into the underground sewers. I’d live here if I were a rat.



We decide to find the most difficult way to get to the airport - we have a few hours to spare. We make our way to busy KL Sentral (the transport hub) in a taxi and find the Sky busses to the airport. It costs us 60MRM in the cab and 24MRM in the skybus. Jumping off at the airport we discover the trolleys. Dammit, could have saved that sore back yesterday. We clear the security scanners but are too early for our check in to Phuket, Thailand - our plane is not open for boarding yet. We make our way back out, the kids trailing behind us, whining about thirst and hunger.



Do we go to McSatan? It would be the easy option, but the Golden Arches is full and hard to navigate with a trolley - I swear that it is one of the few times I have seen Andrew almost lose it. He is normally so calm. An airport priced coffee calms our frazzled nerves.



On board the plane to Thailand we fill out our blue arrival cards. Andrew is keeping the kids entertained, so I do them all. (I’d rather have that job than amusing the kids). As the door of the plane opens and we walk down the stairs, the heat and humidity hit us like a wave. The line that leads to the immigration counter is not too long and we clear quickly, collecting stamps in our passports.



Outside waiting for us is a friendly face who beckons us to a van. As we drive to Karon beach we pass utes with huge buckets of water and 10 or more drenched Thais in the back. It is Song Krahn. Thai New Year and it is celebrated with water. Hoses, hydrants, buckets, water guns and anything that holds water is used to drench unsuspecting victims.



We drive through Kata Beach and we are surrounded by burnt Europeans and Thais shooting water at us and hoiking buckets of water at the windows. It is lucky our driver locks the doors as they try to open them. He has been there, done that I’d reckon. He takes us to his office inside a hotel and we pay for our day trip to Phi Phi Island, one of the most damaged areas from the Tsunami in 2004. We pay approx $200 AUD and It is our splurge. It turned out to be the best $ we spent on the trip.



Wearily we check in and the porter lugs all our bags up the 153 stairs. (We counted them later). Our room has a great view and is comfortable. We are missing a bed for no 3 child, but they don’t understand when we ask, so Andrew flogs a lilo from the pool chair. Improvisation at its best.



Within 50M of leaving our hotel, Andrew and Jake have full buckets of water tipped on their head, and Teigan has perfumed powder plastered on her. I manage only to get hosed lightly by carrying my camera in front of me. (They don’t know it is waterproof). Hannah uses me as her shelter but doesn’t escape the girls with the water guns a bit further down the road. The Thais are happy, but respectful. Everywhere we go, lots of fara’ng (foreigners) mingle with the Thais tossing water at motorbikes and slapping passers by with the fragrant powder. Everyone is having a great time.



We have dinner at a beachside restaurant. The Tom yum soup is extraordinarily spicy. After a delicious meal we wander though the night markets home to change our damp clothes. The kids crash. We crash.



Up early waiting on the pickup for our Phi Phi island day trip. Waiting waiting waiting. It doesn’t arrive for over an hour. We call but the number we have is a fax. Paid in full. OK…. What now? We jump in a tuk-tuk to their office. “You have left us behind” we say. She slender Thai girl scratches her head and looks worried. She makes several phone calls. We have missed the boat.



We ask if we can go tomorrow and they readily agree. We go outside into the busy streets of Kata relieved that we had remembered where their office was. We wander the meandering streets, lined with souvenir and clothing stalls. Andrew and Jake look at the DVD’s in plastic sleeves on display at al little counter and are ushered into a back room filled with pirate discs. The haggle the price and end up paying more anyway.



We kill a few hours shopping and wandering, stepping over holes and over loose tiles. The heat is stifling and we find our way to the long white beach. There are green deckchairs and umbrellas in 3 neat lines as far as the eye can see. We plonk our stuff on them and make for the small waves. We pay 200B ($7) for an umbrella and 2 chairs to the locals. The only thing that outnumbers the umbrellas are the red tourists. Obviously their white bodies aren’t used to exposure to the sun. Ouch.



Lunch at a restaurant with fruit shakes and noodles. Back to our hotel on the hill to wash off the salt, and recuperate from the humidity. Nighttime sees us discovering a local Wat (Buddhist temple) and time for a photo with the saffron robed monks. A treasure trove of food stalls and night vendors await us in the back streets near our hotel. We feast at the fantastic restaurant “Red Onion” recommended by the lonely planet. It thoroughly deserves the praise. Our huge meal cost less than $5 per person and is served by a pretty ladyboy serves with a smile.





Our day trip to Phi Phi island is a hit. We are picked up (!) at 8am amongst much confusion (they have the wrong name, but right amount of passengers this time.) We disembark our minivan at the marina after a fair drive across the island of Phuket. Chaos reins. Loads and loads of farang are checking in for their day trips and we are all given a sticker with a number that corresponds to the particular day trip we have chosen. We are herded in to the dual engine speedboat with 20 or so other passengers and seated around the walls of the boat, after our photo being taken as we board. It is squashy, but as everyone relaxes as the day goes on there seems to be more space. An hour or so sees us pulling up at the pristine island that they filmed “The Beach” at, with Leonardo Dicrappio.



We are threatened with being marooned if we don’t appear at our designated departure time, 45 mins after our arrival. That is 4,5 - 45….says our guide Tom, holding up the corresponding amount of fingers. We all nod attentively. Apart from the 36 other boats identical to ours and the 500 other daytrippers, it was divine, and the water warm.



Back on the boat we are served a fruit platter. The fruit is Thailand is sweet and gorgeous. We tour around the huge rock faces jutting out of the clear green sea as if they were put there by the hands of god. Massive, massive craggy rock formations, with lush green vegetation. We pass too quickly by Viking cave - a hideout for pirates in the past eras and on to Monkey beach. We heard later that two fara’ng were bitten by the monkeys that day, which wasn’t surprising, considering they were fed Fanta from bottles (and loving it.) The kids hand fed them the left over bananas from our fruit platter. 10mins later we are back on the boat.



By this time I am thinking that this is going to be a long, long day.

About 15mins later the boat pulls up stumps in a sheltered bay surrounded by sheer cliffs. The water is clear and on the bottom the coral can be seen clearly. We are handed snorkels and vests. I pop Hannah on my back and jump in. WOW. Now this becomes worth it. We swim lazily in the gentle warm waters watching as the fish excitedly devour the bread they are fed. Andrew decides to see if my camera is really waterproof. Apparently it is and we get some cool underwater shots.



I hear coughing, and surface to see Teigan gurgling, her arms flailing around in the air.

I have Hannah on my back, and can’t swim fast enough to get to her. I try to call Andrew, but the salt water chokes me. All of a sudden the dark brown Thai deck hand is in the water yanking her back on to the boat. She splutters a bit and is quite devastated and upset. Tom and the driver of the boat try to revive her spirits by dousing her in clear water. She enjoys the attention and explains that Jake was kicking water at her and she swallowed some and couldn’t breathe. Jacob is banished to the corner to speculate on what he might have caused. He sits on his towel on the floor of the boat glumly.



The Thai boys take pity on him and take him up to sit with the driver and help him to steer the boat. From then on he is in his element. They dress him up in their hats and glasses and feed him stale bread meant for the fish.



We arrive at our lunch destination - long wooden huts with a Thai food buffet and fruit stands, where the Thai’s are slicing watermelon and sweet pines. Our soft drinks cost 20B ($1) and the kids polish them of hungrily. We pay 100B ($4) for an umbrella and 2 chairs and swim in the lapping ocean. We stay here for 3 or so hours and the girls play happily in the sea. Jacob is off swimming with the Thai boys from the boat. It is warm and serene and the fara’ng are spread out over a bigger area. My day has become happy.



I am laying back watching the girls in the deck chair and the Thai deck hand beckons me to follow him with urgency. “come, come” he says. We follow him to the rock pools on the far end of the beach where Jake is bent over the pool of water. In a bag, is a little orange clownfish (think Nemo) and its Dad. The Thai boys have caught them in a little clear shopping bag, and have called our kids over to see them.



As more people approach to see what the fuss is about, the boys jump up, put on their masks and quickly return the fish to the little reef 10 metres or so from the rock pools. Wow!



Back on the boat we lazily doze on the way home to the rocking of the ocean swell. At the marina they have little china plates with our photos on them. We did not buy them but I do regret the decision now, as it was one of the best days on our holiday.



We have Pizzas for dinner and top off the day with chocolate and banana roti. Jake gets his first and is eyed off by a stray dog. We direct Jake to sit on the concrete stairs, but the moment he does the dog sees his chance and goes for the roti. The roti ends up on the street and the chocolate ends up all over Jake. The roti vendor is nice enough to give us one more free of charge. They are 30B ($1).





We lay down our weary bodies and go out like a light.





The next day we spend wandering up through Kata shops and buying last minute tshirts and souvenirs. We walk up the hill in the thunderstorm. After the heat, the rain is fabulous. We devour Indian curry for lunch and watch the rain pour down. We wander through alleys lined with wares and once again find a back room full of DVD’s. (luckily most of these work - we did hear some stories afterwards that we should have tested them before we bought them). I found some real fake Chanel earrings for 100B ($4) and we bought the kids plastic clogs for 150B. We managed to board a Songthew home. (big open seated bus)



Back to the hotel for a rest and off to Patong. We had intended to spend longer in Patong, but we didn’t get there till late (too much shopping in Kata.) As darkness fell we saw the lights of Patong from the sides of our tuk tuk. The driver drops us at the main intersection by the beach. Thousands of stalls line the road and the touts are everywhere, calling for the tourist dollar. This place was badly hit in the Tsunami and the prices are high. It is a hive of activity and lots of neon lights. FULL ON. We walked and we walked trying to find a beachside restaurant we had read about. We walked way too far and ended up 2 or 3 km from where we should have been. A 200B tuk tuk ride back to where we had seen an eating area, uncovered our restaurant in behind other food stalls. It was the best meal of the trip.



Spicy noodles and curry, steamed rice, sweet pad Thai and spaghetti Thai style for the kids. As we rubbed our toes in the sand under our table, we watched lanterns being lit on the beach, taking away all the misdemeanors of the lantern lighter with it. A very memorable night. Home in a noisy tuk tuk up and over the hill back to Karon Beach.



Up the next day early to catch a taxi to the airport back to KL. We ask if we can go via a Wat and see some elephants. The taxi driver stops for us to wander around the Buddist temple and waits patiently in the shade. Off to an elephant camp, where they plop you on an overworked elephant for a ridiculous amount of baht. We hand fed the baby elephant cucumber, but didn’t have time for a ride.



The taxi driver drove like a madman as we were heading to the airport weaving in and out of the traffic - we think he was peeved that we didn’t ride the elephants and make his commission. Either way he dropped us off at the airport and grunted instead of saying goodbye, which was unusual as he was able to talk nicely before we went to the elephant camp.



We board the plane for KL.



This time we are wiser and jump straight on a big yellow skybus to KL Sentral. Across the road and over the car park to the monorail station. Up lots of stairs with heavy bags and tired kids onto the monorail like professionals. We hop off the efficient but packed rail and walk though our beloved food street back to the guesthouse.



Into our room with no view, happy to be somewhere familiar and greeted like old friends by the owners of Anjung guesthouse. Out for fabulous banana roti once more.



The next day we are up early dragging the kids to find the Petronas Towers. We catch the monorail to the city centre and start to walk. We walk and we walk. Because they are so huge, they look closer than they actually are. We find them eventually, guarded by heavy security. We missed out on the tickets for the Skywalk as they are allocated first up every morning, and decide to walk to KL Menara tower instead, which is one of the tallest telecommunication towers in the world. We walk and we walk. And we walk some more. KL tower is in the middle of a piece of natural rainforest and it is a long way in. Except we couldn’t find a way in. Eventually we went through a back alley and up stairs that lead to a path in the rainforest. (??) Up and up we climbed. And up some more. And there it was. The elusive Skytower. Surrounded by busses and little souvenir shops. Hot and sweaty we stopped for a drink.



Up in the lift 257m. Up and up. What a view! All of KL from the Batu caves in the smoky distance to the paddling pools in KLCity Centre.



At the bottom we waited for the hop on hop off narrated tour bus to take us to China Town. Off all the things not to do in KL, this was it. It cost 110 MRM ($40AUD) and we used it twice. There are supposedly 4 of these buses doing laps with 22 stops each, but the traffic is so bad in KL that they are infrequent and take ages to get where you are going unless it is the next stop. We waited for over an hour. We sat on the bus. We were later to wait for over another hour and then sit on the bus for another hour in traffic. It seemed like such a good idea at the time.



Anyway, for the moment we jumped off in Chinatown. A great meal of noodles in a white tiled genuine Chinese foodcourt - I’m talking chopsticks and fish eyes. Noodles and very little English. Plastic chairs and Chinese characters.



There is nowhere quite so insane as Chinatown. The heckling tripled and the bargains got better. Rows and rows of stalls selling genuine fake Nikes, Billabong t shirts, Anna sui purses and Victoria Beckham jeans. The word is “Tidak Terima Kasih.” No thank you. Great place for shopping though. Exhausting.



And then the rain came. It poured. And it thundered. It rained and rained and the prices became “special raining price”. The pelting rain for us is a welcome relief from the heat, but for the persistent stall holders it must be a pain in the butt. All the stock gets covered in plastic before you can say “Terima Kasih” and the roofs leak - mind you they are made from anything they can find.



Back on the hop on hop off bus after and hour long wait and very tired uncontrollable kids. It was about this point I am wondering quite why the kids are here with us instead of tucked up in bed.



Finally the bus arrives and we ask to be set down at stop 7. We know exactly where this is and it is close to the hotel for tired kids. We are currently at something like stop 12 which means we need to go all the way around. Uh oh. Peak hour traffic. Over 1 hour later we arrive at stop 6. “Ok, you get off now” they say. We tell them pointedly that we have no idea where we are and it is raining and dark. They wait. We try to get our bearings and make the decision to get off. Eventually the bus moves again and a few blocks on we recognize a landmark. We are close. The bus is now blocked by traffic that is not moving and we see why they asked us to get off. We walk up the street, feet aching in the rain, and come to a fairly crowded Indian curry house. The food is spicy but good. The plates of rice are HUGE and the Naan is filling.



Back at the hotel the kids are asleep in 5 minutes flat.



We aren’t far behind them.



Last full day in KL. We have banana roti for breaky with sweet caramel coffee. Off to Times Square Shopping centre where we have heard there is a theme park with a rollercoaster in the top. We plan on just spending a few hours here and then going to see some temples, mosques and Little India. We went in approx 10 am and emerged from the 12 storey high shopping complex at 7pm that night. The shopping is to die for and so cheap! 10 MRM for t-shirts -that equals less than $4AU. Bargain city.



Up to the theme park on level 5. The theme park spans 4 levels and every few minutes the rollercoaster shakes the building. The kids are rejuvenated and we drag them through the shops once more. We head out to the monorail and attempt to do some last minute shopping and inadvertently find ourselves in another shopping complex with small alleys lined with stalls. We think we are going out the way we came in and end up in the basement car park. (what the???) This place is huge.



We eventually find the street and are completely disorientated. A security guard helps us with our bearings. Note to would be travelers to KL. I suggest you don’t use Starbucks as landmarks - they are on every 2nd corner. We arrive at a busy restaurant. The food is basic but good. A Thai version of fast food. Mom Tri’s Kitchen. The service is fast, which is exactly what tired kids need. (And tired adults.)





We watch the rain come yet again and wish this wasn’t our last night in KL.



We wake the kids up at 6 for the plane. They are very cranky and most peeved at being woken. Breaky at 6.30. Good old trusty banana roti. Slow to get away, we start to run late. We drag our overfull bags behind us to the monorail. Up the stairs and through the gates. Onto the red monorail and off at KL central. We hail and bargain a cab to the airport. Our 2nd try we are successful. We are 2 hours from check in close and I am starting to stress. It is 1 hour to the airport by skybus - hopefully less in a cab. The taxi stops for fuel and I am tapping my feet anxiously. Check in closes 60 mins prior to departure. We arrive with very tired irritable kids 11 minutes before the check in closes. Phew. It takes a while to get thru customs and we lose our 2nd bottle of mozzie spray to KL customs.



We are the last to get on the plane and as I doze, I reflect on our holiday.



Yes, it is worth taking the kids. It is challenging and it isn’t all about me, but I am glad they have had the chance to see how lucky we are, to live where we are, and to have the freedom that we do. To breathe air without smog. I hope that it is an experience to kick start their love of travel and adventure.





E xxx

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Photos

Serenity...for now
Alas, too quickly these chairs fill with farang who do not understand the strength of the tropical sunshine.

Smells of spices
Bowls of freshly cooked noddles in KL for 7 MRM ($3AUD)

Contrast of Asia
What I like about Asia the most is what this photo is all about

Idyllic
Beauty of the "Beach"

Beneath
The testing of the underwater camera - it works!

Dinner on the beach
Phuket - Sabai Resturant on the beach.