WanderlustTarrants

Siem Reap is an amazing place for a holiday. I constantly get frustrated on web forums such as Tripadvisor where ‘experts’ and others constantly advise people that all you need is 2-3 days in this amazing part of the world. Crazy! Each and every time we go, we stay a little longer.. and if life was not so committed here, I would move there tomorrow. Maybe one day when we don’t have pets and the kids have grown up! There are frauds out there currently offering to provide customised itinerary’s for hundreds of dollars… in fact be prepared to pay upwards of $500-1000 for these ‘customised itineraries’… a ridiculous sum when you can scour that same person’s website and get everything for free from their articles.. My experience with a very high profile blogger who I ... read more

Welcome home” is the greeting that meets you by Kol, your newest family member, as you walk out of the small Siem Reap International airport and locate your name on a sign. A dynamic, good looking Cambodian with a heart of gold is how you will always remember Kol. He is just the start of something fantastic in Siem Reap. You jump into the air-conditioned van with Kol who hands you a small platter of ice cold fruit on toothpicks and even colder waters in metal drink bottles, and so the journey begins. Along the way, Kol tells you all you need to know about Siem Reap and Jaya House RiverPark Hotel where you are headed. “What would you like to drink when we arrive at the hotel?” Kol asks. “Wine, beer, maybe a cocktail?”. My ... read more

We set off on January 18th with the kids in tow and stayed the night in Melbourne for an early morning flight the next day. We met up with one of our friends Chris (from our home town) and also my son Trent and his girlfriend Vic who flew in that morning from Adelaide at the airport. The trip over was pretty uneventful with a small stop in the Kuala Lumpur airport. The kids were amazing on the way over on the long flight, both desperate to be the one to sit next to Trent. They were made to swap halfway! We met up with my parents in the KL airport for a quick meal before Mum and Dad flew out to Bangkok for a few days and once we headed for Phuket. It was after ... read more

I have been meaning to get this blog written for some time, but time flies… and life gets away. Often when scrolling through Facebook and Trip Advisor I see people wanting to volunteer in orphanages or do some form of paying it forward on their upcoming trip. I, too, am one of these people. I have done it all over the last 12 years of South East Asian travel. I have participated in Orphanage visits (bad me), raised money for a house to be built for a single Mum of 5 kids who was living on a stilted piece of tin with dirty old pieces of cloth as her walls; I’ve raised money to buy school bikes and school ‘packs’ and I have taken Cambodian children on a school excursion to Angkor Wat and the local ... read more

Hoi An is magical and we think that Hoi An is one of the best places to visit in Vietnam with kids. Famous for being a UNESCO world heritage site with some of the best food in the world, it is a safe, clean and pretty destination for taking your kids. Accommodation We found a gorgeous family room for 4 at Azumi Villas which was great. My only criticism, having stayed closer to the old town on previous trips, was that we were a little too far from the action for our liking. In hindsight I would definitely stay on An Hoi Islet with the kids as we like to be able to walk to dinner and home again. We found it hard to find a taxi back to the hotel after dinner unless we paid ... read more