Cambodia with young children

Hi Guys,

Hoping someone can offer advice.

We are considering going to Angkor wat with a 3yr old and 5 yr old.

Is this a bad idea?? How long do you need to look around (we would only go for one day, but is a couple of hours enough or do u really need a whole day)

We also want to then go to a lovely beach resort style of place, is there anywhere in cambodia to do this, or anywhere close by you would recommend??

Apologies if this is a bit vague, we have only touched on this idea this afternoon and have not had much time to research but i wanted to get some fast opinions as i%26#39;m not too convinced!

FYI this will be in early november.

Thanks

Melinda

Cambodia with young children

I%26#39;ll be there in April with an almost 4 year old...so I can let you know when i get back if that helps? Tracey

Cambodia with young children

Hi- we travelled to Siem Reap for 4 nights in January with our 2 and 5 year old boys. We hired a driver to take us around the temples- I have posted about our (positive) experience with our driver elsewhere on this forum: tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g297390-i9163-k195…

We had a superb trip, although there is no doubt that it can be exhausting (and occasionally harrowing!) travelling with young kids. Our boys loved exploring the temples, with their doorways, tunnels and windows, endless steps and statues. The temples are also relatively safe for the kids to walk around. My own view, however, is that a day is really too short a visit to make the trip worthwhile, particularly if you are travelling with kids- the temples are spread over a relatively large area, and they are all unique in their own way, so it would be disappointing to travel that distance to see only a small number. There is also the factor of the weather- we were extremely fortunate in January to have extremely cool weather, but I understand that at other times of the year the heat and/or rain can make it difficult to stay out for a full day. We booked our driver for three days, and typically left the hotel at 8am and returned around 2pm (the kids%26#39; interest tended to wane around lunchtime as they got tired). We found this worked well- we spent the afternoons either quietly at the hotel, or looking around the town.

Obviously you will know your kids%26#39; own limitations and have an idea of how they are likely to travel. Our kids have travelled a fair bit in the past, are pretty flexible, not particularly rowdy and generally enjoy interacting with people (this was fortunate, because the 2 year old in particular attracted a lot of attention). Of course, they still got tired and a bit bored from time to time, and we just had to manage those moments when they arose.

I%26#39;m sure we could have seen and absorbed more if we%26#39;d travelled on our own and left the children at home, or waited until they were older. However, we really wanted to visit Angkor now, and not leave it for another five years, and we also wanted to have a holiday with our children. We were relatively realistic in our expectations of the holiday and of the kids. We recognised that this part of holiday was more for us, than for them, in the sense that they simply weren%26#39;t old enough to appreciate the history and significance of Angkor (we spent another week of the holiday on Ko Yao Noi in Thailand, so the kids got their beach fill there). We also knew that the kids would get tired fairly early each day, so we allowed enough time to see what we wanted to see without them hitting the wall. Yes, we did hear the refrain of ';Not another temple!'; a few times during the trip, but this really was a small price to pay for such an incredibly rewarding experience. We would do it again in a heartbeat.

If you go in January, they will be ine year older!

Jelly Beans advise is very sound;more days and less temples per day is good. I would like to add the Cambodians love kids of any age and it a great way of getting to know Khmers. Many guides and drivers have children themselves.

For a Bead place in Cambodia Kep is a small resort which is safe; and attractive unlike nearby Sihanoukville which has a terrible record for crime.

The Kep Lodge and the brand New Malibu Estates Bungalows are small friendly resorts. Malibu has a big pool and large open areas. Kep lodge has a swiss owner with a cute 1 year old and a lovely pool area and great food as well. it only had 6 rooms so book ahead.