Bangkok With a baby!

We flew into bangkok from Krabi airport, after getting a private taxi from Lanta, over the bridge to the mainland airport, the flight was less than an hour. On air Asia flights you have the option to add meals for a very low cost (usually a pound or two!) We love to get Uncle chins chicken and rice! It's super tasty!

At Bangkok Don Meung airport (the older airport, not international) we flag down a tuk tuk or taxi to the hotel. BE SURE to have directions and addresses printed or on screen IN THAI, as a lot of people don't speak english or speak very little, there are many districts and areas and if you go to the wrong place, traffic is pretty intense...you'll find yourself stuck in a cab all day!

We Stayed at the Amari watergate hotel, 5* pure luxury, and for a small cost (as with most hotels in asia) you can pay to upgrade to executive. We usually pay the extra as this includes a premium breakfast, usually on the top floor, afternoon tea (usually 3-5pm on the top floor, sandwiches, pastries, hot bites to eat, cocktails, soft drinks, coffees, newspapers and magazines) a few items to be washed and a few extra privileges, at this hotel it was around £17, so well worth it!

One evening at this hotel the boys had a nap, so I took a good book to the top floor, settled down with some tasty snacks (sandwiches, salmon pieces, chicken wings and treats!) a few cocktails and an amazing view! A lovely retired couple from new zealand we had seen at breakfast a few times asked to join me, they were in bangkok for a bit of luxury and pampering before going to chang mai for 2 weeks of intense dental work! They showed me photos of their family, told me about their bespoke oven building business, they really were lovely people, and I was glad to have speak some time talking to them!

Bangkok is a very diverse city, you can come accross disabled children on the street begging for money then right across the road... 50 floor skyscraper buildings housing luxury apartments, brand new shopping malls selling high end designer clothes. We have the same extremes in the UK but not to such an extent, I feel very lucky to live in the UK, something a lot of us take for granted, we don't have to make a choice to take our children to the hospital or not, if we have a disabled family member it isn't complete doom, there is help and support available. Once you step outside of the western world, your eyes open a little, especially when you have children too.

Getting around in Bangkok is fairly easy, we usually walk or get a tuk tuk, if you are walking, you will notice there isn't much chance of crossing one of the giant roads simply....there are bridges over the roads to help pedestrians avoid traffic, with a buggy, this was a little bit of a nightmare! we found ourselves carrying the buggy up and down huge flights of steps just to cross the road, hundreds of times a day! I would usually say use the wifi in the hotel to work out where you are going and the route before you leave or have it on your screen in thai!

We visited Kidzania, basically a kids city, albeit for bigger children, but we wanted to see what all the fuss was about! There was a mini vets, hospital, airport, hairdressers, firestation, lab, record company...you name it! There was a tiny village for toddlers, we had some fun in there, but mainly I would say age 5+ well worth a visit!

After we had quite large 'afternoon teas' dinner didn't often feel that appealing, we went to the hard rock cafe one evening, we had visited before cassius was born but the music seemed extremely loud when he was sleeping in the buggy, we didn't stay out too late not much more than 8/9pm as there is a lot of hustle and bustle, not like the relaxed atmosphere on the island, although I love Bangkok, it has it's place. It is extremely humid, and if you are wearing a vest and shorts, you feel a little awkward when locals and asians are walking around in suits!

We had an afternoon flight home, so had time for one more delightful breakfast! Bangkok to london heathrow, connecting via KLA, if you have been to KUALA LUMPUR AIRPORT, you'll know it's HUGE! There are several security sections, a good few terminals, I'm sure it is one of the largest airports in the world, it is also very modern, there is a great toy shop we popped in to get a few treats for the long flight!

On the flight Cassius usually sleep, and if he doesn't sleep...he cries! I have learned that if he cries and people stare, they either don't have kids and they don't understand, or they do have kids....and should understand! Long haul flights are a pain, but it's not a huge chunk of your life, and once it's over you'll have forgotten about the hot sweaty mess you go into walking your kid around the plane seven hundred times and changing a nappy on the tiniest changing table you've EVER seen, don't stress about it or let it be the reason you don't go on that holiday, or regret not seeing family 10hours away, it's a short amount of time for the ultimate goal! xx