30 days in SE Asia: Backpacking through 5 countries with a 4 year old

My mom's 60th birthday party in the Philippines sparked the plan to visit multiple nearby countries. We contemplated many different options and ultimately decided on Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia-Philippines-Bali,Indonesia. I planned this trip using Trip Advisor, Instagram and fellow family travel blogs for child friendly suggestions. I used Google products to build itineraries and keep organized. We intentionally tiptoed around war related educational opportunities because we're not ready to explain war to our inquisitive and sensitive 4 year old.

Logistics: Our goal was to not check anything in to save time at airports and accommodation hopping so Angel and I each carried a 46L backpack and Addie carried a small kid backpack filled with snacks and toys. Our packing strategy was to pack as though we were only taking a 5 day trip and just do laundry frequently. The only child gear we took was a piggyback carrier and we also packed an empty daypack for daytime use. We left enough room for souvenirs and such. Since we were traveling during Christmas, I also hid our Elf on the Shelf and a few small gifts for Addie in my backpack. Being hands free at the airport was amazing!!!

Vietnam

Day 1: Flight from LAX-HCM. Addie did great on this flight. We brought a few small toys, markers, crayons and play dough. We didn’t bring a tablet and let Addie watch a few movies on the in flight screen. 

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh - We landed at 1am, finalized our visas and made it to our hotel for a few hours of sleep. Woke up, placed the Elf on a Shelf on a shelf then woke up Addie. She was ecstatic!  We then decided to walk around and ended up unintentionally playing "frogger" with all the motor cycles - running across streets between them and them weaving between us, barely missing our backs! Pure madness! Addie was totally over it and begged us to go back to the hotel so we did. Our hotel had a water slide in the lobby so of course she didn’t want to leave! But our eager selves wanted to do more exploring so we hailed a taxi to take us to Khanh Hoi park only to be dropped off in a completely random spot - I think due to language barrier and my mispronunciation - I’m not really sure. Anyways, we walked around some more and eventually found the Khanh Hoi playground. Addie enjoyed some quiet play time and we trekked back to our hotel. Thank goodness for Angel’s superhuman navigation skills because we had no maps to go by and we weren’t quite over the taxi situation from earlier. Jet lag kicked in and Addie feel asleep at 4pm, I feel asleep shortly after and Angel met up with our friends who were also traveling to Vietnam at the same time. They did a food tour and drank way too much! :)

Day 3: We realized quickly that this city had far more motor bikes than cars! A tour guide later told us that HCM has 14,000 people and 9,000 motorbikes. So if you can’t beat them, join them! Actually this wasn’t a last minute decision, I vetted this tour company and read countless testimonials from other parents vouching for their safety. I was hesitant but the  team at XO Tours were excellent. We did the sights tour and saw all the major highlights of HCM: Central Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace, Secret CIA building, Thich Quang Duc Monument, Thien Hau Pagoda, Binh Tay Market and Flower Market. Our drivers were very careful and wonderful with Addie. In the evening we met up with our friends to watch a water puppet show at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater. It didn’t even matter that the entire show was in Vietnamese, it was so impressive and Addie loved it! 

Day 4: Mekong Delta - It’s  about a two hour bus ride from HCM and thank goodness it had air-conditioning as the Mekong is definitely more humid than HCM. We rode a motor boat in the main river and then a small rowing boat through a peaceful canal. This full day tour and humidity had Addie fussing so we bribed her with ice cream and that got about 1 hour of good behavior and some smiles! She was much calmer during the two hour AC bus ride back and asked me pretty challenging questions about why every country speaks a different language, have different leaders and why the Grinch hates who-ville! LOL! Then she did something amazing: she spoke a few Vietnamese words that she had been hearing frequently!

Day 5: Hanoi - We flew in from HCM and got a little lost trying to locate our Airbnb in Old Gothic Quarter but screenshots and locals got us in the right direction! We arrived on Christmas Eve, walked around and ate banh mi sandwiches as our Christmas Eve dinner! 

Day 6: Merry Christmas! We woke up early to open little gifts from Santa then got picked up for our countryside cooking class. We spent the morning learning a few Vietnamese words and biked to a local market to practice our new language skills. We were each tasked with purchasing an ingredient for the meals we were going to prepare. I am proud to say I successfully purchased 3 eggs... ok I might have cheated a little with hand gestures and pointing, but I got what we needed plus a random quail egg! The merchant pointed at Addie as he placed it in the bag so I assume it was gift. We headed back to the home and started on our dishes. Our teacher supplied Addie with a butter knife so she could safely cut a few vegetables. We chopped and chopped while my mind wandered to the the efficiency of a food processor and I stopped myself to just enjoy the soothing motions of chopping veggies. Our favorite dishes that we made were the pho ga and spring roles. It was incredibly satisfying and now I know how to make those dishes! In the afternoon we walked to the Thang Long Imperial Citadel and enjoyed its beauty. Our friends met up with us in the evening and we enjoyed delicious dinner at Bun Cha Huong Lien made famous by Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama.

Day 7: Yen Duc Village - We were picked up in the morning and drove to this beautiful rural village which was such a nice city break. We rode bicycles around, learned how to separate rice from husk and made floating rice cakes. A true highlight was basket fishing! We arrived at this little pond where our guides gave us fishing pants and taught us how to trap the fish in baskets then reach through the hole and grab them with our rubber gloves. Catching fish this way was so satisfying and it was no surprise that Addie and Angel were such naturals! 

Day 8-10: Ha Long Bay - In the morning we watched another water puppet show and then drove to the bay. We booked our three day all inclusive cruise through Indochina Junk and boarded a beautiful ship with lounge chairs on the top deck and each cabin had fantastic views of the bay. On the first day I went kayaking with our friends while Angel stayed on the boat with Addie.  I had gotten stuck in a current and strong wind while kayaking and had to get rescued by our guide. We went to the closest cruise ship for them to help me off my kayak and onto the guide’s kayak and he brought me back to our cruise ship. We were all offered kayaking on the second day but the water was even choppier so nobody wanted to do it. Instead those who wanted to jumped in for a swim. It was freezing cold so I wasn't interested but Angel did it! We then took a tender to a remote beach for more cave exploration and a shoreline lunch. We also visited a pearl farm and a floating fishing village! Addie made friends with other kids on the boat so It was nice having little breaks here and there to just relax.  

Day 11: Ninh Binh - For our final night in Vietnam we did a tree-house stay at Hang Mua Ecolodge. It was a three hour drive to get there from Ha Long Bay but so scenic and relaxing. Our treehouse was super cozy and we slept very well but woke to a storm of strong wind and rain. Luckily it cleared just in time for us to hike up the 500 steps on the dragon bridge to Hang Mua peak. It was a little slippery and Angel had to carry Addie for half of it but it was totally worth it for all the incredible views! Addie was also pretty mesmerized by the landscape and dragon bridge.

Day 12: We said goodbye to our treehouse and flew from Hanoi to Luang Prabang and checked into our Laotian hotel. I’m not sure why but we were upgraded to a huge suite with private patio overlooking a koi pond! We weren't charged extra so it remains a mystery and I wasn't going to say anything!

Laos

Day 13: Luang Prabang - In the morning we hired a TUK TUK driver and asked to get dropped off at Wat Xieng Thong. We then walked back and stopped at other temples along the way to our hotel. All were so beautiful and the weather was somewhat cool so walking was nice. We stopped for drinks at restaurant overlooking the Mekong and there were these kittens that kept crawling all over us and out table! We got back to our hotel and I experienced food poisoning- possibly from some curry I ate at breakfast.. but we’re not entirely sure.  I lost much of my energy and Angel explored the night markets alone trying to figure out how the Laotians celebrate New Year’s Eve but ended up coming back to the hotel early.

Day 14: Happy New Year! I intended to wake up early for the alms giving ceremony but was still too sick. In the late morning I managed enough energy to visit Kuang Si falls. We hired a TUK TUK and starting from the bottom of the falls, visited the bear conservation center, then trekked up for glorious sights of vivid blue water. We headed back to the hotel and Angel took Addie swimming and out to eat while I rested some more. How these two swim in freezing cold water is beyond me.

Day 15: I felt much better today and just in time for our bamboo experience in the morning. We learned how to do bamboo weaving, archery, separate sticking rice from its husk and steam it. Addie made a little friend during this class so she was completely entertained while we did the cooking portion of the class.  In the afternoon we visited Utopia Bar for a relaxing break with great views of the Mekong then we wandered around the night markets and back to our hotel. 

Cambodia

Day 16: We flew from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap. We hired a TUK TUK to drive us to our house rental. My parents flew in later in the evening and met up with us. Our house rental came with a swimming pool and it was nice having a kitchen because our house came with a cook! Just kidding, my dad cooked most of our meals. We hired a driver and guide for the first three days.

Day 17: Siem Reap - On our first day in Cambodia, we were picked up at 8am and visited the main Angkor Wat temple, Ta Prohm and Bayon temple. It was quite crowded but our guide managed to find us private photo opportunities. The temples are truly magnificent especially the tree roots growing through while keeping the temples mostly intact. Addie walked for a portion of this tour but Angel carried her in the piggyback carrier for most of the time. Then Addie and Angel became a Chinese tourist attraction! We think that because of the piggyback carrier several Chinese tourist took selfies with them, haha! In the evening, my parents offered to watch Addie so we could enjoy the night market alone. We had a tickly fish foot message, full body massages, drank Angkor beer and bought a few souvenirs.

Day 18: We did a second day of temple touring and woke up at 4:30am to catch the sunrise over the main Angkor Wat, it was gorgeous. We then visited Neak Pean, Preah Khan and Banteay Srei. Each temple offered unique architecture with such impressive detail. Addie, however, wasn’t impressed. We’ve realized that she just isn’t mature enough to handle guided tours. She fussed for most of the day and when she started to refer to these magnificent temples as "dirty castles" we retreated back to the house early for a much needed splash in the pool. In retrospect, all she could probably handle was one day of temples.

Day 19: Phonh Kulen - We were picked up at 8:00 am and drove about two hours to reach Phonh Kulen mountain. When our guide offered to take us to more temples, we politely declined knowing Addie would probably fuss! We visited the River of a Thousand Lingas, reclining Buddha and did a short hike through the jungle to reach the waterfall. It was beautiful but there was very little area to maneuver around the falls. We had to climb over boulders and carefully balance Addie so we could change her into her swimsuit. We took a short dip in the pool at the end of falls. We had lunch then road a boat to visit the floating fishing village at Tonle Sap lake. 

Day 20: Khmer cooking class. We visited a local market which housed all sorts of insects and snakes. Angel daringly ate scorpion, ants, worms and crickets (he later paid for this with food poising like symptoms)! We then headed over to a rural house to learn traditional Khmer cooking: the main dish being Chicken Amok, yum! Addie really enjoyed this very hands on experience, especially squeezing coconut pulp to make coconut milk! We went back to the night market with Addie and took her to eat brick oven fired pizza and freshly rolled ice cream! She wanted to try the fish foot message and upon inserting her feet, laughed so uncontrollably, everyone around her laughed too! For the rest of the trip she would continue to request a fish foot massage!  All three of us got pedicures and Addie got a manicure while we got regular foot messages. When the manicurist asked Addie was color she wanted, Addie said: “all of them.” She ended up with a super cute rainbow mani/pedi.

Day 21: Siem Reap to Manila. Our flight was cancelled due to some kind of tarmac issue in Manila. We were able to book flights with another airline but it meant a layover in Bangkok. Once we got to Bangkok, we had a flight delay and spent most of the night sleeping at the airport. 

Philippines 

Day 22: Manila - We finally arrived in Manila and rode my parents car for the 3 hour drive to their house in Mabatang, Bataan. En route we were pulled over due to driving on the wrong day.. apparently there are coding laws where if your license plate ends in certain numbers you can only drive on certain days to prevent over crowding. As it turns out, our overnight flight delay had placed us on the wrong coding day. My dad tried to reason with the police officer, my mom reached into her wallet for a bribe (which he refused) and I shuffled through my purse looking for boarding passes to prove the flight delay. My dad showed his California drivers license and THAT is the thing that got the officer to let us go... 

Day 23-25: Mabatang, Bataan - We recharged our batteries with facials, massages, mani/pedis and just did a whole bunch of nothing at my parents place. Angel fished a little at my parents pond, I did some biking and reading, Addie played with the other kids and rode tricycles (Filipino version of a TUK TUK) around town. We went to the local mall a few times, ate matcha green tea doughnuts (yum!) and took Addie to watch Mary Poppins Returns.

Day 26: My mom's 60th bday party! My mom hired someone to do our hair and makeup and of course Addie wanted hers done as well! She got some glitter on her eyelids, lipstick and a simple updo. We celebrated the night away with family & friends.

Day 27: We all rode a large van to Manila and us three flew to Denpasar, Bali while my parents, Aunts and Uncles flew to Kuala Lampur.

Bali, Indonesia

Day 28: Ubud - We checked into our adorable Ubud B&B and got a free upgrade because the person occupying our original room was sick and had to extend their stay. We ended up with an entire floor overlooking the jungle and small river! We headed over to the sacred monkey forest - Several monkeys immediately jumped onto Angel and dug through his pockets because he had a packet of dried mangos and a water bottle. He had to throw both in the trash so the monkeys would stop! We saw another monkey open up someone else’s backpack, a monkey with a pen and some with huge teeth! Addie thought it was hilarious but scared one would jump on her so she kept covering her eyes because earlier we were warned about not looking them directly in the eyes since they could view it as a sign of aggression. We did see several cute little baby monkeys nursing from their mothers, cuddling and cleaning each other. Their cuteness made up for that initial attack and we headed out on a good note. But then there where also a lot of monkeys outside the sanctuary, waiting to steal things! We bought a few snacks at a convenient store and right as we exited, a monkey grabbed our potato chips!!! Addie couldn’t stop laughing and kept calling them “naughty monkeys!” A taxi driver told us it’s very common for the monkeys to steal, especially plastic bags with snacks and bottled water. They’re also a nuisance at  local hotels- “checking in” by hanging out poolside and sneaking into rooms! Luckily we were safe at our B&B!

Day 29: We hired a driver for our last two days in Bali. We were picked up at 9am to visit Taman Ayun temple, Jatiluweh rice terrace, and Gitgit waterfall. We started at Taman Ayun, a special ceremony was occurring so this was very nice to see. We then made our way to Jatiluweh and passed by beautiful rural villages and farmland. Once we reached the rice terrace, it was so gorgeous and there was a nice breeze as we trekked through the rice paddies admiring the beauty from every angle. It reminded me so much of the Sacred Valley in Peru. We took a short break at a coffee plantation and did a coffee and tea tasting while lounging on bean bags, everything was delicious! Even Addie enjoyed tasting all the different flavors of tea, her favorite was cinnamon, my favorite was saffron and Angel enjoyed mangosteen tea. We then drove through pretty windy roads to reach Gitgit waterfall. On the way we must have seen at least 100 monkeys that Addie enjoyed waving hello to, our driver offered to stop so we could get down and we all yelled "NO! It's ok." We did a short hike through the thick and humid jungle to get to the waterfalls. We then drove about 2 hrs back to Ubud and got dropped off at the center. We had dinner and walked around the market.

Day 30: We slept in, ate breakfast in our room, packed our bags, checked out and got picked up at 1pm for a drive to Jimbaran beach area. It was pouring rain so that hindered our swimming plans. Instead we had delicious drinks at Bali Rock Bar, the rain cleared and we ate dinner on the beach while enjoying the sunset. We got dropped off at the airport for our overnight flight home. Vacation over. *sigh*

Although Addie's fussiness felt unbearable while it was happening this was such a great trip filled with wonderful memories that far outweigh the crazy moments! We truly had a blast. Would we do it again? Absolutely! But don't be surprised if we try to squeeze in a couple's only trip! ;)