Moving to Nepal in June...advice pls re freighting toys!

[thegauntlet]

we are moving to Nepal in June for the long term, at least 2 years, DD1 is 2 the weekend before we fly and DD2 is due in 4 weeks so will be around 10-12 weeks..
Trying to sort out as much as possible before we are hit with the next baby... what do you think about shipping toys? Did it traumatise your kids only taking some things? Did you take everything? Did you do airfreight/ excess baggage? what about books? Anything further you can offer in the way of advice...

Wow. What an experience. Sadly I cant help with any of the info you require. DS was much older when we moved. But I love Nepal and the Nepalese people. The pollution in Khatmandu still scares me. Fab place. Good luck with your adventure.

For baby I would take

• a baby gym/floor mat
• toys that are sucked/chewed on
• soft learning toys (i.e.:lamaze cube)

For 2 year old (the younger will use those too)

• her favorite cuddly/confort toys (3 or 4)
• a couple of educational toys to practice sounds, shapes etc...
• puzzles and lotto matching games
• lots of crafty things (although you can make beads out of pasta rings and play dough from salt,flour, cream of tartar and dye and am sure paper and crayons will be available)
• books, books, books, books and more books (for you too, they cost a fortune in asia)
• You can make a kitchen corner for her out of a crate when you are there and buy lots of "real" wooden utensils and pots from the street markets. (maybe the cute pastel tumblers from Ikea could set the tone?) Take lots of pretty stickers, wall stickers to make everything pink and princessy!
• What you will also find there is lots of colorful fabrics, traditional wear, bangles,stick-on bindis, flower garlands, ribbons by the yard etc... for a dress up corner.

And worry not, the markets throughout asia are full of crap little toys made in china, not to mention the pirate vintage DVDs.

thank you so much! loads to think on! I have just decided to get one of those floor tile foam alphabet block things on your advice laptopwieldingharpy.
Great.
Got a quote from a shipping company today; not as bad as I thought so we are going to take most of the toys...

I lived in Nepal from age 10 to 15, it was 20 odd years ago and I have wonderful memories. I have heard that Kathmandu has grown very big now, and probably has toy shops and other shops you would need. I have recently moved overseas with 2 little ones and shipped out some toys for christmas and birthdays, books , crayons, paints, balloons etc etc, but I wasnt sure what was here, and as it turns out I can get most things. They will have lovely hand made toys and things like that there too which will be good. If you can, have a look on an expat website and do a search to see if anyone else is out there. You could go to the early learning centre and get lots of bits and bobs from there and package them up. It is worth finding out from your airline about cargo, I used to also pack up some boxes and send them cargo, then I would just pick them up from the airport at the other end. It is a lot more expensive than other ways, but you can get some things straight away. Good luck with such a wonderful adventure!

Just wanted to say how lucky you are! What a fabulous place it is!