hi guys
i am travelling round the world in june, starting in india, then asia (hopefully vietnam, laos, cambodia, thailand and malaysia) than travelling to new zealand in september. so i will be in asia from early june until late august which i stupidly didn't realise was monsoon season (silly silly me)
so what i'm really after is confirmation that this won't totally ruin my travel plans and that i'll still have a good time! but if thats not true please tell me, i'd hate to not find out til i got there! any information would be hugely useful
thanks!
Reply to this Hello man!
Well, I was wondering some months ago about the same thing...and a guy in Vietnam told that it rains everyday, the hole day, for months...I found out that India is the less afected country by the moonsoon....So I decided not to go....next time I plan to go to Asia, will be between november and april....I saw a rain graphic os Laos and Vietnam, and june and july are the months that most rain there!If you could change the order of the places you will go, I think that you should go to New Zealand first, then to Malaysia,India and then the rest of it...at least you would avoid the June/July period....
Hope I helped you!
Reply to this Yes, Moonsoon will have rain, but person who told you that it rains all day is not right! As you can easily see the truth: Vietnam, India, Laos, Cambodia and other surrounding countries have a tropical climate (hot, humit), so it only can shower and stop, never rain all day (except for Januray in the North of Vietnam when there is small rain and some time last in a fewdays).
Generally, every tropical climate area will have shower and shower will not last for long!
Happy traveling
http://www.traveltolao.com/
Reply to this Hannah, don't worry- you're in for a great trip. It may be hot, humid, and wet but, because there will be fewer tourists, the welcome will be even warmer and you'll benefit from lower prices too. Go for it!
Reply to this Travelling during Monsoon is great! Costs are much lower, people are friendlier as they are not so busy and it may not even rain that much. We rarely had to change plans due to rain over a period of 4 months travelling in Monsoon season.
But there are a couple of drawbacks;
If you want to go to areas that don't have a good road infrastructure (Laos and Cambodia to begin with) some places may get cut off and/or travelling can be pretty uncomfortable. There is also a danger of landslides in hilly rural areas (especially in the Philippines)
It gets hot...very hot...we arrived into Delhi at 3:00 am in early July and the temperature was up around 40 degrees celsius and nearing 100% humidity.
Sea travel can be pretty daunting (safety standards for Indonesian and Philippine ferries are very poor) and swimming in many places will be risky. We went to Koh Chang in July and on average 1 tourist drowns each week during Monsoon. This also causes a problem in many areas if you wish to dive. (Eastern island resorts off mainland Malaysia close down but their Monsoon doesn't start until mid November I think)
You will have a brilliant time and get to know far more local people than would be possible during high season. All the above drawbacks only make your trip more interesting and challenging.
Reply to this Do visit www.hoparound.net to get an excellent listing of Points of Interest in the Phiippines AND micro entrepreneurs who provide services in each of the destinations. This will really be a big help for your Philippine leg of your asian trip.
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