Asia 5-6 Months Starting November

My first trip was Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia for 3 months. My last trip was India, Andaman's and Nepal for 4 months.

This trip I would love to follow decent weather...not too cold...not too hot..and most importantly not too wet! I enjoy having the freedom to decide itinerary as I go but the countries of interest are Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. I think parts of China might be too cold those months...but would appreciate any feedback on my very undecided route which (subject to change!) is to:

Fly to Ho Chi Min or Hanoi (which ever is cheaper) spend some of November in the north moving down to south into December. Hop to Philippines through December. Malaysia in December into January. Indonesia February through March. Return from Singapore end of March. Reply to this

Hi

Sounds like an interesting route.

If you want to avoid the wet, I would check where the monsoon is on that route. We were in Malaysia and Singapore one Christmas and it flooded there was so much rain.

In November in Hanoi it will be getting colder as the north of Vietnam has winter. It will be hot in Ho Chi Minh, but again, it will be wet because it is the monsoon time. October is the month with the big hurricanes, so it shouldn't be too bad. You are just going to have to duck into places to avoid the rain at some points.

The end of January is Lunar new year. If you are planning to travel for the four weeks that the Chinese have as holidays (I think it's something like 19th Jan onwards) then make sure you book, as all the beach resorts and major tourist sights in South East Asia will be very busy at that time. Last year we were in Palawan for Lunar New Year and there were no beds, anywhere. We met people who had to sleep in a hotelier's aunts spare bedroom because they could not find a hotel rom. So while the rest of your holiday will be cool to roam as you want, I would make sure you at least have around the 31st Jan (New Year's Day) booked ahead.

Does this make sense? Reply to this

In response to: Msg #174922

Thanks for the info!

I booked my flight yesterday and arrive Oct 10th at 12:25AM Thursday morning. Looking to book a cheap guesthouse online so I can give taxi the address and not hassle with his own agenda.

Will keep posting with addition questions. I find this site very helpful.

Thanks again.
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