S E Asia in monsoon season

[keitho]

I was hoping to travel to south east Asia from July to September taking in mainly Thailand and Vietnam. My travelling companion reckons that the monsoons will make the trip too difficult and the hassle involved with rain, possible road closures, humidity etc is not worth the effort. should we go or should we decide to go somewhere else ? All opinions greatly appreciated

[Esterina]

I'm so too busy to give you a proper and detailed answer now, but quick tips for further search on your own.


This particular area doesn't have moonsoon everywhere at a time. Especially Vietnam, where the moonsoon takes place in three different times of the year. Central Vietnam (around Hue) is approx. October-December. The other two are before, I think, but I'm not sure. I'll have more time in about a week, so I can find the info then.

Moonsoon doesn't mean heavy rains everyday. On the contrary, it is usually a little bit here and there during the day or light continuous rains in its high moonsoon season. I experienced the end of it in Vietnam, and the beginning in Nepal, not so bad. But it wasn't at his worst.

It makes beautiful pictures though !

And... welcome to travelpunk !

[worldwidemike]

Atchoum's right...monsoons are not all the same, everywhere. As Americans, we tend to believe Forest Gump when he says, "One day, it started to rain...and it didn't stop for 3 months..." (or whatever the time period was!).

Most good guidebooks for the area will give you the lowdown on monsoons for that country.

worldwidemike

[LiveFreeorDie]

The rainy seasons, as Atchoum mentioned, vary greatly between areas within a country as well. The rainy season for the south of Thailand is different than for Bangkok, for example. I have been to Thailand in August two different years and while it generally rained a bit each day, it was not especially troublesome. It was cloudier during the day than at other times of the year, but in some ways that is better because when the sun is out it is really, really hot. Overcast days can make being outside much more bearable if you are walking around the city.