Route Advice - Help please!!

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stevie87
stevie87

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are planning on travelling for around 8 months starting June next year. We plan on doing the SE Asia loop - Central and Northern Thailand-Laos-Vietnam-Cambodia- Southern Thailand then onto Bali and also spending about 3-4 in Australia and New Zealand with a stop in Fiji too. The plan was to do Asia first but I'm a bit concerned we're going to spend the whole time avoiding the rain, and slightly concerned at the possibility of hitting typhoons in Vietnam in August!

The other alternative is to do Australia and NZ first but this means it would be a lot colder here but would mean arriving in Asia in October time.

I've read a lot of mixed reviews and posts that say the rainy seasons in SE Asia are not too bad with only 1 - 2 hours of rain a day but does this apply all over? I understand the weathers not going to be perfect for the full 8 months but don't really want to have to start carrying winter weather gear around!

What would people suggest? I'm a first time traveller so any advice, suggestions etc. would really be appreciated!

Thanks!

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mwoaster
mwoaster

Well, let me reassure you. Wintergear you can leave at home. I travelled Vietnam en Cambodja during July and August. You can expect cloudy rainy weather, but even then temperatures where summery by my Belgian standards.

You can't expect when travelling for 8 months to have constant summer. I don't think October in NZ is gonna have better weather.

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lucapal
lucapal

If your only concern is weather..I would go to SE Asia first,and Oz/NZ after.

It will be hot in SE Asia,with some heavy rain...as you said,could be only an hpour or two in the afternoon/evening....you might get some days of heavy rain but this is not usual.

Then when you arrive in Oz in October you should have good weather for the next few months..NZ weather is never really 'good' (if you like hot and sunny anyway) but I guess it is better in Dec/Jan than in June/July.

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graby
graby

I did the SEA loop during the wet season (June-August) and it's not too bad. It's still very hot and luckily in Vietnam the rainy season hits at different times so if it's rainy up north it'll be hot and dry down south. We very rarely had days where it would rain all day, usually it really does only rain for an hour or so each day.
We had many days of beautiful sunshine!

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stevie87
stevie87

Thank you all for your responses. I think we're going to stick with the original plan and do SE Asia first and hope for the best!

Can't wait to get it booked now!!

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