Route for Myanmar - Laos - Thailand - Cambodia - Vietnam
 

Hi all

I'm currently planning a year long trip in Asia and am working out the best route for the following countries:

Myanmar - Feb
Laos - March
Thailand - April - June (beginning)
Cambodia - June
Vietnam - July

These dates are a rough guide. The above route is my preference as we're aiming to be on the beaches of Thailand for my 30th on June 1st.

Does this route sound sensible, or have I overcomplicated things by sticking Thailand in the middle?

Any thoughts welcome, thank you :)

The Lonely Planet's travel forum, Thorntree is a better place to ask backpacking questions.

A few things to be aware of: you will need a visa in advance to enter Myanmar. You can get an e-visa from the government website, but so far, can only use if if entering by air. You get 28 days of visa-free entry to Thailand, your visas for Cambodia and Laos can be purchased at overland borders. Your VN visa can be done online as long as you are entering by air. Make sure you know all the ins and outs of the various visas before you depart.

You might also want to take a look at weather patterns: www.weatherbase.com
Check each location you plan to visit.

We spent 2015 travelling around Asia and one of the biggest headaches was trying to be in the right place at the right time, taking into account the regional weather variations. Not that the weather is the be all and end all, but there are some factors you may want to consider.

- Laos in March - you may well encounter the burning season with severe pollution.
- Vietnam in July will be great in the central region ( but v. Hot) but not so great in the rest of the country etc. etc.

I found this website to be great for a quick and easy summary of the weather issue by location/month http://www.selectiveasia.com/asia-ho...eather/january

As Kathie suggests, take a look at Lonely Planets Thorntree forum. Also, there is a huge amount of useful info www.travelfish.org

I would be very, very concerned about the heat in many of the places you plan to visit during the months you list. We are just finishing a six week trip to Cambodia, Laos and Bangkok (supposedly the cool season for these places). The heat can be almost debilitating and can take the pleasure out of many things.

Thanks guys, yeh I'm also having a bit of a nightmare working out where to be and when, I keep getting such differing advice from forums and websites.

I'll check out thorntree, thank you!