Laos forum

"Wettest" month might be August or July or September or October. That's the general wet season but with the world's freaky weather lately who knows when the heavier rains will come? I've lived in Chiang Mai 7 years and traveled north Laos by bus/boat/motorbike during pretty much every season. It's been unusually wet this year after being unusually dry last year. Record floods along the Mekong a couple years ago then a month later the river dropped dramatically and Feb record low levels with slow boat service stopped about a month. Not just rain but Chinese dams upstream can affect the Mekong too.

Bottom line even in wet season as long as you stay with sealed roads and main routes rains don't usually affect travel too much except for the occasional extreme downpour. Landslides triggered by heavy rain sometimes block northern Laos roads for a day then your bus ride might be seriously delayed, but it's statistically not too likely. But good anyway to allow extra time for these odd occurences and put your watch on "Laos Time" (slow). Don't forget sunscreen too because when the rain stops it can still get hot.