Morocco, India, or Myanmar as solo female traveller?

18/F here, just got back from spending a month in Morocco and another month in Myanmar! Although Morocco is an incredible and beautiful country, I'd definitely recommend going there with a male companion or travelling with a tour group. I'm Asian but travelled with a group of 15 other blonde/brunette girls, I felt pretty uncomfortable with the looks and comments no matter where I went, even when travelling with a friend (For reference, I dressed in very conservative clothes: covered shoulders, cleavage, and ankles, nothing tight). Morocco is beautiful but it was a bit of a culture shock for me.

Maybe it's because I look Burmese but Myanmar was probably the favorite country I've ever been to. It's only recently opened up to the public but there's a huge tourism sector. The culture is pretty similar to most of Southeast Asia as it's pretty conservative. Inle Lake was probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to in my life.

I highly recommend Burma if you're choosing between those 3 countries although you can't really go wrong with any of them! Some recommendations for both countries:

Morocco

  • Chefchaouen - It's an adorable town that's all blue, there's some shopping but not much else to do. It's nestled in the Rif Mountains, which are absolutely gorgeous. I'd definitely recommend a Rif Mountain homestay (you can find some good ones on tripadvisor). The drive in/out of Chefchaouen is also incredible too.

  • Sahara Desert - The Sahara was my favorite place in Morocco. I went to a small section of the desert (I think it was called Merzouga) and rode camels into the desert, stayed there for 2 nights, then rode out. I don't know if it's a common thing or it just was a coincidence, but there were a TON of loud, noisy Brazillians in our camp... like at least 30 of them. They were super friendly but it wasn't as peaceful at night as I would've liked it to be.

  • Fez - Beautiful, beautiful city with so much culture. I only got to see the souks but there's so much more. Also great for everything leather, I spent three days shopping for the perfect leather bag and it was incredibly satisfying.

  • Marrakesh - Definitely the most touristy place I went to but still definitely worth a visit

  • Essaouira - Windy beach town, another super-touristy place but it's super cute and a great place to visit after a long trip or to relax. It's too cold to actually go on the beach but the sunsets were gorgeous.

  • Dades Gorge - There's nothing to do but walk around but it was absolutely gorgeous

BURMA

  • Inle Lake - I did the 3 day hike from Kalaw and it was beautiful. Inle Lake was also the favorite place I visited, so many temples and pagodas but also so many other things to do! It's definitely my #1 recommended destination in Burma. It's become surprisingly touristy (I visited the month of December 2014 and it was all tourists) but still full of culture and surprises

  • The Golden Rock - I forget where, exactly, it is, but the Golden Rock is basically a massive golden rock on the edge of a mountain. You can either hike 10,000 steps or hop on a terrifying death-truck to visit it, I'd definitely recommend the death-truck.

  • Bagan - Would definitely recommend renting a bike and just riding around Bagan, you're bound to bump into a pagoda or 20. Watching the sun set while sitting on top of a pagoda in Bagan is something you definitely have to do if you visit. I think there are also hot air balloon rides too but I was too scared of heights to do that.

  • Chaungtha Beach - It's a very untouristy area (I only saw one or two other non-Burmese people in my 4 days there), basically just a beach. A lot of the hotels are literally right on the beach, my room was about 200 ft from the beach and it was lovely.

  • Pyin Oo Lwin - Super cute town, it reminded me of a European ski town kind of

And of course, Mandalay & Yangon! I wasn't a fan of the bigger cities but they're both definitely worth a visit.

/r/travel Thread