Golden Myanmar

Opulent yet impoverished, brutal but gentle, Myanmar is defined by contradictions. Monks with alms bowls pray before jewel-encrusted symbols of asceticism. Beyond, a forest of towering stupas rise from a pancake-flat plain. For visitors, nothing but smiles and hospitality from a nation long oppressed. All around, a glorious natural heritage preserved by cruelty and injustice. None of it makes sense. But here in golden Myanmar, the senses revel in overload and spectacular incongruity.