Burma is one of the least explored of the exotic countries of Southeast Asia. Mired for long in political turmoil, Myanmar, as it is officially known, never made it to any list of popular tourist destinations of the world. Destructive politics can be fatal for any culture but Burma, rather miraculously, survived. The Buddhist-majority country has witnessed its own share of problems – strategic or civic. A historic change in the Myanmar’s political climate offered photographers the golden opportunity to capture the untouched societal, architectural and natural beauty of the country. In fact these pictures from Burma reveal a land so beautiful you might as well forget the more popular Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand!
1. A monk in a monastery in Nyaungshwe
Photo by: Arthur Teng
2. Plains of Bagan. Notice the hot-air balloons in the background
Photo by: Khairel Anuar Che Ani
3. Young monks playing in Bago
Photo by: Arkar Tun Kyaw
4. A temple in Bagan where sunlight enters a particular way a week each year
Photo by: Khant Zaw
5. Inle Lake fisherman. Notice the leg wrapping the paddle
Photo by: Aung Pyae Soe
6. The Monk and the Seagulls
Photo by: SauKhian Chau
7. Reclining Mya Tha Lyaung Buddha in Bago
Photo by: Ye Tun
8. Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon has a 350-foot gold-plated dome
Photo by: Pyiet Oo Aung
9. Bagan stupas
Photo by: Han Tha
10. An education
Photo by: Chee Keong Lim
11. Untouched beauty in Bagan
Photo by: Hoang Long Ly
12. Rural Burma
Photo by: Chee Keong Lim
13. A pagoda in Pindaya, Inle Lake area
Photo by: Khant Zaw
14. Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mingun
Photo by: Mike Blank
15. Navigating through lotus flowers of Inle Lake
Photo by: Michael Sessions
16. Bagan
Photo by: Dominic Burdon
17. Golden Rock Pagoda in Kyitehtiyo
Photo by: Sai Kham Hein
18. Cracks from a 1839 quake visible in an unfinished temple in Mingun
Photo by: Tom Cheatham
19. For enlightenment
Photo by: Zeyar Minn
20. Temple near Kyaukse in the Mandalay Region
Photo by: Zaw Zaw Tun
21. In a Yangon Monastry
Photo by: Ye Tun
22. Mon women playing traditional instruments
Photo by: Zaw Zaw Tun
23. Old monk and old building near Monywa
Photo by: Tom Cheatham
24. A child in basket and the temple in Bagan
Photo by: Aung Myint Htwe
25. The 1200-meter-long U Bein Bridge, the longest teak bridge, over Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay
Photo by: Teng Hin Khoo
26. A festival
Photo by: Zeyar Minn
Credit: Smithsonian
