Myanmar or Burma as it’s also known has experienced a particularly tumultuous year so far with the military government seizing full control of the fledgeling partial democracy and arresting Aung San Suu Kyi. The BBC has a pretty good summary of what’s happening with the coup in Myanmar.

We have friends over this evening, so today’s post is testing my multitasking abilities. So I’m going to keep things simple and share two interesting things about Myanmar.

Naypyidaw

Myanmar’s planned, new capital Naypyidaw is 4 times the size of London and was purpose-built between 2002 and 2012. It boasts 20-lane highways, but they’re almost entirely empty, as is the gargantuan city itself. Read more about Naypyidaw - Burma's bizarre capital: a super-sized slice of post-apocalypse suburbia

Moken people

Burma is home to Moken, a semi-nomadic Austronesian people living mostly at sea. Moken are one of the few remaining hunter-gatherer populations in Southeast Asia. Approximately 3,000 Moken people live around and on the 800 islands of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar. Due to their nomadic, sea-dwelling lifestyle, they’re considered stateless and vulnerable by Human Rights Watch.