Highway to Heaven: Meditating on Naypyidaw’s ghost highway

Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital city, is famous for being a “ghost city,” one in which lavish hotels and larger-than-life government buildings have been plopped down in the middle of an otherwise empty landscape. Perhaps it’s most striking — and well-documented — attribute is its eerily car-free multi-lane highways.

To get a sense of just how empty Naypyidaw’s streets can be, check out this picture of a man meditating in the middle of a new 30-lane highway. Editor: Yes, 30 lanes.

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According to the Facebook post by tour agency Myanmar Pilgrimage, they meditated in “complete silence” on a “newly constructed highway, completely without traffic” while en route to a local monastery.

If you’re getting a mild sense of deja vu, it might be because Myanmar Pilgrimage was the same outfit behind the December hot air balloon meditation session enjoyed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, which we wrote about right here.

Here’s hoping the masters of novel meditation spots keep coming up with more unique locations to “get zen.”

Watch the Coconuts TV video “Exploring Myanmar’s bizarre empty capital by drone” below.

Subscribe to the WTF is Up in Southeast Asia + Hong Kong podcast to get our take on the top trending news and pop culture from the region every Thursday!



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