Photo: Sukree Sukplang/ReutersIt could have been fears of an American invasion, worries about an internal revolt or the advice of soothsayers.
Whatever the reason, Burma's human rights-challenged military leaders two years ago took what can only be described as a barmy decision to move the capital from the coastal city of Rangoon to a remote malaria-infested location near Pyinmana, about 300 miles away. Here's what it looks like from a satellite.
Western journalists today caught the first glimpse of the country's new capital, Naypyidaw, after being invited to watch the huge Armed Forces Day parade, where they heard Burma's reclusive leader, the 74-year-old General Than Shwe, defend the leadership's "seven-step" plan for a return to democracy, which has been criticised by the west and other Asian countries for being too vague and too slow.
Reporters say rutted and overcrowded roads suddenly give way to smooth eight-lane motorways on the approach to the new capital and that new pastel-coloured apartment blocks are being built for the hapless civil servants who have had to leave the relative charms of leafy Rangoon.
Earlier this year, Indian Journalist Siddharth Varadarajan posted what he said were the web's first photographs of Naypyidaw to his blog
Despite reliable electricity and water, government officials have complained about the lack of amenities such as shops and restaurants and have left their families in the old capital. Burma's new corridors of power sound thoroughly uninviting.
