I would love to fly low over Yangon, across the syrupy Ayerwaddy River plied with cargo and cruise ships. From the banks of this mighty waterway I'd fly following the main artery over the city using Sule Pagoda as a focal point before wheeling low over the traffic snarls , the rubbish, the bedlam and the heat to the jewel that is Shwedegon.

How out of place is this magnificence? In a city that is struggling to cope with its place in the world, Shwedegon is everything the city is not