Yangon

Yangon — once Rangoon — was the capital of Burma from 1885 until 2005, when the military government moved the seat of power to Naypyidaw. The city remains Myanmar's commercial heart, home to ~5.4 million people, and the focal point of cultural life on the Irrawaddy delta.

Its skyline is dominated by the Shwedagon Pagoda — a 99-metre golden stupa said to enshrine eight hairs of the Buddha and to be 2,600 years old (though archaeology suggests the current structure dates from the 6th-10th centuries). The stupa is covered with around 750 kg of gold leaf and crowned by a stupa-tip set with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. It is one of Buddhism's holiest sites.

Yangon also holds South-East Asia's largest collection of colonial-era buildings — 189 listed heritage structures from the British period (1852-1948). Decades of economic isolation left them largely untouched. The Yangon Heritage Trust has documented every one, and several including the Strand Hotel and the former High Court have been beautifully restored. The city is the natural gateway for tours of Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake.