I went to Myanmar on a whim, and it was the best decision I could ever have made.
(All photos by Sam Graves)
By Sam Graves
These are photos I took during my first trip to Myanmar in June 2018.
I had been teaching in Vietnam and was able to travel all over Southeast Asia. I went to Myanmar on a whim, and it was the best decision I could ever have made.
I had met several people who loved Myanmar. When I brought up the Rohingya genocide or civil unrest in the country, they urged me to go see it for myself.
I spent a month traveling from Yangon (the former colonial capital, then called Rangoon) to Hsipaw, a small trekking destination in the Northern Shan State.
These photos show you what Myanmar feels like. Time forgotten, wild, conflicted, dreamy. I can’t wait to go back. There is so much to see.
Sam Graves is an American photographer and editor who recently returned to the United States after living and working in Vietnam. He spent the past year teaching English, traveling and photographing Southeast Asia. He is a graduate of Skidmore College and has worked in New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Hanoi.