I arrived in Yangon on Valentine’s Day. After travelling for almost a month and a half I decided to leave the country. But at the airport check-in desk they told me that I couldn’t take my booked flight as planned.
Due to the fact that COVID-19 was already declared a pandemic, the government in Myanmar took the same decision and closed the country’s borders. Perpetual travel-ban declarations caused anew delay of the monthly flights and meant my stay became prolonged. While many tourists, unaware of how long the situation would last, decided to stay in monasteries, I documented over a period of almost seven months the measures taken by Myanmar government and implemented with the help of the population to contain the pandemic.
Looking back, I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent that time in Myanmar. On the one hand, I was deeply impressed by the mutual consideration shown by the people, and on the other hand, I had experienced such a level of solidarity in almost no other country.