Naypyidaw: Myanmar's Mysterious Capital City

DESPITE a population of 924,600 Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw is commonly called the ‘Ghost City'

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There are many misconceptions surrounding the city

The capital went under a multi-billion renovation to create a purpose built metropolis and tourist destination, however many of its streets have been pictured empty.

Darmon visited the city in February 2017

Travel photographer Darmon Richter visited the mysterious city in February 2017, and discovered that many of these representations weren’t fully accurate.

He said: “In February I had the chance to visit Naypyidaw for myself, but it was nothing like the city I was expecting.

Darmon said the city wasn't as empty as claimed

"The city is far from empty, and there are only certain parts of it that look even remotely like a ghost town.

The size of the city has been heavily debated

I’m certainly not going to claim that Naypyidaw isn’t weird, but this wonderful capital was weird in ways that I never could have predicted."

The government tried to make it a tourist destination

The photographer also argues that the size of Naypyidaw is heavily disputed, it has been claimed the city is anywhere between 4000km and 7000km.

Many of the buildings are relatively new

Darmon said: "The truth is, Naypyidaw is only a small city, about 260 square kilometres in area. I think what has happened, is one journalist looked at the area of Naypyidaw State and confused it with Naypyidaw City.