In a derelict mansion

Video from upstairs in a derelict mansion, Yangon

Approaching the mansion, Yangon

Tree growing out the wall of the mansion, Yangon

Staircase, mansion, Yangon

 Driveway from upstairs in the mansion, Yangon

The back of the mansion collapsing into the garden below, Yangon

The top floor of the mansion, Yangon

Detail of inside wall on the top floor of the mansion, Yangon

NEAR THE CORNER, where the road to my hotel began, was a pair of large gate posts. Beyond them, a dirt driveway ran up to a derelict mansion. Here was a relic from colonial days, when the sun never set on the British Empire. Built perhaps a hundred years ago, this ruined dream, was likely to be demolished soon. With two embassies nearby, it seemed just the place for a new hotel or perhaps a condominium complex, in such an upscale township as this one.

For one US dollar, a guide let me wander through the empty rooms, where i saw only the slightest sign of occupancy: cheap plastic chairs, some clothes drying on a length of twine and signs of cooking on the floor, in the corner of one room.

I never was able to find out the story behind this building.