The BBC visits Myanmar, where two years after the coup, fear and quiet defiance are everywhere.
Out on the crystal-clear water of Inle Lake, the boats putter back and forth, some piled high with water weeds they use on their gardens, others throwing out fishing cages.
We travelled to Inle Lake because it was one of only two places the military government would permit us to visit, outside of the main cities of Yangon and Naypyidaw, which are relatively insulated from the civil war. We spent two days in Inle, talking to people as discretely as we could. There were almost no other obviously foreign visitors there; inevitably we stood out.
This strange city, constructed on a vast scale in secret less than 20 years ago, symbolises the siege mentality of Myanmar's military rulers. The cost was immense. The purpose appears to have been to build an impregnable citadel, able to withstand foreign invasions or popular uprisings., one of the big set-piece political events of the year, Min Aung Hlaing gave no hint of any doubts he might have over his disastrous decision to seize power.
The banking system barely functions. The local currency has collapsed, trading on the black market at a steep discount to the official rate. And there are still occasional attacks. On the day we arrived in Yangon a lawyer working for the military junta was gunned down and killed.Barriers, erected near Yangon's city hall during the anti-coup protests, still remain
In their own minds the generals are still fighting a war for national unity that started with Burmese independence in 1948. Everything else comes second.
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