Look­ing out the win­dow we also saw a real phys­i­cal beauty to Yan­gon with hand­some men in plaid longyis, affec­tion­ate cou­ples walk­ing hand-in-hand to work, ele­gant women rid­ing bicy­cles in long skirts with open umbrel­las. We were later to dis­cover a col­lec­tive char­ac­ter that is quick-to-smile, curi­ous, unex­posed, des­per­ate, restrained, fear­ful, eager-to-help, stunted.