2019 RUNNER-UP OF THE BODLEY HEAD | FINANCIAL TIMES ESSAY PRIZE

‘Where are you going?

The voice came again, and two figures appeared … It was clear that these men were not working for the government. They wore green uniforms, with the small red logo of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. As they walked, their rifles flopped from side to side.’

In Myanmar, E. S. Batchelor travels the highland road leading out of Burma to China. Encounters with other travellers unveil political tensions and military history, posing questions about the borderlands between past and present, peace and conflict, person and state.