C & C globetrotting around the world…

The 12-hour train ride from ShweNyaung to Thazi was very entertaining. As foreign tourist we got “upper class”, a waggon with old bus seats. Across from us was Ciaran, a funny Irish guy with whom we laughed a lot. The train was very wobbly and extremely slow, so much that we could have run next to it. The landscape was nice and the 3 Burmese ladies next to us made all the difference. At every train stop they bought something, so it was like doing groceries for them. Every station specialized in something, from avocados to ginger to flowers. At most stations there were also lots of snacks to buy, so we tried many yummy things. We shared food with the ladies as well and they gave us some of their jackfruit schnapps, which was surprisingly good (unlike the smelly fruit).

At one station, one of the older ladies got off and told Christoph to follow her. He did, thinking that she wanted to show him something. Then the train started to move and they continued walking towards the village. The 2 ladies still on the train explained to Cecilia that the train does a loop, so Christoph and the lady would get back on after the loop. It was pretty funny walking through the village and then hopping back on the train 10 minutes later. On 2 occasions the train does a huge back-and-forth zig-zag instead of making a turn on the steep mountain side. The second time, the train conductor took Christoph and the Irish guy again through the village to a shortcut. We talked to the ladies and found out that the youngest one was 32-yrs old, that her husband works in a gold mine and that her 2 kids go to school in Tanggyi, where they live with their grandmother. We also found out that the train conductor earns 5,000 kyats a day (800 Kyat = 1 USD); a good salary since it’s a government job. Regular jobs, such as weaving, pay about 2,000 kyats a day. We laughed a lot on the train ride, especially because the Irish was hilarious. In the evening the mice came out, so that was one more reason to laugh, although none of us really thought it funny. The mice were running around on the floor, so we all put our feet up. Arrived in Thazi, we walked to the guesthouse and checked in. The room was way overpriced for what it was, but since it’s the only guesthouse in Thazi taking foreigners, we had no choice. The owner was very nice walking us to a nearby restaurant, helping with the order and waiting for us to walk us home. Until now our experience with Burmese was very positive. They were always very helpful and seemed to be happy to talk to foreigners.

The next day we continued from Thazi to Mandalay. We bought our tickets – in ordinary class this time – and had to wait for an hour and a half because the train was delayed. It seemed like everyone else knew it was delayed because people started arriving only in the last 30 minutes. Ordinary class has wooden benches and is a lot fuller, but it was only for 5 hours and it was more comfortable than we thought at first. Since it was breakfast time, there were lots of vendors on board. The ride was bumpy (but not as wobbly) and a lot faster. The landscape was flat but it was nice to see lots of agriculture. There was a guy who wanted to talk to us. He came from Mandalay and has been working in Dubai for 2 years and his English was pretty good. He was very proud of his culture and it was interesting talking to him. He was trying to show us lots of things and to share his culture and even pointed us in the right direction towards our guesthouse once we arrived in Mandalay. The people really make the difference in many countries!