YANGON -- The train from Yangon to Mandalay takes a grueling 15 hours -- a slow, hot, dusty ride through flat Myanmar countryside that costs $1 for an Upper Class seat.
Air-conditioned buses plying the same route are quicker and more comfortable, but the train is popular because it is cheaper, safer and more fun; passengers are mobbed at every station by vendors hawking ice-cold bottles of water, fruit, confectionery and spicy curry dishes. And with so much time on their hands travelers inevitably end up chatting with their neighbors.
