Adventures of an Old Broad... Abroad: Taungoo to Naungshwe and Inle Lake

Some Scenes Along the Way

Stopping Traffic for the Train

We have spent 16 hours on trains! We left Taungoo and traveled by train to Thazi. When we arrived at the train station, there were no upper class, first class or second class seats available. It is usually not allowed for tourists to ride "ordinary class" but there we were. An exception was made and therein began one of the most bizarre trips ever! We have all agreed that this is the thing we will remember and talk about. There were way too many people for the seats available and that's not including the baskets, blankets, wrapped up packages . . . well, you get the idea! It was insane with people walking through the over-crowded cars yelling - hawking their wares, whether that be beer, water, some slimy looking juice in a plastic bag, corn on the cob, rice with questionable meat - bizarre!
The night in Thazi is one that none of us really care to remember. While it wasn't terrible, it was a place to crash. The guesthouses in Thazi are not even listed anywhere and, just after we sat down to eat in our guesthouse restaurant, the power went out throughout the town! Wonderful!

Pony Cart

The next day we were taken by horse-drawn carts to the train station where we purchased upper class seats to Shenwaung. This train was a very different experience! While the first one was 6 hours, this was 10! However, there was room to stretch, stand up, even lie down and the ride was very, very slow - sometimes going backwards. We even stopped so some workmen in longyis could load old railroad timber onto the train. There were children everywhere waving and smiling as the train climbed higher into the mountains, passing through jungle, dry brush, Dr. Seuss trees and lots of small villages. Beautiful!
We are now in the town of Naungshwe which is a great place. There are tourists here - more than we've seen anywhere and you can tell it is on the verge of exploding. I'm glad we've come before that as it will be very different I imagine in 10 years. We've finally found some really decent food (not an easy task in Myanmar), some good wine (even more difficult) and are happy to be here and looking forward to exploring the lake and bicycling around. Fun!