The Circle Line Train, Yangon
22nd April 2017
Yangon was never really on my list until our friend moved there and convinced us to visit! I hadn't ever been to Myanmar and figured we could do a quick city break in 3 days.
Seeing as our friend is such a great host, I did not research a single thing to do in Yangon but many people suggested the circle line train. We very nearly didn't make it due to raging hangovers, but I am oh so glad we did.
First things first - this is a local train that pulls out of the city and back again. This isn't some specially curated tourist train, this would be the Singapore equivalent of jumping on the MRT with your tourist friends for 3 hours and riding around the island. It is advised NOT to get off, so pack lots of water, a fan and maybe some travel sickness tablets if you're a bit delicate and try not to need the bathroom for the next 3 hours.
Because this has now become somewhat of a tourist attraction, the platform is pretty easy to find at Yangon central and if not, the friendly information counter speak decent enough English to help you. Or just do what we did and follow the other tourists!
The ticket cost less than $1, we weren't asked what carriage we wanted (apparently there is the basic one and one with fans) but we ran along and hopped in somewhere in the middle of the train - EXCELLENT decision!
The carriages themselves are extremely basic with open windows and plastic seats and there was a mix of locals and tourists in our carriage.
For the first 30 minutes or so, it was pretty boring as they are renovating the city stations so we saw lots of construction, dust, and sadly a lot of rubbish.
About an hour into the journey we approached an extremely busy station where what I can only describe as utter chaos descended on our carriage. Before the train even came to a stop, we'd suddenly been ambushed by about 8 locals, frantically pulling fresh produce onto the train through the windows. I have never seen anything like it. Bewildered, we feebly attempted to help but within about 30 seconds the ENTIRE carriage was full to the brim of produce. We could barely move. In fact we couldn't, I was the only one left sitting!
The return journey was spent people watching as the locals prepared their vegetables into small bundles presumably to sell in the city. It was pretty uncomfortable by the end with no room to navigate but everyone was so friendly, trying to make room for the weird tourists who'd massively inconvenienced their ride!
If you love people watching and literally diving head first into local culture you will find this a very enjoyable experience, just keep your legs crossed :)
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