Vijay and Shefali's TAtW

We took a sleeper train to Mandalay, a major city north of Yangon and just about dead center of Myanmar. I have no idea why it’s called a sleeper, because it’s a little too bumpy to grab any reasonable amount of shuteye. How bumpy? It’s like trying to spoon on the back of a galloping horse for the entirety of daylight in a wintry diurnal course. It’s like riding a fourteen-hour earthquake through the calm and verdant countryside. It’s like being told there’s a bomb in your boombox and you just have to dance, arms flailing, legs akimbo, until the batteries die. It was an experience. There were gorgeous sights just out our window and friendly locals on either side. I was also lucky enough to get my favorite picture of Shefali of all time (that’s it above). We drifted in and out and mostly just giggled at how impossible it was to do anything but giggle. We arrived just before daylight and perhaps in some of the worse shape we’d ever been – covered in dirt and filth, still a little sick, tired as hell and visibly shaken (SWIDT?) to a surprisingly chilly Friday morning. It fucking sucked. It was probably the most fun and adventure we’d had crammed into the shortest time so far, and was simultaneously the best and worst night’s sleep of my life. We got lucky in the end though, our hotel was literally across the street from the train station and they let us check in immediately instead of waiting until 2 – it was one of those things that just worked out better than we would have dared to imagine. I can’t adequately describe the sleep you experience after an ordeal like that but the phrase “blissful rohypnol coma” comes to mind. We napped for a bit and then got busy exploring.

[1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388931@N08/sets/72157640966431075/