When I arrived in Myanmar, I was told that a train journey would definitely be the most uncomfortable, most dangerous and slowest way to get from A to B. In fact trains in Myanmar sometimes derail indeed and in some parts of the country the railway system is one of the slowest in the whole world. For example: If you want to travel from Mawlamyaing to Dawei by train it will take you between 16-18 hours for only 300 kilometers.
So, when I got on the train and took a seat on the wooden bench in the ordinary class at +40 degrees, I prepared myself mentally for an enormous physical effort. But eventually from those conditions a unique phenomenon emerges. From the fact, that all the people on the train will share the same fate for the next 16 hours, a sense of community develops. That’s also the moment when a stranger like me gets the chance to enter their community; to get close to them and maybe also to capture their exceptional dignity, which the Burmese people seem to lose at no time.
