Anyone for a Ticket, Yangon Station 2010

This is the second part of our 2010 Burma Crusade. Click here for the index.

The advance booking office in Yangon is separate from the main station and 'a little bit seedy' would be close to the mark. The kind of place where the local dogs rest their weary heads... Just find the right window (those are Burmese numbers), get the timetable and availability translated and carefully check your tickets afterwards.

Anyway, unlike the 'complaint centre' on the other side of the line, the staff here are genuinely friendly and helpful:

To be honest, our guide friend Han insisted on buying our tickets to Moulmein for us, it's not actually very difficult, it just takes a bit of patience while your passport details are transcribed on to a piece of toilet paper and the necessary US dollar bills are subjected to the kind of scrutiny that 'Homeland Security' normally reserves for Muslims with beards. With the current exchange rate the trains, with their 1990s fare levels in USD, represent every good value (especially in economy class) and timekeeping is a lot better than it used to be.

And afterwards you can enjoy a traditional tea prepared and served under traditional hygienic conditions:

And how was our journey next day? Very pleasant, you can read all about it.