Yangon to Mandalay Sleeper Train – Myanmar Forum

Yangon to Mandalay Sleeper Train

Got back a few weeks ago and just dreamed to post some info. I had read reviews that said don’t take this train, but mostly it was people who had done it years ago and naively I thought surely it had improved. No it hasn’t, it is as rough as everybody says, I was airborne many times and ended up with many welts.You don’t get any sleep, you don’t see much after the very first few hours, it’s not worth it in my opinion. Take a plane, save yourself some time and exhaustion. Do the circle train around Yangon, that’s a good rail practice.

You can go to Mandalay by train.Most of the sleeper.

Taking the train from Rangoon to Mandalay is a bit bumpy, but an amazing practice. You’re railing the British-built colonial railway, and can smell the village cooking fires on the breeze that wafts through the window, passing rural life and the occasional golden stupa.

Going to Burma and flying would be like going to Italy and eating in MacDonald’s, what a waste!

We used the rail network to get around, and some of the rails were highlights of the excursion, especially Mandalay-Pyin oo Lwin-Gokteik and Thazi to Inle Lake.

I disagree man in seat 61, I’m sure the Mandalay -pyin oo lwin route would be worth it, better scenery etc, but you don’t see much scenery in the middle of the night and Burma is a big country with slew to see, I’m merely telling this sleeper route is a waste of time in my opinion. I think the train into Moulemein is more interesting than the Mandalay one, and these are the only two long journeys I did. Flying inbetween a number of major cities permitted us the luxury of spending time in these places not just looking out a window

The day time rail tour is scenic tho. you can see the switch of flora as you pass thru regions, miracle at the monstrosity that is Napidaw as the train shudders past, eat endlessly, wave permanently to people by the tracks, socialise with the other passengers( mostly local most likely). need raw wipes to sponge the mud off your face and dont go to the toilet when its truly bumpy. likely to be caterpaulted off. However me and family thought it was totally worth it. who wants to travel as you do back home? You’ll not find a train like this anywhere else!

We took the Yangon to Mandalay sleeper train as well and I agree with Cathie P . it’s a rough train rail. I had the top bunk and like Cathie P was often airborne and had a duo of scars. My spouse was in the lower bunk and had it a bit more comfy.

It was certainly an practice but I’m not sure if I would do it again. 😉 Anyway, I didn’t regret taking the train as we experienced train travel in Myanmar and it was part of our fine excursion.

People wanting to take the sleeper train just should be aware that it might be not a comfy train journey like for example a sleeper train in Thailand.

just a quick question regarding the sleeper trains. Is there a restaurant, or another possibility to buy food on board ?

As far as I know there is no restaurant or possibility to buy food on bord but I don’t know for sure. Before the train left there were enough people selling food, snacks and water outside or even came onto the train. We took food with us as well as water.

Enclosed a link to some of our pictrues, this one shows our sleeper compartment on the sleeper train from Yangon to Mandalay. flickr.com/photos/…set-72157632381277923

I travelled on “upper class” (certainly a misnomer) on the 15.00pm train from Yangon to Mandalay on Feb 11th . It does have a “dining car” which is pretty basic, they do have hot food but it is limited to fried noodles ect. ( which weren’t bad) and cold drinks and beer .I would advise taking some fruit and snacks with you.

Don’t expect to get much sleep as the train is indeed noisy and the rail is enormously rough, the rolling stock on my train was at least forty years old. If you get this train be aware it arrives in Mandalay very early in the morning.

I travelled on the Yangon to Mandalay sleeper and albeit it was bumpy it was a superb practice. It was excellent to be able to have a beer and witness the sunset over the countryside and take in all the smells and sounds.

The journey is rough to begin off but during the night it seems to lodge down more so you can manage a half decent sleep albeit cracked into 1-2hr phases. It’s more expensive than the bus but you don’t have to stop every two hrs and get off, plus it has an onboard toilet which most buses don’t. The train stations are also centrally located which saves another long taxi rail into the city centre.

Bring a straw if you want beer as otherwise you’ll be drinking vapid beer through cracked teeth!

Yangon to Mandalay Sleeper Train – Myanmar Forum

Yangon to Mandalay Sleeper Train

Got back a few weeks ago and just dreamed to post some info. I had read reviews that said don’t take this train, but mostly it was people who had done it years ago and naively I thought surely it had improved. No it hasn’t, it is as rough as everybody says, I was airborne many times and ended up with many scars.You don’t get any sleep, you don’t see much after the very first few hours, it’s not worth it in my opinion. Take a plane, save yourself some time and exhaustion. Do the circle train around Yangon, that’s a good rail practice.

You can go to Mandalay by train.Most of the sleeper.

Taking the train from Rangoon to Mandalay is a bit bumpy, but an amazing practice. You’re railing the British-built colonial railway, and can smell the village cooking fires on the breeze that wafts through the window, passing rural life and the occasional golden stupa.

Going to Burma and flying would be like going to Italy and eating in MacDonald’s, what a waste!

We used the rail network to get around, and some of the rails were highlights of the excursion, especially Mandalay-Pyin oo Lwin-Gokteik and Thazi to Inle Lake.

I disagree man in seat 61, I’m sure the Mandalay -pyin oo lwin route would be worth it, better scenery etc, but you don’t see much scenery in the middle of the night and Burma is a big country with slew to see, I’m merely telling this sleeper route is a waste of time in my opinion. I think the train into Moulemein is more interesting than the Mandalay one, and these are the only two long journeys I did. Flying inbetween a number of major cities permitted us the luxury of spending time in these places not just looking out a window

The day time rail tour is scenic tho. you can see the switch of flora as you pass thru regions, miracle at the monstrosity that is Napidaw as the train shudders past, eat endlessly, wave permanently to people by the tracks, socialise with the other passengers( mostly local most likely). need moist wipes to sponge the mess off your face and dont go to the toilet when its truly bumpy. likely to be caterpaulted off. However me and family thought it was totally worth it. who wants to travel as you do back home? You’ll not find a train like this anywhere else!

We took the Yangon to Mandalay sleeper train as well and I agree with Cathie P . it’s a rough train rail. I had the top bunk and like Cathie P was often airborne and had a duo of scars. My hubby was in the lower bunk and had it a bit more comfy.

It was certainly an practice but I’m not sure if I would do it again. 😉 Anyway, I didn’t regret taking the train as we experienced train travel in Myanmar and it was part of our superb tour.

People wanting to take the sleeper train just should be aware that it might be not a comfy train journey like for example a sleeper train in Thailand.

just a quick question regarding the sleeper trains. Is there a restaurant, or another possibility to buy food on board ?

As far as I know there is no restaurant or possibility to buy food on bord but I don’t know for sure. Before the train left there were enough people selling food, snacks and water outside or even came onto the train. We took food with us as well as water.

Enclosed a link to some of our pictrues, this one shows our sleeper compartment on the sleeper train from Yangon to Mandalay. flickr.com/photos/…set-72157632381277923

I travelled on “upper class” (certainly a misnomer) on the 15.00pm train from Yangon to Mandalay on Feb 11th . It does have a “dining car” which is pretty basic, they do have hot food but it is limited to fried noodles ect. ( which weren’t bad) and cold drinks and beer .I would advise taking some fruit and snacks with you.

Don’t expect to get much sleep as the train is indeed noisy and the rail is utterly rough, the rolling stock on my train was at least forty years old. If you get this train be aware it arrives in Mandalay very early in the morning.

I travelled on the Yangon to Mandalay sleeper and albeit it was bumpy it was a good practice. It was fine to be able to have a beer and observe the sunset over the countryside and take in all the smells and sounds.

The journey is rough to embark off but during the night it seems to lodge down more so you can manage a half decent sleep albeit violated into 1-2hr phases. It’s more expensive than the bus but you don’t have to stop every two hrs and get off, plus it has an onboard toilet which most buses don’t. The train stations are also centrally located which saves another long taxi rail into the city centre.

Bring a straw if you want beer as otherwise you’ll be drinking plane beer through violated teeth!

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