If true be told the actually train journey starts in Shwenyaung - which is a 20 min ride from Nyaungshwe (aka Inle Lake).

I've just got back to Thailand from an amazing 13 day trip around Myanmar. And even though my friend and I chose to do the 'tourist hotspots' rather than make an attempt to travel to the infamous 'southern beaches' it was still a magical trip and one I would fully recommend.

Our 13-day itinerary went a little something like this: - Yangon - Mandalay - Bagan - Kalaw - Inle Lake (Shwenyaung) - Yangon.

Even though it may not seem like a lot of places to travel to, in the end we only had two actually days of rest and relaxation.

But I digress.

One of the things that EVERYONE who's traveled to Myanmar talks about is the train journey from Inle Lake to Yangon (which of course, I had to do!).

The beginning of this epic train journey is about 20mins outside of Lake Inle at the Shwenyaung train station. This 'Mammoth' 32 hour train journey is actually split into two.

A 'day' train and then a 'night & day' train.

I gotta be honest… before the train ride I didn't actually do much, if any, research into it as I didn't want to 'ruin the experience'. So I was under the impression that BOTH Trains were a part of the same 'epic experience'. But after doing both Trains… I going to have to say that the 'amazing experience' everyone talks about is only the first train. The second train will give me Nightmares for a long, long time to come.

I'll save the negative for later. Let's just say that the first train was actually, hand on heart, an Incredible experience and one that EVERYBODY should do!

The train actually left slightly earlier that Seat 61 says, so get your hotel to call and check.

You have to leave pretty early, but watching the sunrise from the back of our tut-tut at 6:30 am was a cool experience as we zoomed to catch the first and most scenic train.

At the trainstation you can either get an upper or lower class ticket. If I was you - I would get upper. The first train is pretty long and sitting on a wooden seat (lower) for 14 hours isn't going to help your haemorrhoids. No siree!

The upper isn't that much more expensive… and there is no harm in knowing you have a comfy seat to go back to if you choose to sit in the lower for a while - especially for the bouncy parts of the journey.

The first train leaves from Shwenyaung around 8am and arrives into Thazi around 9pm. This part of the journey was Incredible. Everyone on the train was an Absolute Pleasure to be around and the countryside was beautiful. Because we were initially so high up and constantly traveling towards the ocean the temperatures were perfect to sit back and watch the world pass you by.

And there is no need to bring supplies like we did. If you get peckish or thirsty the train stops every 30-60mins in a trainstation / transformed market place.

The food that's sold at the stations are fresh - so no worries on that one. We even ended up eating two types of berries that I can't for the life of me remember the names for.

I want to sit here and describe the trip in its entirely… but I'll get bored writing it and let's face it, you'll get bored reading it! But let's just say that it was the one thing I really wanted to do in Myanmar, and I'm so stoked I did.

The Burmese are super friendly. Once we arrived into Thazi we asked some lovely people to show us where to eat. Not only did they take us to a lovely little roadside Café for dinner but also took us back to our train, and en route took my friend to buy some flip-flops! So, so, so, so kind.

Now… this is the point in which I would advise you to HEED MY WORDS - Don't get back on this train and take it to Yangon!

The next 15 hours (11pm - 2pm) was the worst journey of my life. But if truth be told the 1.5 bottles of whiskey and the couple of Beers didn't help much either;)

My seat didn't recline, I Forgot to take my Sedil's, I spent the night bouncing in and out of my seat whilst moving my head from the arm rest to the window as the air temperature gradually got hotter and hotter. Suffice it to say… this is what I looked like at 9am the next morning….

And if that pic doesn't scare you enough to not take the train nothing will! ;)

In Conclusion

Everyone has to ride the train from Shwenyaung to Thazi. But once you arrive into Thazi get the night bus. You'll not only be able to sleep but you'll also be able to get into Yangon around 6am and actually have a whole day to do stuff. On the other hand you can get the train, arrive at 2pm and feel so awful that the only thing you can manage to do is watch the worst Arnold Swatnegger movie of all time in a Burmese Cinema (true story).