The train from Hsipaw to Mandalay. Foreigners pay $4. Must pay in US currency. Highlights of the ride: Women carrying baskets of food from stop to stop, to be sold on the train or while waiting for the next load of passengers and salespeople to board. The women would never stay on for more than one stop and they were always chatting with each other and laughing. Also, putting a little boy up onto my lap so he could see out the window. He was standing barefoot on my thighs. His feet were filthy because his sandals were falling apart. His mother looked withered and beaten down, her teeth falling out and black. At first she was angry at the boy for bugging me, then she sighed when I smiled and said it was OK. Meanwhile a Finnish woman took a picture of us and now I wonder if it is out on the internet somewhere.