Riding the Rails to Rangoon

RANGOON — A rush of cold air bathed my face as the train started. I was beginning a 24-hour journey from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, to Mandalay, the historic capital of the last independent Burmese kingdom. From there, it would be another 15 hours to Rangoon—previously the only place where I had been on a train.