Pyin Oo Lwin

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Pyin Oo Lwin 12, Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

M015 Myanmar Mandalay Nord Maymyo Pyin U Lwin Street and ancient cab (5696313672), Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

May Myo Kandawgyi Garden 1, Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

May Myo Kandawgyi Garden 1 (2), Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

About Pyin Oo Lwin

Climb the winding road east of Mandalay onto the Shan Plateau and the air turns cool, pine trees appear and flower gardens line the streets. This is Pyin Oo Lwin, the hill station the British called Maymyo, after a Colonel May, and used as a summer retreat from the heat of the plains. Brick villas with half-timbered gables, a colonial clock tower and brightly painted horse-drawn carriages still give the town a character unlike anywhere else in Myanmar.

The big draw is the National Kandawgyi Gardens, a vast botanical park around a lake with orchid houses and a tall viewing tower. Beyond town, waterfalls tumble through forested gorges, the cave shrine of Peik Chin Myaung hides Buddha images beside an underground stream, and the railway heads east across the spectacular Gokteik Viaduct.

The cool climate also makes Pyin Oo Lwin the centre of Myanmar's coffee, strawberry and flower growing, and the market is full of jams, wines and woollen hats sold to visitors from the hot lowlands.

Best seasonNovember to April is dry and pleasant; nights can be chilly in December and January.

Ideal stayTwo days, with an extra morning for the Gokteik train.

ArrivingShared taxis and buses climb from Mandalay in about two hours; check current travel advice before visiting Myanmar.

11 Best Things to Do in Pyin Oo Lwin

Parks 1

National Kandawgyi Gardens

Laid out in the British era and greatly expanded since, these botanical gardens spread around a lake with lawns, pine groves, bamb...

Landmarks 2

Purcell Tower

Standing at a busy roundabout in the centre of town, this red-brick clock tower is the best-known symbol of the old colonial hill...

Gokteik Viaduct

More than a century old and built by an American company, this steel trestle carries the railway across a deep river gorge east of...

Experiences 1

Pyin Oo Lwin Horse Carriages

Small, colourful horse-drawn carriages, built like miniature Wild West stagecoaches, have long been the town's signature form of t...

History 1

Candacraig

This red-brick and timber mansion was built in the early 1900s as lodgings for staff of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, the...

Nature 2

Pwe Kauk Falls

Known in colonial times as Hampshire Falls, this series of low cascades flows over rock steps through shady woodland north of town...

Dat Taw Gyaint Waterfall

Near the village of Anisakan on the Mandalay side of town, this impressive waterfall drops in several tiers into a deep, forested...

Temples and Shrines 3

Peik Chin Myaung Cave

East of town along the road to Lashio, this limestone cave has been turned into a shrine lined with Buddha images, small pagodas a...

Maha Ant Htoo Kan Thar Pagoda

This hilltop pagoda on the eastern edge of town houses a large white marble Buddha image with a famous story. According to local b...

Chan Tak Temple

Pyin Oo Lwin has a long-established Chinese community, and this large temple complex on the edge of town reflects its heritage wit...

Shopping 1

Pyin Oo Lwin Market

The town's central market sells the produce of the cool hills: strawberries and strawberry jam in season, local coffee, fruit wine...

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