Pyin Oo Lwin

Pyin Oo Lwin sits at around 1,070 metres above Mandalay and was built as a hot-season retreat during the colonial period, which is why it has pine and eucalyptus rather than palms, brick villas with chimneys, and a fleet of horse-drawn carriages still used as taxis. The National Kandawgyi Gardens, laid out in 1915, are the main attraction, over a hundred hectares of lawns, lakes, an orchid house and a bamboo collection, and their original design work is credited to a Turkish prisoner of war held there during the First World War. The town is also the departure point for the train ride over the Gokteik viaduct, a steel trestle bridge from 1900 spanning a gorge, crossed at walking pace with the drop directly below the window.

What you actually see

• National Kandawgyi Gardens - lakes, lawns, orchid house and a large bamboo collection.
• The Gokteik viaduct - the slow train over a steel trestle bridge across a deep gorge.
• Colonial villas and horse carriages - the hill station streetscape.
• Coffee and strawberry farms - the highland produce the area is known for.

When to go

November to February is cool and clear, cold at night by Myanmar standards. The hot season from March is still far more comfortable than Mandalay below. The train timetable is limited and slow, so plan a full day around the viaduct crossing.

Honest expectations

The train is extremely slow, frequently delayed and uncomfortable, and it is a journey undertaken for the bridge rather than as transport; the crossing itself lasts only minutes. The gardens are large and take several hours of walking. Nights are genuinely cold by Myanmar standards and few guesthouses heat rooms.

Nearby

Mandalay is two hours down the hill; Hsipaw lies further along the railway northeast.