Pyin Oo Lwim was never on my itinerary but I wanted to make the train journey over Gokteik bridge after I heard about it. Pyin Oo Lwim is the obvious place to break the journey up between Hsipaw and Mandalay, I'd heard it's an old colonial town with some nice botanical gardens.
Pyin Oo Lwim is only 40 odd miles from Mandalay but it feels very different as it is a hill station situated at just over 3000ft. It became the summer capital of the country during the British rule, so people could escape the heat of Rangoon. There is a big Indian influence in the town which gives it a different feel from other places in the country. We found a great South Indian restaurant where they made fresh masala dosa's in the morning and curry for lunch and dinner. I had an egg dosa for breakfast which was so tasty. There were also a few Indian sweet shops - I forgot just how sweet they are,. I tried a few and they are so sickly.
The gardens were really nice and well kept. It was nice chilling out for a few hours just walking round, eating ice cream and doing the occasional jump photo. The bird aviary was full of exotic birds, outside that there were monkeys swinging through the trees. The lake was pretty big and full of swans and there was a tall viewing tower,. all in all pretty pleasant. Not something new but just cool seeing it in Burma,. and watching the families out having fun and getting a break from Mandalay.
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| Pretty standard. |
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| Sadly no edible fruit left. |
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| The scenic jump shot. |
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| This one wanted some leg exercise. |
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| Anyone know what bird this is? |
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| View coming down the stairs from the tower. I love the hat! |
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