Warm in the sun, but cool at night and early morning.  The harvests are in and the paddies have mostly already been ploughed; some are already planting the next rice crop; the skies are blue; a great time to visit and enjoy Pyin Oo Lwin.***Strawberries are on sale, and the best fruit jams and marmalades are easily available.*** The countryside is green and fruitful.  Walking trips are easily arranged and very pleasant at this dry time of year.***Kandawgyi National Gardens are really splendid.***New hotels and restaurants abound.***

 Home

About Pyin Oo Lwin

Memories of Maymyo

Calendar

Getting Around

Health & Safety

Photo Gallery

Photos from the 1920s

Real Estate

Travel Agencies

Trekking

What to See

Where to Eat

Where to Shop

Where to Stay

Memories and biographies

Churches

Church archives

Pagodas

Mosques

Welcome to Pyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo)                        

Pyin Oo Lwin offers visitors cool days and nights, peaceful rural roads and tracks for walkers and cyclists, trekking in the fruit and flower producing countryside, and interesting shopping.  Old times can be re-lived with coach rides, and many historical and beautiful places are within easy reach.  Just over an hour's drive from Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin is an ideal and refreshing destination for visitors to Upper Myanmar.  Many new hotels, cafes and restaurants have recently opened in town during 2009, and a sign of the times are the new sets of traffic lights on the main roads!

A historical town                      

This website tries to provide a view into some of the history that is rarely mentioned in guide books, as well as drawing attention to aspects of the town which are well known to the locals, but which tour guides may skip over.  Take your time and enjoy!

For some historical and literary/biography perspectives of Pyin Oo Lwin click here, and for a map click here.  Festivals and monthly flowers and zodiacs are here.  A new book, 'Pyin Oo Lwin' by U Chit Swe was published in Burmese in December 2008.  Excellent background to the history of the town.

Useful Links

• Photographs of social activity, 1920s

• All Saints' Church, Cemetery

• Photographs of church activity from early Maymyo

• Kandawgyi National Gardens (some new photos and history) and Landmark Gardens

• U Soe Lwin's photo blog of Mandalay

• Some war time reminiscences - Ann Dear

• List of Governors of Burma to 1948

• http://groups.google.com/group/the-trek-out-of-burma-1942

Pyin Oo Lwin weather throughout the year

Glorious in autumn (lush greenery), winter (perfect blue skies and amazingly starry nights) and spring (strawberries and cream, flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables).  Summer starts in late April (Thingyan festival) with most rain between June and September. 

Pyin Oo Lwin Weather now

Normal annual high: 32c;  lowest low: 1c

February  2010: 80f(max), 47f(min) (see Calendar)

It's a great time to be in Pyin Oo Lwin, now - one of the best months of the year.  Bright blue skies and a warm sun during the day, and cool at night.  Visitors can easily buy jumpers for the evenings at many outlets in the town, and the growing number of shoe shops, (especially the Boot Factory near the Shan (small) market for good stock and quick repairs) are ideal for foot-weary backpackers.  Several new good hotels and restaurants have recently opened, all with very reasonable prices.  The town is bustling with a new-found vigour.

How to get to Pyin Oo Lwin Comfortable buses are now available throughout the country, and they offer the most economical way to visit Pyin Oo Lwin from Yangon.  Travellers can save over $150 on a return journey compared to air.   From the Mandalay International Airport there are two  choices:  either  hire a taxi directly to Pyin Oo Lwin (cost about $45 - negotiable); or take a taxi into Mandalay to the roadside stop for Pyin Oo Lwin taxis.  The cost of a seat in a shared taxi is about $6-7 (or about $25 for 4 foreigners sharing). The first option takes about 1.5 hours, the second about 2.5 hours.  Click here for taxi phones.   It's also possible to get from Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin by train (5 hours), bus (2.5 hours), or Hilux pickup (3 hours, cheap and uncomfortable).  Hotels can advise on these.  Train bookings and tickets can be bought only at Mandalay Railway Station.  Trains run right through to Hsipaw and Lashio.    NB Some night trains from Yangon to Mandalay are still discontinued (December 2008).  It's not usually possible to do a one day sightseeing trip from Yangon to Mandalay and back again.

Staying in Pyin Oo Lwin Pyin Oo Lwin has hotels from top class down.  Comfortable country inns with good food and service, medium range hotels, and budget hotels - all give that old-fashioned individual attention and assistance.   Overall, price is a good guide to quality and comfort.  Despite inflation prices have remained quite stable.  Best bargains are about $6 in the lower bracket (see Grace Hotel) and $25 in the upper (Royal Park View).  Budget travellers should check out Dahlia Motel, too.  A Suite for two at the Kandawgyi Lodge costs around $75.  Hotels are currently offering good discounts.   In the off-season (after mid-April to end September) bookings aren't needed.  It's worth calling in advance for rooms in the better hotels since they do fill up occasionally - on the weekends near Full Moon days, for example.   Lots of places to eat, ranging from Feel (international quality and ambience) to Food Markets which are set up outside the Main market and the Shan market from about 4pm onwards.  Quality and hygiene varies, and MSG is on the wane.  See Where to Eat.

 Before you leave please visit the Pyin Oo Lwin Guestbook.  Thanks!