Blogs from Pyin U Lwin, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia

Hello la smala ;) Après une journée rapide sur Mandalay on se décide à prendre le train à 4h du mat' pour Pyin Oo Lwin. A l'aller on prend une place en ordinary classe et comme les sièges en bois font très mal au cul (sans compter que le train saute dans tous les sens) on prendra le retour en upper classe. On arrive vers 9h dans ce petit bled sympa avec plein de chevaux donc on fait un petit tour de reconnaissance en calèche et on trouve une ghest house un peu miteuse mais vraiment pas cher... l'aprem et la soirée seront calmes, visite d'une église, d'un temple hindou, d'un marché, d'un bar et au lit. Le lendemain on loue des vélos tous pourris dans un petit magasin qu'on avait repéré la veille pour faire ... read more

Zugfahrt von Pyin-U-Lwin nach Hsipaw Wie bereits angekündigt, hab ich die Abkürzung über Pyin-U-Lwin genommen, um von dort mit dem Zug nach Hsipaw zu fahren. Die Zugfahrt war aber auch von dort noch lang genug. Die Sitze waren aus Holz, und der Zug wackelte ständig in alle Richtungen (hin und her, auf und ab). Wir haben uns aber auch extra in die unterste Klasse (lower class) gesetzt, um ganz hinten sitzen zu können, und den besten Blick auf das Goteik Viadukt zu haben, über das wir auch drüberfuhren (gebaut: 1899). Die Fahrt dauerte 8 Stunden, von Mandalay wären es 12 Stunden gewesen - es hätte aber gern nach der Brücke schon vorbei sein können... Die maximale Geschwindigkeit war ca. 30 km/h. Mehr wäre auch bei diesem geschaukel auch nicht möglich gewesen. Ein paar Wochen zuvor ist ... read more

We left the hotel about 4pm and got lucky by catching a pickup straight away to take us the 7 kilometres to the junction where we would catch our bus to Mandalay. We had something to eat and drink at a tea shop and then played pool for an hour while waiting for the bus. The 4 of us had decided that once we got to Mandalay that we would catch another as soon as possible to Pyin U Lwin. We arrived at the bus station in Mandalay about 4.30am and asked many people where we catch the bus to Pyin U Lwin which they all told us there was no bus from there. So we eventually gave up and got a taxi to where the driver said the bus would be. He dropped us off ... read more

Formerly known as Maymyo, Pyin U Lwin is a hill station 69km out of Mandalay, about an hour and a half drive. As it is 1000m above sea level and enjoys a relatively cooler climate it once was the summer capital for the Raj in Burma and a retreat for the British from Burma’s scorching heat. As a result, Pyin U Lwin is well known for its colonial style houses. There still remains a large Indian population because during British times it was the military centre of the Indian Army. Pyin U Lwin is a production centre for silkworm rearing, pharmaceutical production, flower and vegetable production. It is also the home of the Defence Academy of the Burmese military and an important military base. If you took away the military presence and the green uniforms it ... read more

So we flew back from Bhamo all refreshed and went onto the is colonial town which moved en masse from Rangoon in the hot summer. We visited the National Kandawgyi Gardens, basically like Kew Gardens in London and Anisakan Falls which were lovely and where we were treated like stunt men or hunks because we swam in the pools and under the waterfalls themselves. Pretty good times were had. The town itself has lots of British colonial buildings and nice old British houses with red bricks, very plush. Plus it's a lot cooler up this way, so it was a nice escape from Mandalay.... read more