The lovely town of Pyin Oo Lwin

I took the 4 AM train from Mandalay and travelled in the ordinary class for a change. The journey took around 4 hours although it was super close and it was rather cold in the morning.

I was staying in the Orchid Nan Myaing Hotel which was a big white house surrounded by beautiful scenery. It was built between 1918 and 1922. It was romantically run down and located in a very serene area. My room was a dormitory room but there were only three beds.

What was my lunch? The first place I went into was just a tea house but they sent me to a restaurant around the corner. Little did I know when I ordered vegetarian curry how much food there would be. Soup which they brought more of once I had finished the first helping. Rice which also could be added. Cauliflower, bamboo, Chinese beans and some green vegetable. Also a big plate of fresh vegetables including sour mango and mint. Gravy. Chili peppers. Some crackers. I couldn’t possible finish all the food. It cost 1800 kyats which was mere 1.10 euros. Amazing.

Pyin Oo Lwin boasts a beautiful run down hotel from 1904 and a Catholic church from 1915. There are more colonial buildings making this town unique and beautiful. Coffee plantations are also what you can find around here which is also quite unique.

I read the town looks like Indian hill stations such as Darjeeling used to look in 1960. Well, I can’t say but it was really nice. And so were the people.

On the second day, I borrowed a bicycle and together with another traveller whose name was Rafael cycles to what I found to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have see in Southeast Asia and definitely the tallest. I really loved it. There were actually three levels of waterfalls but we could not see the higher levels from the bottom. We hiked up the steep hill next to the waterfalls to see more. And it was worth it.