The Enchanting Hill Station of Pyin Oo Lwin

• Helloမင်္ဂလာပါ
  [mingalabar]
• Goodbyeလောက်ဖျက်
  [laugh pya]
• Yesဟုတ်ကဲ့
  [hote kae]
• Noမဟုတ်ဘူး
  [ma hote bu]
• Please/You're welcomeကျေးဇူး
  [chay zu]
• Thank youကျေးဇူး
  [chay zu]
• Excuse me/Sorryစောက်လုံး
  [saw lone]
• How are you?ဘယ်သူ့ကိုယ်တာလဲလား
  [be thway ko ta lae lar]
• Fine. And you?ကောင်းလဲ။ သူ့လား
  [kaung lar. su lar]
• Do you speak English?အဂၤလိပ်ဒေါင်လား
  [a ga lay tho lar]
• I don't understandသိမ်းမေတာ့ပါ
  [si mae tau ba]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseမီနူးကြည့်ရှစ်ပါတယ်
  [menu kyi shay pya tai]
• I don't eat meatအသက်ဆုံးကော်သိ
  [a thar hsu kau si]
• Cheers!အတုန်းကြည့်
  [a tau nyet]
• I would like to pay, pleaseငွေငွေထားနေပါတယ်
  [win win tha ne pya tai]

• Help!ကျော့လွန်း
  [kyau lwan]
• Go away!နောက်ရှော့
  [nau sha]
• Call the Police!ရဲလိုဂေါ်ကိုပြန်ပြော်ပါ
  [yei lo go kyo pyan pyau ba]
• Call a doctor!အဆင့်မက်ကိုပြန်ပြော်ပါ
  [a hsin ma kyo pyan pyau ba]
• I'm lostလိုက်တော်ပါသလား
  [loke tau ba lar]
• I'm illကျေးဇူးပြီး
  [chay zu pyi]

• I'd like to buy...ဝယ်ယူခဲ့လို့
  [wae yu kae loe]
• I'm just lookingအကြောင်းကြည့်သလို့
  [a kyar ngu nyet sa loe]
• How much is it?အစားဘယ်လို့
  [a sa ba lae loe]
• That's too expensiveအရမ်းသို့မဟုတ်သတ်ပါဘူး
  [a yam thu ma hote sa ba bu]
• Can you lower the price?စျေးအစားအောင်းနေပါသလား
  [se a sa aung tha ne pya lar]

• What time is it?ဘယ်အချိန်လဲ
  [be a chit lar]
• It's one o'clockတဆယ်လဲ
  [ta hsa lar]
• Half past (10)တန်စွန်လဲ
  [tan swan lar]
• Morningနံနက်
  [nam ne]
• Afternoonနောက်ထပ်
  [nau hta]
• Eveningညနေ
  [nya ne]
• Yesterdayမနေ့လဲ
  [ma ne lar]
• Todayယနေ့
  [ya ne lar]
• Tomorrowမနက်ဖြန်း
  [ma ne pyan]
• 1တဆယ်
  [ta hsa]
• 2နှစ်
  [hnat]
• 3သုံး
  [son]
• 4လေး
  [lei]
• 5ငါး
  [nga]
• 6ခြောက်
  [hrawk]
• 7ချောက်
  [chawk]
• 8ရှစ်
  [shay]
• 9ကိုး
  [ku]
• 10တန်
  [tan]

• Where's a/the...?ဘယ်လို...
  [be loe]
• What's the address?လိုအပ်တယ်လဲ
  [lo pat lar]
• Can you show me (on the map)?မင်ကိုပြန်ဖြေပါသလား
  [minga pyan paya pya lar]
• When's the next (bus)?နောက်ထပ်နော်...
  [nau hta nau...]
• A ticket (to ....)လောက်ပါပြီ...
  [laugh pa pyi...]

Pyin Oo Lwin, originally known as Maymyo, was founded by the British during the colonial era in the late 19th century. It served as a hill station, a retreat for British officials to escape the intense heat of the lowlands. The town was named after Colonel May, a British officer who was stationed there.

The British colonial influence is evident in Pyin Oo Lwin's architecture. The town features many colonial-era buildings, including the Candacraig Hotel, originally built as a guesthouse for British officials. The Purcell Tower, a clock tower donated by Queen Victoria, also stands as a reminder of the town’s colonial past.

The National Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens, established in 1915, is one of Pyin Oo Lwin's most famous attractions. Designed by British botanist Alex Roger, the gardens cover 240 acres and feature a diverse range of flora, including many species native to Myanmar. The gardens also include an orchid house, butterfly museum, and aviary.

Pyin Oo Lwin is home to a diverse mix of ethnic communities, including Bamar, Shan, Indian, and Anglo-Burmese. The town is known for its cultural festivals, which celebrate this diversity. The Indian community, in particular, has left a lasting influence on the town's cuisine, with many restaurants offering traditional Indian dishes.

During World War II, Pyin Oo Lwin played a strategic role. The town was used as a military base by both the British and Japanese forces at different times. The road to Mandalay, passing through Pyin Oo Lwin, was a crucial supply route. The wartime history is still evident in various sites around the town.

After Myanmar gained independence in 1948, Pyin Oo Lwin continued to be an important administrative and educational center. The town is home to several military academies and research institutions. The Pyin Oo Lwin University, established in the 1960s, is one of the prominent educational institutions in the town.

Today, Pyin Oo Lwin is a popular tourist destination known for its cool climate, scenic beauty, and historical sites. The town has seen modernization while still retaining its colonial charm. The local markets, horse-drawn carriages, and vibrant community life make it a unique destination in Myanmar.

Pyin Oo Lwin is located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. The nearest international airport is Mandalay International Airport, approximately 70 kilometers away. From the airport, you can take a taxi or a shared minibus to Pyin Oo Lwin. The journey typically takes around 1.5 to 2 hours by road. Alternatively, you can take a train from Mandalay to Pyin Oo Lwin, which offers a scenic route through the countryside.

Pyin Oo Lwin is a small town, and many of its attractions are within walking distance. For longer trips, local taxis and horse-drawn carriages known as 'stagecoaches' are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Public buses and minibuses operate within the town and connect to nearby villages. Renting a motorbike or bicycle can also be a convenient option for exploring the surrounding areas at your own pace.

The official currency in Myanmar is the Burmese Kyat (MMK). Credit cards are accepted in some hotels, restaurants, and shops, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in smaller establishments and rural areas. ATMs are available in Pyin Oo Lwin, but it is wise to withdraw sufficient cash in Mandalay before traveling to ensure you have enough funds.

Pyin Oo Lwin is generally a safe destination for tourists. However, like any travel destination, it is advisable to take standard precautions. Avoid walking alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places. While there are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, it is always best to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.

In case of emergency, dial 199 for the police and 192 for medical emergencies. The local police station and medical facilities are available in Pyin Oo Lwin. It is recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. For minor health issues, there are pharmacies in the town where you can purchase over-the-counter medications.

Fashion: Do dress modestly, especially when visiting religious sites. Avoid wearing revealing clothing. Religion: Do respect local customs and traditions. Always remove your shoes and socks before entering pagodas and temples. Public Transport: Do be respectful and give up your seat to elderly passengers. Don't eat or drink on public transport. Greetings: Do greet people with a slight bow or a 'Mingalabar' (hello). Eating & Drinking: Do try local delicacies and accept food offerings graciously. Don't refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Pyin Oo Lwin like a local, visit the central market where you can buy fresh produce and traditional Burmese goods. Engage with locals, as they are often friendly and willing to share stories about the town's history and culture. Don’t miss visiting the National Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens, which offers a serene environment and beautiful landscapes. For a unique experience, take a ride on the colonial-era horse-drawn carriages that are a hallmark of the town.