Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin)
Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin) was a resort town for the British during their occupation. Being in the hills at an elevation of about 3500 feet, the temperature is never too hot. It provides a welcome break for the heat for people from other parts of the country, especially in the hot season March thru May.

The town has many old colonial buildings that provide a glimpse into the colonial past. These times, as good or bad as they may have been for the country, are still a part of the country's history.
Note: The town was renamed to Maymyo (May-town) by the British in 1887 after Colonel May. It was renamed to the Myanmar name Pyin Oo Lwin (or Pyin U Lwin) since independence. For some reason, most Myanmar people I met still use the English name unlike other places where the current Myanmar names are used (e.g. Yangon as opposed to the English Rangoon).
The train from Yangon to Mandalay is about 14 hours.
I had a small sleeper cabin. However, it was hard to sleep since the train would bounce so much at times that I would be a few centimetres off the mattress, then land with a thump as the train bounced up again.
There are many villages along the way.
Steam engines are still used although they are not that common.
Most of the countryside along the way has rice fields all tended by people and oxen.
Oxen waiting patiently to cross.
All the gates at the road crossings are operated manually.
The fields are all very neetly kept, even the straw piles.
Maymyo is another one and a half hours from Mandalay by car. It is a very pretty drive up into the hills.
I went looking for the Candacraig Hotel, a posh hotel for the British during their occupation. It was said to be haunted. This place looked pretty spooky and the sign out front said Candacraig. The dirt walkway was freshly swept but there was no one in sight.
Turns out the Candacraig was next door. The arrow pointing here on the sign I first saw was missing.
It is now government run. It looked pretty sterile inside.
There are lots of signs of neglect.
But you could see how in its hay day, it might have been quite the place.
The pony drawn carriages that serve as taxis look like a miniature version of a stage coach from the American West or a coach for European Royalty from earlier times. They are an ICON for Maymyo
Many of the larger colonial buildings are now used as government facilities.
This is being used by a survey school.
Many of colonial houses are not being maintained though.
Other buildings, even thought they looked maintained, have a bit of an earie abandoned look to them.
The Purcell clock tower on the left.
I think this was an old colonial building too in the main town.
The town is very well kept with lots of flowers on the roadsides.
This was probably quite the place in its hay day.
Some places are still well kept.
Another hotel that is now government run.
An Anglican church -- a definite reminder that the British were here.
The foreigner back at the hotel for a cold Mandalay beer on a pleasant winter's afternoon.