Page 317 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

Pyin OO Lwin and arOund NortherN MyaNMar 315
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Travelling in northern Myanmar is made considerably slower and more complicated by a
changing array of travel restrictions. a consequence of the north’s numerous ethnic
insurgencies, restricted areas (see map, p.27) may be completely closed (the jade mining town
of Hpakant), or accessible only with a pricey permit (the area surrounding Putao). Even in
open areas, overland travel is frequently limited – Myitkyina can be reached by rail but not by
boat or road, while Bhamo can only be approached by boat or plane, and the latter is
sometimes the best option. To visit Putao, it’s the only option.
if you do want to visit a no-go zone, you’ll need to contact MTT (see p.28) or a tour operator
well in advance of your trip – permit applications can take upwards of a month. For the latest
on local restrictions, foreigner-oriented hotels and guesthouses are the best places for
up-to-date information.

gradually covering the town’s gently rolling hills with half-timbered government offices
NORTHERN MYANMAR Hkakabo Razi N and graceful brick villas.
INDIA (5881m) Pyin Oo Lwin’s history still shows today in the horse-drawn carriages clip-clopping
past its colonial mansions, the chiming of Purcell Tower’s bells – cast in London in
HIGHLIGHTS HKAKABO
Wakro RAZI 1935 for King George V’s Silver Jubilee – and in the strawberries nestling alongside
Pyin Oo Lwin Namsai NATIONAL
PARK tropical fruit in the Shan Market. Another British leftover is the National Kandawgyi
Gokteik Viaduct NAMDAPHA Gardens, a huge botanic garden where neat tulip beds thrive alongside half-wild groves
Dibrugarh NATIONAL PARK Phongun Razi
Shan State treks (3635m) of teak trees.
Nanyun Putao Further afield, the rolling countryside outside the town is peppered with sights.
Ayeyarwady River trips 8
Fugong Most are withing a few kilometres of the Mandalay–Lashio Road, making them
Katha
HUKAUNG straightforward to reach, especially if you have your own transport. Between picking
Myitkyina VALLEY
TIGER RESERVE your way through Peik Chin Myaung’s humid cavern, trekking to nearby Shan villages,
Indawgyi Lake Mali Kha River or floating away in the plunge pools of the Anisakan Falls, Pyin Oo Lwin is an excellent
0 50 N’mai Kha River place to linger.
kilometres Khamti Nujiang
Kohima KACHIN STATE The town centre
Wakro HTAMANTH Hpakant Ayeyarwady The 1936 Purcell Tower marks Pyin Oo Lwin’s compact town centre, home to large
Confluence
INDIA WILDLIFE Aung Myint Tha
SANCTUARY Nammilaung INDAWGYI LAKE Myitkyina ethnic Indian and Nepali communities, the descendants of soldiers and labourers who
Ukhrul Sezin WILDLIFE moved here under British rule. Today, many run shops selling the fruit wine, jam and
SANCTUARY
Chindwin River Lwemon Lonton
woolly jumpers for which the town is known, and mosques and Hindu temples abound.
Not far away, the Central Market, selling fruit, tea, clothing and household goods, is a
Imphal Homalin Indawgyi Hopin Sinbo Baoshan warren of dark passages broken up by pools of light. In the evenings, the roads around
Lake
SAGAING Dehong here start to fill with the food stalls of the night market. On the other side of the
REGION Ayeyarwady River CHINA market is the Shwe Daung Kyaung Gyi, which pre-dates the town, and across the road
Moreh
Sittaung Naba Momauk the old Whiteway department store is now the Cherry Cinema, the last in Pyin Oo
Tamu Shwegu Lwin, with seats from K1000.
Katha Bhamo As Maymyo, the town was an important military cantonment on the edge of the Shan
Ruili
Mawlaik Kawlin Tigyaing Inywa Muse plateau and today the military connection remains – the Defence Services Academy
Namhkan Cangyuan occupies a vast site just west of the centre.
Tagaung
Kalay Governor’s House
Ayeyarwady River Namtu • 1km southwest of Purcell Tower, Mandalay–Lashio Rd • Daily 8am–6pm • $3 or K4200 • T085 21901,
Kalewa Hsenwi Menglian
Built in 1903 as the British governor’s summer residence, Government House stood for
Hakha Chindwin River Mogok Namhsan Lashio Waureumpalacehotel.com
CHIN ALAUNGDAW Shwebo Kyaukmyaung Kyaukme Hsipaw SHAN STATE just forty years before it was destroyed in World War II. Rebuilt in 2005, today it is
STATE KATHAPA Hanlin Tang Yan part of the Governor’s House Hotel. A small museum has been set up in the mansion
NATIONAL Nawnghkio Gokteik Viaduct and the adjoining office building, which is filled with greenish waxworks of colonial
PARK Monywa Wet personalities and decorated with sepia photographs of the original house – it’s not
Mandalay Wun Pyin Oo Lwin terribly exciting, but it’s one of the few colonial-style buildings open to visitors and
Pakokku Naypyitaw Anisaken
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