We are now in Pyin OO Lwin which, as mentioned yesterday, is
an old hill station. Our day began with
a walk around a local covered market which sells everything you could imagine, including Minions.
After the rather steep price of wine in the
hotel last night ($35 a bottle) we were able to find a boozeria and stock up
for the next couple of days. This little chap was patiently sitting in the shop playing with his soldiers.
We then had a 2hr walk around Burma’s only botanical gardens
which were absolutely beautiful.
There was a collection of petrified wood which was gorgeous,
would have loved to bring some home.
Also a small bird enclosure where we saw two magnificent
hornbills, the way they moved reminded me of the bird from the cartoon ‘UP’ and how I imagine a Dodo would have
moved.
And this peacock sitting on his clutch, where the female was I have no idea
The gardens also housed one of the best orchid collections I've ever seen
After yet another delicious al
fresco lunch we got to ride in old stage coaches which are the only form of
taxi in the town. Beautiful old
carriages, loving restored and well cared for animals but once again incredibly
bumpy so the photos are a bit squiffy.
After we stopped to photograph one particular old colonial building I
ask if I could ride up top which gave me a great view but was a bit hairy as
the locals think nothing of hooting loudly as they pass – horse or no horse!
We ended up at the railway station where I thought the time table was very honest - guess!
Then back into town to look at All Saints Church
and the clock tower which our guide said was
donated by the composer Henry Purcell but he didn't know what his connection with the town was (apparently he donated another clock tower to Cape Town). Having looked at Wikipedia I think the
answer is no connection whatsoever, it was another person named Purcell who lived some 220 years later.
I loved this old guy with his horse and cart.
After that we went up to the old governor’s mansion, which has
been reproduced inside rather than restored, complete with some rather
disturbing wax works – red eyes and a strange green pallor. This 5 bedroom building is owned by our hotel
and can be rented for £2,000 per night but is completely lacking in character
so personally I wouldn’t bother. The
only attractive thing about it was the indoor swimming pool sited just yards
from the bar.
