Forty miles east of Mandalay, on the western edge of the Shan Hills, lies the former hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin. Known locally by its colonial-era name of Maymyo—after Colonel May of the 5th Bengal Regiment—the town is famous throughout Myanmar for its cool air and lush woodlands, which once served as a tonic for the country’s British rulers.
Beginning as a sanatorium in the late 19th century and later appointed as the summer capital of British Burma, it was described by English botanist Reginald Farrer as a “little bit of Surrey in the hills of Burma” due to its Tudoresque houses and bungalows. Its colonial legacy also survives in the diversity of its people, including Shan, Burman, Hindu and Muslim Indians, and a significant Nepalese community, making Maymyo a unique blend of history, culture, and natural beauty.
