Pyin Oo Lwin Hot Spring

Pyin Oo Lwin, at 1,070 metres elevation in the Shan plateau foothills above Mandalay in Myanmar, was developed as a British colonial hill station retreat from the heat of the Irrawaddy plains, and its Victorian architecture, strawberry farms, rose gardens, and cool temperate climate still recall the atmosphere of an English country town transplanted to the heart of continental Southeast Asia. Pyin Oo Lwin Hot Spring draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geothermal resources of the Shan plateau, offering warm mineral baths in a highland setting that combines British colonial heritage with traditional Bamar and Shan ethnic culture in a uniquely layered Burmese hill town atmosphere. The magnificent National Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens, the pony-drawn carriages serving as taxis on colonial avenues, and the dramatic Gokteik Viaduct railway — a nineteenth-century marvel bridging a spectacular gorge to Hsipaw — make Pyin Oo Lwin one of Myanmar's most atmospheric thermal spa destinations.