Pyin Oo Lwin’s picturesque multi-level Chinese pagoda offers views over the town and surrounding areas. Pic: Stuart Deed

STEPPING over swathes and patches of fallen leaves as I walked along a lane to the stand where small buses were waiting for passengers.

My plan had originally been to hire a trishaw to drive me around Pyin Oo Lwin but to save both time and money I chose the pick-up bus instead.

I arrived at the stand alongside the Chinese Temple near Myoma Market at 6:30am, bought a ticket, took a seat and waited for other passengers to arrive. Thirty minutes later the bus’ engine grumbled to life and we set off down the Mandalay-Lashio highway that cuts right through the town.

One fellow traveller sitting opposite me said: “It’s definitely worth paying K1500 to visit five of the most popular spots in town.”

By the end of the excurion, I felt it was a good deal too although it left a few things to be desired.

The first stop on the list was the Maha Ahnt Htoo Kan Tha Buddha image, 30 minutes from downtown. Walking around the platform of the temple I pondered the image’s history.

Legend has it that the Buddha image sits where it fell off the back of a truck en route to Shweli on the Chinese border. Rather than try to put it back on the truck, locals chose to leave it where it lay and build a pagoda around it.

Unfortunately, I had only 15 minutes to look around and was forced to leave the inviting-looking hills nearby unexplored.

Next stop was Peikchin Myaung Cave, about 12 miles (19 kilometres) to the east. A concrete path leads directly into the cave’s mouth but most visitors that I saw chose to pick their way around the outside of a little waterfall to gain entry. Inside the cave, also known as Maha Nandamu, are a number of gilded Buddha images.

Lime-infused water drips from the roof of the cave and stains the ground white and green, while water roars past underneath the concrete path and the air is cool and damp.

At the end of the cave is a narrow ladder that leads to a second cave. After climbing to the top I had a minor panic attack and had to rush outside through the exit, which is mercifully close.

It was highly embarrassing for me because nobody else had the same problem. My cheeks burned as I waited outside for everyone to come out.
The third stop was the Pwe Kauk waterfalls, which are also known as the BE falls. When we arrived the waters at the base of the falls were alive with people playing around and comically posing for photographs.

I rolled up the legs of my jeans and waded in the cool shallows as I slaked my thirst with a mug of thick, blissfully sweet strawberry juice.

But just as I was beginning to relax the bus driver began yelling that it was time to leave again, this time heading to the Chinese temple on the outskirts of the town.

The six-level, hexagonal pagoda is visible for miles around and the compound also includes a temple. Like thousands of tourists before me, I found the temple a fantastic place to take photos, especially the exquisitely detailed dragons that adorn the building. However, the 15 minutes we had for our visit were not enough to explore it properly.

The last stop on our half-day tour of Pyin Oo Lwin was by far the most spectacular – the National Kandawgyi Park and the newly opened National Landmark Gardens, which are the town’s most popular attractions.

These two parks are enormous and I was unsure where to start since I had only an hour. With the clock ticking I chose the National Kandawgyi Park and refused to be deterred by the K1000 entrance fee.

Entering the park I understood why people call Pyin Oo Lwin the “city of flowers” because I was surrounded by flowers of seemingly every shape, colour and size. As I walked along by myself it felt like the flowers were all there for my pleasure – and like the crushing closeness of the cave earlier it nearly took my breath away.

But such was the scale of the gardens that even a whole day would not be enough to take in all the attractions of the park, let alone one hour.
With the tour over, the bus returned to its starting point at 1:30pm.

Although I seen the majority of the town’s most visited tourist attractions I was disappointed that I had had to rush constantly and check my watch frequently to make sure my bus didn’t leave me behind. Plus, several sights – like the Kyauk Taung Pagoda and a Buddha image made from bamboo strips – were not included in the tour.

I made up my mind to visit these places when I next visit Pyin Oo Lwin, but perhaps next time I’ll rent a trishaw.