National Kandawgyi Park
For casual visitors, its most appealing aspect is the way flowers and overhanging branches frame views of Kandawgyi Lake’s wooden bridges and small gilded pagoda.
The National Kandawgyi Gardens (formerly Maymyo Botanical Gardens) is located in the Alpine town about 1.5 km south of Pyin Oo Lwin. It was first founded by Alex Roger, a forest research officer, with the aid of Lady Cuffe, the botanist in 1915. It was modelled after the Kew Gardens of England. The original area of the Botanical Garden was 170 acres of land and 70 acres of water spread totaling 240 acres. The government declared as a state-regonized garden in 1917. In 1924, the site was declared as a Goverment Forest Reserve. The garden has many collection of flora, including foreign species, orchids of various species in orchid garden, dahlia gardens, rose gardens, many exotic fruits and shady trees. In 2000, the garden was upgraded to be a recreation garden and renamed it "Kandawgyi National Gardens".
The Botanical Gardens has three museums. The fossils museum, the petrified wood museum and the butterfly museum. The gardens are well laid out among lakes and paths, and there are beautiful collection of pond fish and lovely black and white swans. There have an aerial walkway through aviary with hornbills and a variety of other birds as well as the swamp trail. There is a watch tower to climb up which offers a great views over Pyin Oo Lwin and the Shan Hills. It is a popular picnic spot for the locals and one of the main attractions for tourist.
