There were definitely faster ways for Amelia and I to get to Hsipaw, but the train journey from Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw is considered one of the best in the world. The highlight being an engineering masterpiece - the highest bridge in Myanmar! Which when it was constructed by British colonialists back in 1901, was the largest railway viaduct in the world!
Purchasing the tickets in advance from the station didn't work out, so to give ourselves the best chance of getting a seat on the popular route, we got to the station in Pyin Oo Lewin before the sun had barely risen! Even waking up at the crack of dawn we weren't the first there, in fact there were a surprisingly large amount of other foreigners queuing up on the very brisk morning.
We opted for 'upper class' tickets being a whopping 2750K (£1.40) each it wasn't exactly breaking the bank. The downside to the 'higher' priced carriage is every other westerner was buying the same ticket - personally when it comes to these experiences I prefer to integrate and travel with the locals. However, as we'd been in the 'cheap seats' before, Amelia persuaded me that it was "only right" we experienced the trains in Myanmar from a different perspective.
Waiting for the train on the one and only platform was an eye-opening experience in itself - we watched in displeasure as local school children obliviously hopped, skipped and tripped across the tracks in front of trains on their way to school, sympathetically observed men and women sat attempting to keep warm by a pathetic fire lit on a railway sleeper and surveyed in awe as local ladies sold precariously placed produce from the top of their heads!
Surprisingly the train was on time and when it arrived the 'upper class' carriage was expectedly occupied by other westerners, 'ordinary class' was quickly crammed with locals and their produce and 'cattle class' was overflowing with exactly that (goats to be precise).
Sat next to us on the train was Rob and Rebecca - a very easy to talk to friendly English couple from 'up north'. Being fairly wet behind the ears, so to speak, they'd not eaten any 'street food' yet. So when it got towards elevenses, it was a little amusing to see their disconcerting expressions - unfortunately for them upper class didn't include onboard meals. Upper class was given the same options as the locals, which was locally cooked food being sold through the windows by women at random stops enroute. The options were the same along the way - either stir fried egg noodles with veg or rice and chicken curry. Amelia and I had both to share, Rob and Rebecca reluctantly chose the noodles feeling it was a 'safer' option!
Frequent stops and a dawdling pace resulted in very slow progress, but time flew on the eight hour journey. We enjoyed Rebecca and Rob's company and the views out of our open window just got better and better.
The approach to 'Gokteik viaduct' got even the sleepiest of passengers up and out of their seats to catch a view. As we snaked down the valley to reach the bridge, the train was rocking from side to side like a seesaw! Almost everyone was moving from one side to the other in an attempt to get a good picture. We did have a good chuckle to ourselves wondering what the locals must think of our fascination with a big rusty bridge!
The ride across the 689m long trestle and seeing into the 100m deep ravine was a hair raising experience. Especially whilst hanging out of a rocking carriage doorway for a closer look - quite literally breathtaking!
Amelia and I were surprised to see that almost half of the passengers in upper class disembarked at the first station after the bridge - they were catching the next train back Pyin Oo Lewin to experience it all over again! In our opinion some of the best scenery was actually after the bridge. Nevertheless, we understood the appeal of just seeing and experiencing a 'white knuckle ride' over the now crumbling masterpiece.
We arrived in Hsipaw just before sunset and made our way on foot to a hotel we'd found on TripAdvisor. Rob and Rebecca had already arranged a pickup from the station to their room for the night, so we went our separate ways and hoped to see them later for 'posh' food.
Hsipaw is a relatively small dusty town on a major route towards China. Whilst the town itself wasn't as attractive as Pyin Oo Lwin, we were led to believe the surrounding area was beautiful and worth at least a days trekking to see it.
'Mr Charles' - a local businessman who has basically got a monopoly on trekking services in Hsipaw, was where we arranged our trek. Having experienced some decent trekking already, we opted for a one day package which also included a leisurely boat trip down the 'Myitnge River'. Only two others had signed up, but we managed to get a good deal and arranged to meet at Mr Charles' office the following morning.
Unfortunately our paths with Rob and Rebecca didn't cross again, but we still treated ourselves to a delicious meal at a nice restaurant called 'The Club Terrace' situated on the riverside.

We met the two German guys from yesterday (who'd now multiplied into four) at 8am in Mr Charles' office and set off with our guide. We made our way out of Hsipaw on foot and continued into the countryside and through tribal villages, until we reached an impressive one hundred metre waterfall cascading into a small pool at the bottom. Normally I would've been one of the first to take a plunge, however the weather wasn't exactly making it very appealing to anyone!
Hsipaw is the principal town in the Shan State of Eastern Myanmar. The Shan people have a language of their own which sounds similar to the Thai language. Being similar to Thai it was a little easier for us to pick up a few simple phrases and impress the locals. Our lunch stop was at a Shan village for a child-sized portion of noodle soup, needless to say when seconds were offered not many of us guys shook our heads!
The majority of our afternoon was spent sat on bum-numbing wooden chairs in a noisy long tail motorised boat - not exactly what we'd envisioned! Along with a deafening outboard the wooden boat wasn't exactly watertight, in fact the deaf 'captain' had to stop on more than one occasion to bale out at least half a dozen buckets of water!
Fortunately, with the boat still afloat, we made it to the destination - another Shan tribal village which was seemingly only accessible by boat. It was only when we saw a young novice monk playing on a smartphone did we realise the village was still inhabited! We found out through our guide that almost the entire village was tucked away in the communal hall for what sounded like a weekly 'neighbourhood watch' meeting. Although it would've been nice to say "may sung krup/kaa" (hello in Shan) to a few locals, we got the chance to have a good nose around without feeling like we were prying into their lives.
An hour or so later we miraculously arrived back in the very sodden boat. The highlight of our day was definitely the Shan villages and the warm friendly smiles from the inhabitants we did see. Arriving back into Hsipaw earlier than we expected, Amelia and I decided to hop on a motorbike taxi to see the sunset from the best viewpoint in town, aptly named 'Sunset Hill'.

Unfortunately the only way forward, was backward - to reach our next destination we had to backtrack and make a stop back in Mandalay.