When we rode our electric scooter to the Dhammakaya temple east of New Bagan at 05:30 AM it was still dark. After the sky turned lighter we waited on top of a abandoned monastery to see the sun rising in the east. The sky was hazy and so it felt like the sunrise would not be as dramatic as we would have expected it.

We already left the place as we had the feeling the sun would just rise behind the haze and wouldn’t show up until it was already too high to take pictures. We visited the before closed temple only to be surprised with some hot air balloons. We rushed back to the rooftop and found it to be the exact right moment to see two dozen balloons passing our field of view.

We went back after marveling at the beauty that lay before us. Breakfast in the hostel and off to some more temple spotting in the afternoon.

The Bagan temple field is completely different from the Angkor kingdom. But some of the temples give you a magic feeling. Buddhists are praying in most of them. Reciting mantras or singing in deep concentration.