19.01 Bagan 4, Sunrise at Shwegugyi Pagoda, photo-shooting sessions, sunset at the hotel pool
Finally we had beautiful weather all day for the first time in Bagan and the sunrise seen from Shwegugyi Pagoda was worth the effort of rising at 5.15. It was not that colourful, but with some haze and lots of hot-air balloons. Then the guide had arranged for photo-shooting sessions, first with two women carrying urns on their heads and then with two novice monks, one session still before breakfast and one after. One boy was quite young and reminded me of my grandson in the way he behaved. At the end of the session he was playing around and reading sing-song very loudly from his prayer book. They get 5$ each for their efforts.
Afterwards we went to look for herds of cows and goats. Our guide knew exactly where and when they would appear and we were rewarded with several herds and 2 ox-carts parading past us.
After lunch I stayed at the hotel pool to relax since we had already been on the go for 8 hours. The sunset there by the river was also worth watching and made a fitting finish to our stay in Bagan.