Ahh nother early start, this time to get going on the sightseeing before it got too hot. We had an excellent guide today who made the day very interesting. We now know a lot about stupa construction and how to tell the age of a Buddha statue from the 11th through to the 19th century. We both agreed that, as a tourist destination, Bagan falls a long way behind Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This is partly because of the building materials they had to work with. At Angkor Wat it was stone but at Bagan it was brick and stucco. Over a thousand years Bagan had deteriorated and been reconstructed. Our guide was very knowledgeable so was at least able to point out what was original and what was not. There are over 3,000 temples at Bagan so you obviously don't get to see them all - nor would you want to. When you appreciate that most of the lesser buildings were built by richer families to gain "merit" so as not to be re-born as slugs or cockroaches it all begins to make more sense. It was not just megalomaniac kings with a stupa fetish. We gave the horse cart ride a miss after lunch and went to a lacquer ware place instead. It was really interesting to learn how they make the stuff which is an incredibly lengthy process - 3 to 4 months each piece.