We were awoken suddenly by a loud screaming that made you wonder what the hell was going on. We then realised it was the movie with scenes of random girls screaming their heads off for no apparent reason. The whole bus seemed pretty annoyed at this stage but they still didn't turn it off. We think the madness eventually ended at around 1am and we must of dosed off as the next thing I remember is being awoken by the attendant. He informed us we had reached Bagan and it was time to get off. I looked around and it was pitch black outside then looking at the clock it was only 4am! The guesthouses will not be open for ages yet!

There was a rugby scrum of horse and cart drivers trying to get fares as we stepped off the bus into the deep sand. We shrugged them off after getting a bit stressed as they were unable to find our bags, slightly worrying but thankfully they appeared through one of the bus windows (had been stored at the back)!? We wandered down the road into darkness with the headlights beaming through the dust coming towards us. You would hear the occasional dog bark and the clapping of horse hooves but apart from that there was silence. We first came across a guesthouse we were recommended by a gentleman in Yangon. A taxi driver pulled up and seemed to put us off it with the price and saying it was full but the sleepy owner eventually came to the gate and allowed us in to see a room. We were led out the back to a new looking block of rooms and we were very impressed with what we saw, big bathroom (with hot water), air-con, TV and fridge! Although we would of taken it we knew we should look around first to scope out what else was on offer. We stumbled across our booked place which looked fairly run down so we carried on down the street spotting various places that were in the guide books.

Sitting outside one called 'Inn Wa' with their backpacks beside them were a young lad and girl both reading. We said hello to each other and quickly learn the man was from the Caribbean and the girl from Norway. We got chatting and they explained they were booked in this guesthouse but everyone was asleep and the doors were locked. Eventually someone came outside and we thought we'd check it out! Unfortunately the room we were shown was grotty and the same price as the really nice one down the road, there was no competition I'm afraid. We said our goodbyes to the couple and headed back down the road... en route checking out a final place. A large hotel whose rooms go for between $30-$40.. we haggled him down to $28 and were shown the room... not quite what was advertised as we entered a windowless room with no room to swing a cat. We declined the offer and instead returned to the lovely guesthouse where the owner was asleep again. We didn't want to wake him so sat in reception quietly although he woke soon after, we felt bad waking him up but we had been pretty quiet on entering. In our rooms we took advantage of the steaming hot shower and quickly fell asleep at 8am.

We both awoke around midday with the air conditioning humming away and the room lovely and cool. We decided to take a little orientation walk around the town to scope out what was available to us. Walking out of the door the heat was intense but unlike what we have been used to, was very dry. Walking onto the road, sand was covering each side for which you could feel dust hitting your face. We passed many local eateries, more flashy restaurants and even mini marts selling cold drinks and snacks. The locals were obviously looking at us but many smiled and said hello which gave you a warm feeling inside. There was an immediate feeling of relaxed calmness which made us fall in love almost instantly.

We wandered around for a good hour before heading back up the road, where we spotted the couple from earlier in a restaurant. We went to join them and had a catch up, they weren't impressed with their choice of hotel so we offered to show them our place. They finished their meals and followed us back where they were shown the room next door to us. They agreed on a price and were going to check in tomorrow as they were booked at their hotel for tonight. We all sat on the veranda for a while chatting and enjoying the wifi before they headed off to check out a local temple. We couldn't be bothered and after swapping rooms for a double we then opted for dinner and an early night. We went to the 'Fuji restaurant' (where we met the guys earlier) and Steven had some dumplings while I sipped a soup. We then headed home via a bike shop where the nice owner gave us some good prices and passed out.