Today we set the alarm for 4.15am and rose quite easily, we were both tired but really wanted to scope out a temple we had found for sunrise. We got dressed and packed up our breakfast and headed out into the darkness. We headed down through the main restaurant street and on to Anawrshta road where we cycled another thirty mins towards old Bagan. The road was dark and apart from the odd motorbike whizzing past or random dog lying in the road we had the road to ourselves. I enjoyed this immensely and enjoyed cycling past the numerous small temples that were being illuminated by the moonlight... Made them look rather eerie. I cycled down the road with a huge smile on my face admiring the eery darkness of the small temples and the beauty of the large temples that were lit up overnight. I felt so happy at that moment that I could burst... I had truly found my inner peace here in Bagan and I loved it.

After a short while we found ourselves near old Bagan and followed the road right towards the Minyeingone Pagoda, which I had seen photos from and gave a stunning view of sunrise. We cycled up towards it and as it stood proud in front of us in the darkness we couldn't help but feel a little scared of the dark. The pagoda was vast and had a large entrance way and windows that just showed pitch blackness and amplified the sound of the bats who had recently arrived home. I got the torch and tried to summon up the courage to check out the inside but it was very dark, very creepy and I chicken out. We soon saw a couple of guys heading our way so thought we would check with them that we had found the right place.

The two guys headed over and were very friendly and seemed quite honest with us telling us that the temple was previously very popular for sunrise but tourists were no longer allowed up there, however they knew of another temple nearby where we could see the sunrise and asked us to follow them. We agreed nervously and went and grabbed our bikes, we were wondering what was coming and if it involved a shop or something. Regardless we followed them down the road towards the museum where we came to a smallish looking temple that appeared to have no view except for the museum located nearby. We asked wether we could see temples and the guy said you could see the river as that's the way it faced.. On asking wether there were any temples in the view he seemed to get a bit impatient and told us it was up to us if we wanted to see it or not. We said thank you and he showed us the stairs up, which were dark and very creepy, he then left... Wanting no payment or seeing any any shops. That was quite sweet and we felt a little bad for doubting him and remembered the people in Myanmar are very sweet and friendly and not everyone is after something from you... Very rare these days. We climbed up the very dark, very small and very creepy stairwell towards the roof whilst trying not to think of spiders or bats before eventually finding the roof. The view wasn't great and after a brief look around we decided to head off, by now the sun was slowly rising so there was little bit more light to guide us. We thought we would head back towards the original temple in the hope of finding a way to the roof or even the key holder.

We cycled back down the road and once again found ourselves at the temple, which although now bathed in a little more light... Remained eery and unnerving. We decided we would have to bite the bullet and head in or miss sunrise altogether so I grabbed the torch and headed in with Steven close behind. The temple was very dark and the bats could be heard loudly on entering the space, this freaked me a bit and as I shone the torch you could see it unsettling them. We persevered and tried not to freak ourselves out with irrational fears as we headed further into the temple. We walked around... Well paced around and were yet to see how one would get to the roof, we decided to check out the outside incase we had missed an external stair case but were unsuccessful in locating it. We had just about given up on finding one, assuming we had the wrong temple when we saw it... A small gate with a padlock closing off a very small stair case, with this my heart sank and we thought we may as we find some where else... Especially with the sun rising further with every passing minute.

We grabbed our bikes and headed off back down the sandy path back onto the main road, here we saw the two guys who had assisted us and felt bad they they saw us leaving the temple as they would probably assume we didn't trust them. I then got the camera out and took some pics so they knew we wanted some anyway.... Then speeding off down the road. As we had cycled a few hundred feet Steven stopped and said that it looked like a local guy was taking a women into the temple. I looked to and thought the same, there was a Burmese looking chap in a longyi and baseball cap walking with a women into the site. With this I cycled back in the hope we could join them but instead found the rudest and most vile women. I stopped at them at asked politely if they had the key to which she replied in the most snottiness voice "err no we are tourists" practically in unison with her partner who said something similar but in a much more polite tone. I apologised as said that I had seen the longyi and assumed he was a local chap... What then followed was a brief conversation with the guy saying that we were hoping to see the sunrise as we had seen an amazing national geographic picture from here. At this point the women chipped in (still in her indignant how dare you speak to us voice) that the temple had been closed to visitors since 1994. I then explained that I was aware of that now but this ladies photo was from 2007 so we thought we could maybe find the key holder or something. At this point I think she had decided I wasn't worth her time anymore and pulled a face (a very unflattering one), flicked her hair and sauntered off. At his point I explained to her partner that we had been here since five and seen no one so its doubtful they would get in, her partner then explained he could speak the language and would see. I wished him luck and rode off trying desperately to restore my inner calm that had been so quickly lost by that vile women. I simply couldn't believe how rude she was although it all made sense when her partner said he could speak the language. He was obviously Burmese (so assuming he was on meeting wasn't that far fetched and didn't deserve the snotty response), so she probably assumed she had some sort of right to be here and us grungy little backpackers were now all stepping on her parade by visiting this beautiful place.

I rode back to Steven and he could see I was peeved but I decided to move on from it and we cycled on. After about ten minutes we found ourselves at the familiar Shw-San-daw pagoda where so many had already gathered to see sunrise. We wandered in just content to see a sunrise from any temple but sad that I couldn't get it from the temple I wanted. By now the sky was fast becoming a pinky haze and the sun was well in its way up so we headed in, where we again climbed the steep stairs and found ourselves with lots of other tourists. I took a few pics and admired the view before deciding to climb down a level where no one was sitting except Steven who was feeling very bloated and was sprawled out on the deck. The view was better here and I realised the lower the better as the pagodas and temples then look much closer together. This was what I was aiming for and the early morning mist added something to the view giving it a beautiful mystique. From our level it was actually very peaceful and I was again finding my inner peace that had been so cruelly snatched from me, I sat and sipped my drink and enjoyed the view while Steven intermittently complained about feeling bloated... In the end he went in search of a toilet.

The view was beautiful and I couldn't help but take far too many pictures... There was a faint pinky haze over the picture from the sun reflecting through the mist. After a little while I walked around the platform and soon came to a young boy who started chatting to me... He was telling me about the temples we could see and places we should visit including the reclining Buddha that laid in a building near to us. We chatted for a while with him asking questions about England before enquiring how long we had been in Bagan, of which he was surprised when I said four days... most only stay two at the most. While we were chatting I noticed a small pagoda opposite that had a couple of people sitting on it. The view would be great from there as you would also see the Shw-San-daw pagoda on which we were standing, the young boy also told me about a place nearby where you could climb... If you find the key holder. Suddenly there was the toot of a horn and the boy said he had to go before waving and scurrying off, I waved back and reflected on what a nice young man he was.

By now Steven was limping from the toilet and moaning about his tummy, we sat for a little longer while he sipped some drink and recovered then we climbed down and headed over to see the reclining Buddha before walking to the pagoda opposite. Here we sat for a while enjoying the view and relaxing... The sun was getting higher in the sky and was producing a beautiful light over the plains. After about thirty mins we decided to venture to New Bagan as we had yet to explore there, we climbed down and wandered back towards our bikes...

On route we saw what looked like an Mongolian dressed man on a horse, he seemed very dressed up so we thought he maybe doing something with tourists. However on passing through to the next area we could see that there were numerous guys dressed as Mongolians and a few other people milling about along with a truck full of scenery. They must be filming something as it looked very much like a film crew on location. As we got nearer we bumped in to our little postcard selling friend who came over to chat with us, she had a friend with her today and we started chatting. She initially tried to sell us some postcards but I reminded her that I had bought some and she laughed and said 'very good' before chatting about other things. I asked them about school and she said they were on the holidays... I then told her many times to stay in school. She may get a lot of money now as a cute kid selling postcards but that will change as she gets older, she will need an education then. She kept saying yes and laughing so I'm not sure how much she was actually listening. We told her we were going now and she should see if she could be an extra in the film... She giggled again before waving and saying goodbye.

We headed off down the road in the direction of New Bagan stopping at the odd temple on route... Steven seemed to have perked up a little but just felt bunged up ...although he was happy to carry on so off we went. On the way the ride was lovely, it was starting to get a little warmer but we didn't mind as it was such a lovely place to ride. We were beginning to feel very much at home as people constantly said hello to us and we saw numerous familiar faces. We cycled past the Abe-Ya-da-na temple, where we had originally like the chaps paintings. We were intending to pass by on the way home and told him so by shouting "we will be back" as we flew past him unloading his car, he smiled and waved and we carried on down the road.

The road to new Bagan is long and hilly so I think Steven began to struggle a bit. He was feeling the heat and his tummy was giving him some discomfort, so on arriving in new Bagan we stopped at a local eatery. Here we ordered some cool drinks and were served by some very friendly kids... We sat and chilled for a while watching them as we sipped our drinks. It was like being in Neverland as the young boys wiped the tables and the girls chopped the onions with the ability and speed of a professional chef. The food they produced looked delicious but neither of us was ready for food, which was a shame. We sipped our drinks then headed back on the bikes... On passing the Abe-Ya-da-na temple we stopped and headed in, the guy was grinning and happy to see us and on seeing the paintings again I loved them more. By now Steven was feeling pretty vile so sat under the shade of a nearby tree while I got the purchase done quickly. The guy was so taken back that we had actually come back saying he never expects people to even when they say they will. I explained to him that his little paintings were so unique and lovely that I hadn't seen them anywhere else and I had said I would come back so kept my word. He tried to sell us some bigger palings but I explained that I preferred the little ones as the large ones are so similar to all the other sellers... I said he should paint more 'natural' ones as they are so lovely, he responded by saying I should stay as his advisor.

We had a quick look at the pictures and I told him Steven wasn't well so we would have to hurry and he was very sweet offering to get him a chair and things but Steven said he was happy sitting under the tree. We bought two small ones for a combined price of little more than a fiver and we went on our way saying thank you as we left. On the way out a women caught me to sell me some things but I wasn't interested and said that Steven was ill so we had to go, she didn't seem happy but considering the amount of stuff Kristin bought from her the other day I wasn't bothered... Just wanted to get Steven home. We were about to head off when the ruck sack finally kicked the bucket (its had a dodgy zip for ages) and the zip spilt beyond repair. The guy selling the paintings must have thought we were stalling because Steven was sick and came over all concerned asking if he was okay. We explained about the zip and thanked him for his kindness but told him not to worry, he smiled and hung around till we went.

We then jumped on the bikes and headed of, I told Steven to ring his bell if he wanted a break or something and he said it was broken... It really wasn't his day. We carried on and cycled at a good pace all the way back towards old Bagan, Steven seemed okay and was happy to keep going so we headed back on to the Anawrshta road home. On route we passed the young postcard girl again and got lots of enthusiastic waves of hello... Then goodbye. We also passed a few other locals who recognised us and waved.

After about twenty five minutes we came up to restaurant street and turned in only to find it was chaos, there was some sort of procession taking over the whole street and again we think it was for the new monks and nuns. Steven couldn't believe his luck as we had to stand and wait for it to pass.... Very slowly! Seemed the whole town was here to cheer them on. We took the opportunity to buy some water and rest in the shade whilst watching the parade then soon enough we were free to pass before we cycled home. On arriving back we welcomed the coolness of our air con room and laid down on the bed.... Steven was feeling a bit rough and fell asleep quickly. After about an hour I started feeling very nauseous and also began having stomach cramps followed by a very upset tummy. My issue seemed quite the opposite of Steven who was very bloated... Steven had woken as he was feeling warm, turned out we both had fevers and aches in our joints and a funny head. We took some panadol and soon enough we both feel asleep.

After a while I was woken by some girls chatting outside... They were talking about our bikes and seemed to want to know where they could get them. Eventually I joined them outside and said they were ours and where we had got them from. It turned out that they were travel buddies who met though couchsurfing in Hong Kong, they had just arrived in Bagan and had no idea what to do while here. I briefly chatted with them telling them what we did and any nice places to check out sunrise and sunset before giving them the bikes for the afternoon. I explained we were feeling a bit rough so seemed a shame to waste them... We were hoping to feel better later to see sunset but weren't 100% sure yet. They thanked me and went off to try the bikes out for size... With this I feel back in to bed feeling very rough.

A few hours later I woke to find Steven awake and feeling a little better with just some cramping in the stomach, the girls had bought the bikes back but had come by to see if we fancied sunset. They were just heading off to get some bikes but wanted to see how we were, we still felt fragile so decided another cycle wouldn't be wise. We then suggested they take our bikes to save them hiring some... Then they could drop them off at the shop and help us out as neither of us has the strength to go.... They agreed and off they went offering to bring some water back with them.

Later on Steven was feeling a little peckish and my nausea had settled so we thought we would try some food. We weren't really feeling local fare so thought we would try a pizza and fries as we both fancied it. Steven was feeling better than me so did the run to the restaurant returning a while later with the best tasting pizza ever. It had been months since we had eaten western food and it was just what our fragile souls needed. We munched the pizza before watching a bit of TV and generally feeling sorry for ourselves. I must have dozed off as I woke briefly to hear Steven chatting outside to the two girls who had returned from their trip... I wasn't conscious for long though and fell back into a deep sleep.