We woke up at 5am and went to the top of Shwesandaw Temple to view the sunrise over Bagan.

At first, it seemed like there would be no sunrise. Dawn had broken, but the sun remained hidden behind the clouds. Then, at about 7:15am local time or so, the sun broke through the clouds, well above the horizon, and rays of light radiated from the sun in all directions towards us in a magical sunrise over the fantastic landscape of Bagan, as captured in the picture. Minutes later, a hot-air balloon was to float past the scene, giving added dimension and intrigue to the image.