DAY 3 (1/8): MAGICAL SUNRISE, Old Bagan, Myanmar, 2017.12.25

The most remarkable and photogenic experience of our trip to Myanmar was undoubtedly watching the sunrise in Old Bagan. The romantic spectacle of hot air balloons floating over the plains of ancient pagodas has drawn every Bagan visitors to get up before dawn. We had high hopes for the experience long before we came to Bagan. Our driver came at 6:45 to pick us up at Oasis Hotel. He drove us to a pagoda in Old Bagan, and told us to walk up a staircase to the pagoda terrace. We turned on our head lamps and climbed up the narrow stair to reach the upper terrace. We were surprised to find that two out of four sides of the terrace were already packed with visitors. Without guessing which way to look, we stationed ourselves at a corner in the crowd and patiently waited for the sky to light up.

We stationed ourselves at a corner in the crowds and set up our tripod. Stars were still visible in the sky, and so as the flooded lights at some pagodas.

At a distance, what appeared to be Ananda Pahto looked gorgeous with the golden flood lights and the purple horizon beyond.

Ten minutes later, the foggy plain looked mysterious.

In every directions, silhouette of ancient pagodas and distant mountains formed an one-of-a-kind mystic landscape unique to Bagan.

A few minutes later, a cluster of hot air balloons appeared from the horizon.

At the same time, we had the first peek of the Christmas sunrise.

The hot air balloons went up just in time to catch the first glimpse of sunrise over Old Bagan.

The sunrise over Old Bagan was absolutely a stunning sight.

Watching sunrise of Old Bagan from the basket of a hot air balloon should be a remarkable experience. That would require us to book well in advance and cost each of us about US$500.

From the pagoda terrace, the hot air balloons provided the extra magic to the already otherworldly scenery.

Some balloons got pretty close to the spires of pagodas.

A hot air balloon seemed reaching the rising sun.

For several minutes, the entire Old Bagan appeared in layers of silhouettes.

The balloons gradually floated across the horizon while the sun rose up quickly.

On the other side, the scenery was dominated by ancient pagodas under the orange glow of the rising sun.

At 8:45am, about an hour and fifteen minutes since we first arrived at the pagoda terrace, dramatic low angle sunlight covered much of Bagan with a mystical ambience.