Hpa An, Myanmar

A scenic stop in Myanmar on my way out of the country. The area is known for its caves and abrupt mountains, which jut out of the plains as if some enormous giant accidentally left his boulders just lying around. Pretty inconsiderate of that giant. A visit to a bat cave at sunset and a walk through the markets was all I was able to experience in my one night, one day stay here. And yes, every one of those black blurry dots in the first picture is a bat. Millions flew out of the cave for over 25 minutes continuously. Hawks awaited them outside the cave, so a few other backpackers and I got a nice national geographic performance. A few locals set up outside the cave and played drums, each beat causing the stream of bats to jump and dance through the air.Read more