Getting to Wat Khao Chong Phra Bat Temple in Ratchaburi province can seem like a trip into the middle of nowhere. This Wat is located in a very small town, and if not for the cave filled with millions of bats, this town would go unnoticed by a tourist.
Tham Khang Khao, meaning bat cave, is located approximately 30 km north of the town Ban Pong. The locals also refer to it as Hundred Million Bat Cave.
Every afternoon at dusk, many locals and a select group of tourists park themselves on the grassy oval in from of the Temple to witness what some describe as black water flowing from the mountain cave.
The hour long continual swam of Black-bearded Tomb bats exit the cave mouth before dusk, approximately 5.30pm rain or shine. Their flow through the sky is like flowing black liquid.
It is a spectacle like nothing I have ever seen before.
You don’t need a great vantage point, because as the bats flow through the sky, they move and change direction quickly allowing for what appears like a natural wave flowing in the sky.
Taking some time to view the rest of the temples ground is a must.
As you travel up the hillside, there is another cave with many Buddhist statues inside.
Though this is probably not significant in itself, if you can handle the stench of bat feces, entering the cave is quite exciting as you witness bats flying around the Buddha statue in the dim light.
The long walk up the uneven tree root filled concrete stairs to the rotunda above the cave, you get a magnificent view over the province below.
With the sun setting over the mountain ranges, you can get a great opportunity for breathtaking photos behind the backdrop of millions of bats.
Bat faeces are collected by locals and sold as fertiliser to the public on Saturdays by Wat Khao Chong Phran.
Apparently the diet of the bats causes their droppings to make very good fertiliser which costs 25THB per bag.
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looks like Beenleigh on a summer evening