Wolfgang's photos with the keyword: Pha Yaa cave

Its common on Thailand's highways that many road users drive without any light during dawn and night. I'm prepared for every situation and its indispensable to life (not only in Thailand) to be primed for any unexpected moments, like wrong-way-, or no-light-drivers. Not at least: Wildlife game does not follow any traffic rules.

The rainy season begins with occasional short but heavy showers, eventually raining very heavily for longer periods almost every day, usually in the late afternoon or at night, until it ends abruptly at the onset of the cool season. This year the season started earlier as usual. Traveling overland is more exciting but the scenes after a thunderstorm show amazing colors.

On the way to and from the bat cave, the lush green countryside and beautiful mountain formations are equally awe-inspiring. The cave itself can't be visited easily due the godawful smell inside and around the cave.

The Pha Yaa cave in Loei Province is certainly a must to see, and definitely one the winged man of steel would be impressed with! Within Phu Pha Lom Forest Park, in Na Duang District, Pha Yaa Cave is the natural habitat of countless (experts counted about 6.8 Mill) insectivorous bats. They live in an abundant area and are critical to the terrestrial ecosystem by bringing balance to nature. Around 6.30pm, seen exiting from the mouth of the cave in the mountainside, a flock of literally millions of bats starts their procession to forage together in the Park. The flock creates a dark beautiful winding line drawn across the dusky sky until the sun sets. Lasting about an hour until the last one has left the cave, their sound breaks the silence of the early evening, yet retains a peaceful atmosphere. Simply amazing! The bats return before dawn in a similar fashion.