There are caves near Battambang at Phnom Sampeau that are famous for two things. The first is that they are one of the Khmer Rouge killing sites. On a less sad, less grisly note, one cave is currently home to what must be millions of bats, who venture out every evening en masse in search of dinner. As I am officially Mosquito Magnet No. 1, I love bats, and was one of a crowd that gathers nightly to watch the evening foray.

The cave entrance is up in a cliff, and quite small. As dusk falls, there’s a twittering in the air that grows steadily louder, there’s a sudden swirl of activity at the entrance, and then the colony takes off. The exodus I saw continued for at least fifteen minutes before thinning out, forming one long undulating ribbon of bats across the sky. It was beautiful and spectacular. I think I even got pooped on, which I’ll take as a sign of good luck.

Fly, my pretties!