Street Scenes: The Bat Commute
By Frankie
Htan Lyn Zaw (everyone calls him Frankie) will be covering Myanmar culture from a cross-generational perspective while interning with MYANMORE.
Yangon has heaps of marvelous sightseeing, such as Shwe Dagon Pagoda, Bo Ta Htaung harbor and colonial buildings- in other words, man made wonders. Which is why, it is quite rare to see natural phenomena in the wildlife of a concrete jungle. However, if you take a stroll before sunset, I went at 6pm, near the U Wizara roundabout (the corner of U Wizara Road and Ahlone Road) or in People’s Square of People’s Park, you will see a swarm of thousands of Wrinkle-lipped bats flying across the sky in a wave pattern winding their way into the dusk. These bats live under the roof of western stairways of Shwedagon Pagoda during the light of day, and they go as a group off into the night every evening when the sun goes down. If you are fortunate enough, they will fly through the People’s Square of People’s Park, where you can be directly under their endless serpentine flight going into the violet dusk beyond the ex-parliamentary building.
People’s square consists of a long and slender lawn area where children often race on the grass, and a concrete area where young teenagers usually skate, ride bicycles, or play with kites. You can either lie on the lawn of People’s Square to stare at the flight of the bats going off into the vermilion setting sun. You can often see some families or group of young people hanging out on the grass and taking photos with the bats. However, according to the flower vendors in the western stairways, there may be some days when the bats take the direction of U Wizara Roundabout or other different directions. Since the bats live in the roof the western stairways, you can always amble around the sidewalks of U Wizara road or hang out inside the Shwedagon western vicinity to witness the bats coming out of their home and start to fly up and down as if they are imitating the ocean surfs. So if you get a chance to walk around the western side of Shwe Dagon at sunset, keep your eyes peeled for this spectacular natural phenomenon. Be sure to bring a good camera, and maybe a Batman costume!
