The Hermit (A Village Walk)

Thirty years ago, he was a monk. He was then pulled from the monastery and into the army. Special operations. Something happened.He retreated deep into the jungle near the Cambodian border and never returned to ordinary life. Decades later, he remains there. A hermit.His name is Li.This installment of A Village Walk documents a rare visit to a secluded jungle outpost hidden in the dense border forest of southern Isaan, Thailand. Reached only by motorbike, then a walking trail, along a narrow, sometimes uncertain path, the location sits on a small patch of monastery land.When we arrived, he did not appear.We wandered quietly through the grounds. Grass-roofed structures. Shrines. Artifacts. Objects left as they were. Signs of a life lived deliberately outside the modern world. The photographs began there, documenting the space before the man.Just as we prepared to leave, he emerged - no doubt tracking us since our arrival.What followed was a rare opportunity to document a life few will ever encounter. A former monk. A soldier. A recluse. A presence shaped by decades of solitude. Read more