| The dawn came, tantalisingly splendorous, and the | | | | in Chang Rai. |
| sun lifted itself out of a soft bed of clouds on the | | | | |
| horizon, stretched out it's weary arms and yawned, | | | | This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: |
| sending shafts of sunlight that awoke the surrounding | | | | Caged birds, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Thai countryside. Some friends and I had made our | | | | "Only for six months!" he said, explaining that a lot of |
| way by river to a small village near Chiang Rai in the | | | | younger men serve only for short periods, in order |
| northern interior, set amongst dense hills that were | | | | to abstain from worldly desires and gain some |
| the eastern edge of the Himalayan belt. From these | | | | spiritual enlightenment. A bond of companionship |
| lofty heights, we now looked down on the little | | | | quickly developed between us and I was tempted to |
| hamlet and watched how the sunlight danced on a | | | | ask, |
| local child, possibly only eight or nine, who was up | | | | "Why do your friends carry about small finches in |
| early and already demanding money from some | | | | those cages!" |
| tourists. It was sad to see how he ran beside them | | | | He looked at me with uncomfortable eyes |
| and tapped the pockets of their imitation khaki | | | | and replied, |
| clothes as they started their elephant trek into the | | | | "Because for a few baht, tourists can open the |
| jungle to meet the supposedly isolated Lahu hill | | | | doors of the cages and let the birds fly to freedom!" |
| tribes. This part of Thailand seemed to attract that | | | | I looked at him, as some of his |
| brand of foreigner who regarded challenge as an | | | | supposed righteousness appeared to drain from his |
| inherent part of life, and I knew that many ventured | | | | halo. |
| further north to the opium villages of the Golden | | | | "But your desire to have money is causing these |
| Triangle near the town of Mae Sai on the border | | | | little birds to endure suffering!" I scowled. |
| with Burma. | | | | "No! we have raised the birds from birth" "They are |
| | | | now old enough to survive on their own and we |
| The mornings in this part of the world were seldom | | | | allow them to fly away and have their freedom!" he |
| silent, often an entire orchestra of monkeys and | | | | said, eager to justify the basis of his Buddhist beliefs. |
| macaos took turns to play the dawn chorus, but | | | | "But if you didn't desire to make money from them, |
| today the silence was broken by a strange melodic | | | | they would have grown up with no cages!""And |
| chant coming from the surrounding hillsides. In the | | | | really, isn't this an anology of what is happening |
| distance above us, we could see a group of | | | | everywhere in Thailand, the desire for more money |
| saffron-clad monks marching in single file down the hill | | | | in putting all your people in some sort of cages!" |
| from their monastery. My eyes focused on the | | | | "What do you mean?" he irritably replied. |
| strange procession and I noticed how some were | | | | "Well, the people of Bangkok are caged in pollution, |
| carrying aluminium begging bowls, others small | | | | the prostitues of Patpong are caged in diseases and |
| birdcages and the remainder were clapping their | | | | the young hill tribesmen here are caged in drug |
| hands to rythymical beat of the melodic mantra they | | | | manufacture!". |
| were humming. The hill tribe explorers descended | | | | He looked again at me, his dark brown eyes slowly |
| from their elephants and gathered together in a | | | | measured me up and he said, |
| bewildered group to watch the proceedings in awe. | | | | "Yes, some of our people are indeed like the birds in |
| The sound of the chanting appeared in total harmony | | | | the cage, but they wouldn't have survived without |
| with the surroundings and it gained momentum as | | | | having the desire for the same money that you say |
| the monks came closer along the pathway. Their | | | | also causes their sufferings" |
| leader moved with a self-assured dignity and his | | | | "And if the World Bank gives Thailand more |
| young countenance bestowed the feeling of an inner | | | | money, we can probably also open the doors of all |
| sense of peace. The monks represented another | | | | their cages, stop HIV, the drug problem and all the |
| world and were probably the only part of the | | | | cars and pollution". |
| surroundings that had not been sold out to the | | | | |
| tourist industry. They stopped near our party, happy | | | | "So, what exactly will your people have eventually |
| to accept some rice and a jar of curried mangoes | | | | gained from it all!" I queried! |
| from our supplies. Their leader, Praydoor sat beside | | | | "Freedom" he said, |
| me and explained that the simplistic mantra was | | | | "The freedom to become somebody like you and |
| meant to thank the earth for all its wonderful gifts | | | | be able to fly away to another land and bother the |
| and to wish for peace and harmony to be bestowed | | | | people there with your questions!" |
| upon us. He was happy to converse in English and we | | | | Like that he left me, leaving only the memory of our |
| started chatting about how long he had been a monk | | | | conversation to melt way into the mists of time. |
