He looks happy to see us and does not look like an old solitary bear.
The interior of this cave is a mixture of styles and colors and the functional has largely outweighed the aesthetic.
With the help of my various questions, he tells us that he was in the army until the 1970s. Now he is 83 years old. As I try to know a little more about his radical change of “career” he develops and explains to us that he was graded and had soldiers under his authority.
One day his superiors asked him to go on the offensive (I suppose against the rebels of the region) and use the weapons. He refused and left the army shortly after. Later he separated from his wife and children to live a hermit retreat and it seems to suit him.
This cave had access clogged by a collapse and was discovered a hundred years ago. The nights are cool according to the seasons and the inside of the cave is obviously very wet.
His bed is in a corner of the cave with a prayer corner at the bottom. Some small birds nest in some holes and share the places with the hermit.
He was attracted by the guide’s glasses, he tried them and I find that he has an amazing “look”, a mixture of military junta and religious summarizing his journey.
The discussion and the finished tea brought us back to the door of his cave.
It is this moment and precise look that is difficult to reconstitute in a photograph that moves me and convince me that the most beautiful treasures in the world, the palaces and the most sumptuous temples will never replace the simple emotion produced by the expression Humanity, gentleness and kindness of an old hermit at the dusk of his life taking us back happy with this little encounter.
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