... and no doubt much more compelling in person.
This is one of the dangers of the internet: Because we get all the photos and the videos, the sound and the spectacle straight into our living rooms, we think we get the smell too. But we don't. And we forget that reality can sometimes be brutally more than the electronics on our desktops.
But here's a small collection anyway, my humble attempts to remember what I saw and what I heard, until I go there again.
It starts at four in the morning, with clothes and make-up.
D300 with 50mm f/1.8 @ f/2.0
Then, they gather to listen to the monk, still before dawn.
D300 with 50mm f/1.8 @ f/2.0
Outside, ready for the tour to the temples of the town, to listen to the monks at each place.
D300 with 80-200mm AF-S @ 200mm and f/4.0
The 50 or so boys, who just a few days ago were running around, playing football and doing everything boys do, are carried by their fathers, uncles and older brothers around the mountain town, dancing, not walking, through the streets.
D300 with 80-200mm AF-S @ 155mm and f/4.0
And at last, on the third day, the big parade, with the whole community participating, thousands of people, some of whom have travelled for hours to be there, and most of them in traditional clothing.
D300 with 80-200mm AF-S @ 175mm and f/7.1
Most of the boys will be monks for a few weeks only, some will stay longer, and a selected few will remain for the rest of their lives. But the most important part is the way this community works together. It's not a national day and not a graduation ceremony, it's both and more. It's Poi Sang Long.