The cyclists started their world tour in December 2004 and have crossed 114 countries and regions
After cycling over 114 countries and regions around the globe, Lok Bandhu Karki and Janardan Khanal made their way to Macau last week. On a mission to “promote the message of world peace and universal brotherhood,” the two Nepalese bicyclists have entered the eleventh year of their journey.
“India, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh, Thailand…” When citing the countries they’ve visited, Mr Karki would rattle off a ceaseless list in one breath. “If you watch the world from one corner, it is full of crime and criminal activities, like stealing, robbery, rape, murder, kidnapping, bribery and terrorism. So the bad and criminal activities inspired us to do this,” he told the Times.
The peace promoter stressed that every child is “pure” at the time of birth and then is later forced to belong to different religious or political groups. “But naturally every child is first of all a human being. So we want to ask everyone to give more priority to peace and humanity than to religion and politics,” he said.
“We do not claim that our bicycle tour definitely brings or establishes peace in the world or globally strengthens pure humanity among the people of the earth, but we believe it surely gives a kind of symbolic spiritual message about the importance, necessity and value of peace and brotherhood.”
Before embarking on the world tour in December 2004, Mr Karki was a teacher in a college. “We are suffering from violence, conflict and war,” he said, calling the decade-long bicycle tour “a small endeavor to create a peaceful world from outside [Nepal].”
This “small endeavor” is not an easy task. “To tour by bicycle is so difficult, troublesome and risky. Sometimes the bicycle does not carry us – we should carry the bicycle,” he said, laughing.
Hitting unknown and lonesome roads is commonplace, whereas “facing some crisis due to robbery, pickpocketing or terrorists” is of no surprise either. They have had to save themselves “from the mouth of death more than nine times.”
“The critical situation was in South Sudan. On our bicycles, there are always three flags: one of Nepal; one of the peace and humanity cause; and the flag of the country that we are visiting. When we showed the flag of North Sudan in South Sudan, the people [were suspicious of] us; they thought we had been sent by North Sudan as spies, and they kept us in jail for three days,” he recalled.
The cyclist added that they had “many things robbed; [had been] nearly killed in Bangkok, Thailand; and had more than seventeen digital cameras as well as ten mobile phones stolen in different places.”
“Mainly there are no fixed places for sleeping or fixed things for eating. In the nights, we need to stop [to sleep]. Sometimes in the forest, sometimes in the desert, sometimes in people’s houses, sometimes in a temple, monastery, church, mosque, coffee shop, bus station, railway station or park also,” he explained.
Language difference is also a great barrier, and many people do not understand what they are doing. “If someone is interested to know about us and our bicycle tour, we stop cycling and give the message paper to them. When they read the message in their own language, they can understand; then they feel we are doing good, and they do not [oppose] our mission,” he said.
The two cyclists are now pedaling through the city on a ten-day visit. They are then scheduled to fly to their next destination, Japan, on Friday.
“The tour is also expensive. We have already spent at least USD80,000 [each]. We have taken some 30 flights and also boat trips,” said Mr Karki, explaining that most of the expense was subsidized by sponsorship from aid groups and local governments.
“We are getting positive feedback from the governmental and public sectors almost everywhere,” he said.
The cyclists estimated that they would take another two-and-a-half years to complete their journey through a total of 153 countries and regions. “After completing this tour, we still have plans to create a book; the name of the book will be ‘The World I Understood,’” said Mr Karki, adding that they also plan to open a foster home.
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