A long ride with a crucial message

An environment activist and two social workers from Nepal are riding through Thailand on a cycling tour of Asia to promote ecology and goodwill on a “World Bicycle Tour for Environmental Protection and World Peace”.
Anish Dhakal, Dilip Chhetri and Nirmal Baral set out from Mahendranagar in Nepal in December and have already visited India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Laos en route to Cambodia and Vietnam.
Dhakal told The Nation that the massively destructive 2015 earthquake in his homeland also delivered a powerful lesson.
“It taught me that we’re just guests on this planet and no one is immortal here,” he said. “I also realised that our lives can only be meaningful if we do something for Mother Earth.”

Nepal, the world’s highest-altitude country, suffered immensely from the earthquake in April 2015, which prompted the three young men to recognise how human ignorance about the need to protect the earth leads to further conflict and destruction of the environment.
Team leader Dhakal, 21, and Chettri, 22, are business students in Kathmandu. Baral, 38, is a business graduate who does social work. All three are members of Dynamic Hands, a youth organisation.
Touring Asia by bicycle was the obvious choice, since it’s the eco-friendliest means of transportation. “We’re using no fuel, and at the same time we’re getting healthier,” Dhakal said.
Leaving Mahendranagar (Bhimdatta) near the Indian border on December 30, they cycled through Uttar Pradesh and reached New Delhi on January 4. They visited Benapole, Kolkata, Dhaka and Sylhet that same month and crossed to Sri Lanka on February 3. From Yangon they headed for Thailand, crossing the border at Mae Sot on February 28.

“We’ve come across a lot of people, especially young people, who are really interested in talking to us and asking questions about our trip,” says Dhakal. “It’s helped us spread our message of environment protection and world peace via talks, interviews and sharing our ideas and experiences about living an eco-friendly lifestyle. We talk about global warming and climate change and we emphasise the importance of peace and love around the earth.
“Wherever we get the chance we speak with people, we tell them, ‘Just say no to plastic.’ Where there are a lot of people we’ll get off our bikes and push them along as we spread the message, saying, ‘If we can travel from one country to another via bicycle, why not use one just once a week? If you do, it decreases your carbon footprint. Cycling helps protect the environment and your health at the same time.”
Dhakal said they’re under no illusions that they can change the world, “but we do believe our tour sends a symbolic message to people, and we hope it changes some people’s lives and helps make this world a better place”.

“We humans have been so greedy, taking everything from the planet and giving nothing back. But the planet is very strong and still thriving, so we should make every effort to save it for the generations to come.”
The trio has no sponsorships or other sources of funding, so they’re using their own money and otherwise relying on the generosity of the people they meet along the road. They sleep wherever they’re offered accommodation, including in Bangkok at Wat Phra Ram IX.
“Sometimes we stay in temples and sometimes we pitch our tent. We want to keep everything as environmentally friendly as we can,” said Dhakal, adding that contacting the local media has been a priority all along. “If a news story motivates only one person we’d be content, because one person can influence 10 other people, like a domino effect.”
They estimate they’ll spend five years on the road in total. After that, they want to publish a book about their experiences and keep the message going.