FA Hutchison

Kathmandu:

I’m somewhat of an expert about dhal bhat, in addition to enjoying it in Nepal, I prepare this Nepali staple in the USA. But, then again, there’s dhal bhat and there’s dhal bhat. The black soupy dhal you get out in villages, ugh! The best in Nepal, I’ve discovered is available at a

‘hidden’ restaurant in Paten (Kumaripati), Rato Ghar. Of course, what is important is the dhal, as anyone can steam white rice. At Rato Ghar their’s is a wonderfully thick yellow dhal, with all the right spices (including cilantro). Pawan Lama, the chef at Rato Ghar, knows how to cook!

But, soon I’ll have to forego my dhat bhat (at Rato Ghar) for tsampa and duck, as we’re continuing our ‘Pilgrimage to Mt Kailas,’ to Tibet/China. We’ve come all the way from Colorado, USA, via Europe. ( Note: For details about our ‘peace pilgrimage,’ both text and images, go to: www.cyclingpeace.org.) Cycling peace is what we’re all about. Talking about it, talking about the concept of consciousness, and how we believe peace is such, and thus the need to raise awareness and understanding. (Note: I fly a flag on my bicycle which reads in Nepali: ‘Antar chetana shanti ko dhoka!’ We also talk about the simplest, yet most powerful energy in existence, love! You put out, love, you get love back!) Certainly it’s been all the loving people along the way that has made ‘Pilgrimage to Mt Kailas,’ a wonderful experience! Here’s an example of what happened when I found myself lost in Germany (April, 04). Outside of Husum, Germany, I ended up on a highway where I shouldn’t have been.

So, I headed for ‘Zentrum.’ ‘Zentrum’ means ‘city center’ in German. ‘Centrum,’ means the same in Dutch, Swedish, and Danish. Stuck next to a line of automobiles waiting for a light to change, I knocked on one driver’s window! It just so happened that I picked the right driver, a young man named Tim. Not only did he help, but he changed his entire day just for me! He was very frustrated he couldn’t speak better English, but I kept reassuring him I understood. He took me the Central RR station in an attempt to find a map. Then when that didn’t work we went to the machines to check about a ticket. (Note: You buy everything by machine in Europe.) I didn’t really understand as I had had no plans to take a passenger train. While we were figuring the possibilities a German woman named Petra Ulpts Lamping approached us. She offered a deal, basically a ticket to the town where I needed to spend the night. I was suspicious, however.

Then while the three of us discussed my situation, another German woman walked up and pressed $50 US cash into my hand (in Euro). I was overcome! In just a matter of moments all my problems had been solved. Not only did I get a RR ticket, cash, Petra diverted her return trip home so I would have a companion (she was concerned I wouldn’t get to where I was going). So, within hours of being lost outside of Husum, Germany, I was on a train with Petra, zooming through the countryside toward The Netherlands. The German woman, Rotraut Boyens, who handed me the $50 US and I have since become friends, starting a fund to help travellers we call ‘The Loving-Kindness Fund!’ From the German/Holland border I cycled down to Utrecht, The Netherlands, where I lived with the de Vries family-cycling some 4,000 km/3,000 miles all over Holland in the six months I was in The Netherlands.

Then in January 05, I flew from Amsterdam, The Netherlands to Kathmandu, Nepal (courtesy of Dr CM Yogi and the Hindu Vidyapeeth School system). On the flight from Amsterdam, Holland, to the UAE, I slept most of the way. But, having a window seat I awoke to the desolate desert of Iraq, backlit with the rising sun. The dusty waves of the war waffed up into my mind like, ‘Down there, people are getting killed. People are suffering!’ I wonder then when, ‘…will each person’s good, be everyone’s rule, and peace be like a shaft of light across the land?’

Waiting for me at Tribhuvan Airport was my dear friend Subodh Gautam (and his friend Thanka Pokharel). And thank God they’d had the patience to wait, as I was hours trying to get through customs!