THE roads were slick with ice, the ground was caked with hardened snow, and the stiff winds made an already brutally cold day in the Virginia suburbs feel below zero. Yet people came out by the hundreds. A group of Buddhist monks who had walked all the way from Texas stopped at a Ramada Inn in Triangle, Virginia, about 60km from Washington, their final destination. They were swarmed by crowds, just as they had been at nearly every stop along their journey.

Source: The Star February 20, 2026 01:10 UTC