Draped in ?burnt-orange robes, two dozen Buddhist monks arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday on a 2,300-mile ¡°Walk for Peace,¡± a self-described spiritual journey across nine states that has been cheered on by crowds of thousands.

¡°People want this,¡± said Joan Donoghue, 59, from Silver Spring, Maryland, who had come out with four of her friends on Tuesday to see the monks. ¡°I went on Sunday in Virginia and I waited outside for a long time and I talked to so many people and they all said the same thing: that our country ?needs this. We feel divided and people want more kindness and more compassion and more peace.¡±

The monks began their walk in Texas more than three months ago, ?at times ?braving frigid winter temperatures, sometimes with bare feet, to raise ¡°awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.¡±