" If you think adventure is dangerous try routine life, it is lethal"

                 .Paulo Coelho

 The following 3 travellers of ancient world in spite of all the adversities and dangers somehow gathered the courage to hit the roads quite literally. The list comprises of travellers born before 1400 AD and is in no particular order.

No.3

• MARCO POLO

           

  (1254-1324 AD)

Imagine going on your adventures and returning home after 24 years only to find your own nation at war and immediately getting imprisoned. Now that is some adventure. It's the TL:DR of Marco Polo.

        He was born in Venice and traveled to Asia along the silk route with his father and uncle. He greatly impressed the Mangol king Kublai Khan with his impeccable wits and knowledge. After being made the foreign emissary to the king he traveled to Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and several other countries. His 17 years in China really helped Europeans to get a better understanding of the Orient. 

        On his return he found Venice was at war with Genoa, he was imprisoned but released in 1299. Eventually he got married and had three children. His travel records can be found in " The travels of Marco Polo "  also known as "  Book of the Marvels of the world ". For more dramatised version you can check out the Netflix series of the same name " Marco Polo ". 

No.2

•  IBN BATTUTA

                (1304-1368 AD)

He was a famous Moroccan scholar and explorer. With 27 years and 117,000 kilometres of travel under his belt he dictated all his travels in the book called " RIHLA".

        Although some of his accounts of travel are often questioned and suspected to be work of fiction, nevertheless his travel accounts are important literary work which give a great insight into the bygone era. He travelled across entire Africa, Arabia to Central Asia then to south east asia, India and eventually to China.

No.1

•     XUAN ZANG

              ( HSUAN - TSANG)

                   (602-664 AD)

Widely regarded as the greatest Chinese traveller to exist ever. He went on his travels 600 years before Marco Polo or Ibn battuta.

       The sheer predicaments of his  journey can be understood by the fact that it took him 17 years to reach India from China by travelling through inaccessible Himalayas via Khyber pass. 

       He was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to India in order to find the origins of Buddhism and to acquire the sacred books and knowledge on Buddhism. He recorded his adventures and experiences in " Great Tang records on the Western regions". The impeccable accuracy of his journal can be understood by the fact that even present  day archaeologist have taken its help to find ancient sites described by him.

Conclusion: I am amazed at what these fabulous ancient travellers could accomplish with such limited resources and wonder what they would have done today with all the available AirBNBs, Couchsurfing, Uber and frequent flyer miles at their disposal.