Travellers of Yore

A random list of some of my favorite travelers, with a bias against missionaries, sailors, invaders and colonialists -:

1. Hiuen Tsang, China
2. Fa-Hien, China
3. Ibn Batuta, Morocco
4. Marco Polo, Venice
5. Fernão Mendes Pinto, Portugal
6. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Spain
7. Lewis and Clark, America
8. Sven Hedin, Sweden
9. Ferdinand von Richthofen, Germany
10. Richard Francis Burton, England
11. Adi B. Hakim, Jal P. Bapasola, Rustom B. Bhumgara, India
12. Jack Kerouac, USA

1. Hiuen Tsang
Chinese Buddhist monk/scholar who traveled to India around 630 AD on a pilgrimage to acquire sacred scriptures. He traveled the length of India and some parts of Ceylon. He also spent time with scholars at Nalanda University during its hey days, under Harshavardhana. I've been reading Samuel Beal's translation of an account of his travels, by his disciple HuiLi, called The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang. His own extensive writings on his travels Si-Yu-Ki , is next on my reading list.

2. Fahien
Another Chinese Buddhist monk/scholar who was the first traveller to leave an account of his travels to Central Asia, India and Ceylon. He predated Hiuen Tsang, and his visit to India was around 399 AD. His mission was to specifically find the scriptures of Vinaya Pitaka, which detailed the monastic rules set by Mahayana buddhism, and also visit sacred sites. I am currently reading Samuel Beal's translation of an account of his travels, Travels of Fah Hian and Sung Yun from China to India: 400 AD to 518 AD

The rest in the list will follow...