6 legendary travelers in history

Also known as Hsuan Chwang, this Buddhist monk explored southern Asia in order to find the origin of Buddhism. He crossed the Himalayas to see what is now Pakistan, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Xuanzang documented his 17-year journey, which helped future scholars to discover many ancient religious sites.

Ibn Battuta was a Muslim scholar who started his journeys at the age of 20 and traveled all the way from Morocco to China, India, and even Maldives. He explored most of the Islamic Asia, northern Africa and southeastern Europe. In almost 30 years, he covered around 120,000 km (75,000 miles).

Being one of the most famous travelers of all times, he became the first European to visit many Asian places. In 1270s, Marco Polo, together with his father and uncle, traveled along the Silk Route and explored Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia and China. After having settled in China, he also reached India, Burma, Singapore and Sumatra.

Jeanne Baret is recognized as the first woman to go around the globe. She took a part in an expedition disguised as a man and calling herself Jean Baret. She was an expert botanist, and originally started her journey to explore new types of plants. As a result, she visited Uruguay, Brazil, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea.

A daughter of a reverend who often moved around England, Bird was really fond of nature, horse riding and traveling. Despite her constant health problems, Bird visited many Asian, American and African countries and became a passionate missionary advocate. She established multiple orphanages and hospitals in poor Asian regions.

What if we told you there were countries on our planet you've never heard of? Take a look on this list to get surprised.

Stark spent many years in the Middle East and wrote more than 20 books on local culture and history, many of which were autobiographical and highly personal. She was among the first Europeans to visit remote regions of Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq and other Eurasian countries.