With the advancement in technology, travelling from one country to another has become easy and full of luxuries today. There are various modes of transportation, each unique and offer a variety of features to choose from.

For instance, a trip to London from Pakistan takes just a few hours, however, the same trip, if taken in the 13th or 14th century, could have lasted in months.

Curious? Yes, I am taking you centuries back, when famous travellers and explorers like Marco Polo or Christopher Columbus travelled the world in search of new lands. You can have a peek at the explorations at https://www.travelbag.co.uk/a-race-of-discovery — a site that tells how these famous explorers took the voyage, their route and comparison to the transportation of today!

Like me, many of you may have never thought of how these explorers managed their way and explored new nations, lands and met new people centuries ago, despite limited resources available to them. But the site precisely tells you about the route they took in a step-by-step guide.

As you open the site, the homepage shows you the names and pictures of (not all) but some of the famous travellers, for instance, Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart, Captain Cook, Marco Polo, Zheng He and many more. Hovering the cursor on the image will give you the option to “see the journey”; clicking it will open a new page, with ‘Past’ and ‘Present’ route comparison in Google Maps.

For instance, if you click Marco Polo, who travelled from Venice, Italy to Shangdu, China in 1217. It took him four years to reach his destination. However, currently, the total journey could have lasted in 23 hours 19 minutes, as the route is replicated with the advancement in travelling technology. Isn’t it amazing?

Furthermore, if you click any of these past or the present window, the new page opens, showing you a step-by-step route at the left panel and Google Maps in the main window.

Despite all the difficulties and limited resources these explorers faced, they have contributed greatly in exploration and expansion of the world. It is because of these explorers’ comprehensive notes that we have the knowledge of people and places of those times.

So those of you interested in exploring the journeys of the famous travellers can visit: https://www.travelbag.co.uk/a-race-of-discovery

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 5th, 2021