Breathtaking Backpacking Places to Visit

"Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can't fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance."
- Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

There are some amazingly breathtaking places to go in the world, good places where you will find happiness at the cheapest prices, with just a backpack of 50 liters to carry your world in.

You learn many things interacting with people all over the world, without the artificiality and blindfolds that accompany a vacation with luxuries. There are many occasions to make friends wherever you go, and to promise one day you visit them. You know that this was how it was meant to be, that this was what humans were made for: living free.

About 116 km (70 miles), it takes you through scenic mountain routes on which you see some of the highest peaks in the world at close quarters, like the Everest, Makalu, Cho Oyu, and Lhotse, all at very low prices. There are sherpa villages to be stayed in, and harsh conditions to be acclimatized to, but it's all worth it!

A walk on the Drakensberg escarpment in South Africa, is about 65 km long. It is the ridge that borders the Lesotho plateau of the Drakensberg mountains at the border between Lesotho and South Africa.

The view from the escarpment goes down 1800 m (the mountains themselves being about 3000 m high). If you plan accordingly, you can visit the San Rock Paintings, which are a world heritage site. The lushness of the area will surprise you, since it is one of the more forgotten parts of the world.

Three of the main ones are The Classic, The Mollepatta, and the One Day routes, ranging in difficulty and anywhere between one- to ten-day treks. You are guaranteed plenty of ruins, llamas, and mountains to last you a lifetime.

People usually undertake from the North Kaibab Trail to the Bright Angel Trail in the south, covering a distance of 24 miles (including ascent and descent from the banks of the river). It is a grueling hike, but you have pit stops along the way where you can refuel. The view from the banks of the Colorado is the best part.

This route takes the backpacker to the frigid areas around the Arctic Circle, in a sparse and unexplored, but intensely beautiful country. Make your own paths across the 200km route from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut, with plenty of wild food you can catch yourself (though you shouldn't).

The area is good for summer, if you want to see the vestiges of Greenland in its former icy glory. A lot of tundra, falling glaciers along the coastline, fjords and human remains inhabit the land.

This is the longest trail in the list, at 3,500 km of the Appalachians, from the Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, spanning 14 North American states.

An adventure fest in its own right, it takes about five to seven months for a fit person to finish the trek. It offers breathtaking sights in the first few miles itself, like the 30-Mile-Wilderness, the Lower Wilson Falls, with the Blue Mountain, Anthony's Nose, and Kittatinny Ridge coming in later.

If one opts for the Machame route, it will take you through the most scenic areas of forests and wildlife, with views of Kibo and Mount Meru, albeit at a price of high foot traffic and high difficulty levels.

You can start at a bigger town and make your way across the landscape to smaller settlements, like the ones at Dourou, Songo, or Bandiagara. Tempting as it may seem to interact with the locals who have lived there for centuries, you need to respect them and their rites. It can prove a wonderful experience in a new land.

Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, Jerash, Dana Nature Reserve, and the archaeologically significant site at Petra, which means you will have to hitch hike a bit to get around in the absolute heat.

Make sure you visit the ruins at Anatolia and take a look at the Roman aqueducts that were constructed in the city. It is the haven of travel enthusiasts and backpackers.

Take a ride from scenic Kashmir in Ladakh and Srinagar, to the beaches of Goa. There is immense diversity here every few miles, enough to satisfy the most curious traveler. Be wary of swindlers and gold-diggers, though.

The Simien Mountains National Park offers a very beautiful landscape for travelers wanting to hike across Ethiopia. The amount of flora and fauna one comes across here is breathtaking to say the least.

The land gently flows over, at an altitude of 3,600 m above sea level. Trekking with guides is encouraged, though not necessary. It's just that there aren't many helpful facilities for the independent visitor. Taking a scout along won't hurt, though.

The list here is just the tip of the iceberg. One can backpack across any and every terrain, starting from one's own backyard to the neighboring city.

Seasoned backpackers know this already, but always make sure to research about the locals and their habits, cultures and customs, economic situations and atmosphere of the country you want to go to, before you decide to go gallivanting across the hemisphere. Keep a few safety measures in place and your documents at all times and you're good to go!

"Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains of the moon.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit