72-year-old hiker begins 22,000km trek following in footsteps of Marco Polo
A 72-year-old Italian hiker has begun a 22,000 kilometre trip from Venice to Beijing, following in the footsteps of her hero, Marco Polo.
Vienna Cammarota started her journey from the explorer’s birthplace on Wednesday, April 27, and is planning to travel across 15 countries while following the medieval trade route.
If all goes to plan, Ms Cammarota will be arriving in Beijing by December 2025, as reported by NZ Herald.
Following the route taken by Marco Polo 750 years ago, Ms Cammarota will be supported on her trip by her three daughters and grandchildren, who will send parcels of food and clothes as she needs them.
But you can’t undertake such a trip without some cash, and Ms Cammarota told local media she has saved a total of 40,000 Euros ahead of the trek.
“But I will look for hospitality to save as much as I can and where I can,” she added.
This historically-inspired trip isn’t the first Ms Cammarota has taken, but it’s definitely her most ambitious.
The experienced hiker previously walked the length of Nepal to Everest, followed Jesus’ Biblical route through Palestine, and trekked across the Italian Alps in the footsteps of German philosopher Goethe.
“I love history, culture and archaeology, and I walk in order to see and recount, but above all to listen,” she explained.
To make her journey less monotonous, she told the Euro-Cities blog she would spend the time reading her copy of Marco Polo’s diary and by performing mental arithmetic.
Image: Vienna Cammarota (Facebook)