People travel to marvel at the mountains, seas, rivers and stars; and they pass right by themselves without astonishment.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.

Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.

Although I deeply love oceans, deserts and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty. They keep me continuously wanting to know more, feel more, see more.

It was like a carpet that went right to the mountains. It was spectacular.