There’s nothing like the feeling when it comes, when you’re winded and sweating and ready to give up — it hits you hard: accomplishment.

That feeling comes as a result of your continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it washes over you at the summit of a mountain that took hours to climb. Sometimes it arrives after a short but perilous trek, perhaps with reindeer as companions, to a one-of-a-kind natural wonder, or after a dayslong journey down an ancient path. Sometimes it accompanies you when you leap out of your comfort zone and into a faraway place steeped in history.

Consider brushing up on your Norse mythology before venturing to northern Norway for one of Europe’s most surprising hikes. “It’s like God himself took his ax and made a mark in the Earth.” That’s how Trygve Nygård of the Finnmark-based adventure company Glød Explorer prepares his guests for the views during walks to the rim of Northern Europe’s largest canyon, which stretches more than 7 miles long.

Nygård isn’t talking about any old god, however. He’s quick to clarify that the ax-wielding deity he imagines at work here must have been a Viking one. After all, “the one in the Bible is probably much more peaceful,” he says.

The bus hasn’t even made it into third gear when the driver tells us it’s time to get out. Half an hour ago we were eating salteñas (Bolivia’s juicier, more delicious answer to the empanada) in a suburban café, and now we’re standing on a 15,000-foot Andean pass being buffeted by sleet. Before you start to question our sanity, know that by tomorrow morning we’ll be hiking through a subtropical wonderland.

The Choro Trail is a 34-mile pre-Hispanic — and may even be pre-Incan — trail on the outskirts of Bolivia’s capital. Over three days, you’ll descend from 15,900 feet to 4,265 feet on mostly paved stone paths, passing through little-changed ancient communities that still use the road daily, and experience a dazzling illustration of the impacts of altitude on climate, vegetation and the human psyche. It’s cheap, uncrowded and — perhaps most importantly — almost all downhill.