On the Trail of Genghis Khan Quotes

“Marco Polo, who wrote that Mongol couriers could cover 250 or even 300 miles in a single day. Reading historical tales about such exploits, one could be forgiven for imagining the steppe as a single flat grassland through which horsemen moved with a sense of freedom and ease. Here on horseback, though, it was clear the cavalry were negotiating deserts, mountains, rivers, swamps, heat, and frosts, and somehow keeping their horses fed and healthy, even before leaving Mongolia.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“The Finns are part of the Finno-Ugric group of peoples, and are related to many different indigenous peoples that stretch right across the belt of forest and tundra regions of Russia and Siberia, as far as the Pacific.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“Just as it was hard to say precisely when the summer came to an end and when autumn fully took hold, my journey did not come to close in one time in one place. There were, rather, many endings, and later many new beginnings.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“at the zenith of Mongol power nomad herders of the little-known steppes of East Asia ruled an empire that included some of the most populous cities on earth and stretched from Korea in the east to Hungary in the west, the tropics of South East Asia in the south—”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“Stooped forward, veins flaring at his temples, he wrenched rather than shook my hand while declaring that his life was devoted to the love of three things: horses, pigeons, and women. As I would soon learn, he was determined to introduce me to all three as soon as possible.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“That evening the sky cleared, and as the last light retreated, the breeze slowed to a halt and cold fell like a heavy blanket. I found my calm once more in the quiet of camp, and revelled in the feeling that there was little separating us from the stars.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“This is to certify that in addition to the permit of the 29th November Australian traveler Tim Cope can transport his three horses by riding them. His one dog can be carried by its four legs.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“Khubilai’s capital in China, Khanbalikh (also known as Ta-tu or Dadu), was symbolic of the way Mongol rulers amalgamated the diverse cultures, beliefs, and skills of their domains. In it were built a shrine for Confucians, an altar with Mongolian soil and grass from the steppes, and buildings of significant Chinese architectural influence. As historian Morris Rossabi points out, Khubilai “sought the assistance of Persian astronomers and physicians, Tibetan Buddhist monks” and “Central Asian [Muslim] soldiers.” One can only imagine it must have been a city of grand cosmopolitan dimensions.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“On the other hand, the achievements of the Mongols, military and otherwise, have been widely lauded as evidence of a highly sophisticated and worldly people. The Mongols created not only the largest contiguous land empire in history but an empire that, despite the terror it raised, initiated broad social programs, showed remarkable religious and cultural tolerance, and ushered in a relatively stable era of economic prosperity.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads

“In 1240, the year before the Mongols crossed the Carpathians into Hungary, the renowned English monk of St. Albans, Matthew Paris, described the Mongols as “the detestable people of Satan” who were “inhuman and Beastly, rather Monsters than men, thirsting for and drinking blood, tearing and devouring the flesh of Dogges and Men.”
― Tim Cope, On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey Through the Land of the Nomads