On the Trail of Genghis Khan (Australia)

Australian adventurer Tim Cope continues his amazing journey across the Eurasian steppe from Mongolia to Hungary. With a perilous winter approaching, Tim must now cross Kazakhstan, the largest nomad nation on Earth stretching thousands of kilometres through rugged mountains, desolate steppe and desert to the Caspian Sea. Tim is forced to leave his Mongolian horses behind, and after buying three new Kazakh mounts finds himself in the midst of a Zhude, the harsh winters that sweep across Eurasia every few years wiping out entire herds and encasing the land in ice. A local man named Aset befriends Tim and accompanies him for the first ten days of this part of his journey. Deeply concerned about Tim’s safety, Aset gives his dog, Tigon, a young Kazakh hunting dog, to Tim. Tigon’s job is to protect Tim from wolves and keep him warm at night. As the coldest winter in 40 years closes in, Tim heads south to escape the deep snow and is forced to travel along a remote railway where one of his horses is stolen by vodka-swilling rail workers. The temperature plummets to minus 40 degrees, his tent is breaking up – it’s a miserable Christmas Eve. Desperate for shelter, Tim seeks refuge in an isolated mining town. Tigon is stolen and Tim is beginning to understand why the town is known locally as ‘the place that God forgot’.

Australian adventurer Tim Cope has now travelled 3,000 kilometres across Mongolia and the frozen steppe of Kazakhstan, enduring the coldest winter in 40 years. Now he must cross the scorching hot Kazakh desert. Tim’s spirits finally lift when Tigon is found alive in an old mining shack. After five failed attempts to leave ‘the place God forgot’, the dawning of spring allows Tim to escape and recommence his journey. From the Aral Sea Tim must cross the desert in the middle of summer to the Caspian Sea. Temperatures soar to 50 degrees and without shade or water, death would be a certainty. After more than a year on the road, Tim is beginning to think and behave like a nomad and as his second winter sets in, he makes it to the Republic of Kalmykiain in southern Russia. The Kalymks, who are rediscovering their nomadic past after years under Communist control, embrace Tim as a hero. Tim has finally found the nomad spirit he is searching for, but beyond Kalmykia, Tim is to discover that not everyone will offer him the same hospitality and kindness, and he will soon suffer the greatest tragedy of his life.

Inspired by the nomads of Mongolia whose ancestors created the largest empire in history, Australian adventurer Tim Cope set out alone to ride by horse from Mongolia, 10,000kms across the great Eurasian steppe to Hungary. With his three horses and his dog Tigon, Tim has now travelled more than 4000 kilometres across Mongolia and Kazakhstan to the Buddhist Republic of Kalmykia in Southern Russia. With the passing of his second winter he must now press on across Russia to the Black Sea and Crimea. Until now Tim has been travelling through wild, unfenced steppe, but he is suddenly thrown into the ploughed fields of the sedentary world where he is not welcome. Down and out, Tim eventually finds support from the Cossacks who were once horseback warriors who adopted nomad customs, and they see in Tim the values that embody their heritage. The local Cossack mafia treat Tim like one of their own and arrange for a safe crossing into the Crimea. Descending to the town of Bakhchisarai, the old capital of the Crimean Khanate, Tim finds himself in the midst of a conflict between the indigenous Crimean Tatars and the local Russians. Rattled by the violence, Tim travels onwards through the heat of summer to mainland Ukraine. It seems that the hardship is over and Tim is on the home run as he heads into his third consecutive winter with just 2000kms to Hungary. He is badly mistaken…

With his three horses and dog, Tigon, Tim Cope has now travelled more than 7,000 kilometres across Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Crimea into mainland Ukraine. Facing his third winter and with just 2,000 kilometres to Hungary, it seemed that he was finally on the home run until he received tragic news from Australia. His world shattered, Tim leaves his horses with a local man and flies back to Australia. Tim is faced with a dilemma: to stay with his family or return to complete the journey. After four months he makes the painful decision to return. For support, Tim draws on what he has learnt among the nomads about the importance of family and the transience of life. From here on it will be a journey of recovery as he tries to rediscover meaning and inspiration and confront the loneliest part of the journey. As spring dawns and his horses are brought back to health, meetings with a 96-year-old babushka and an eccentric mayor begin to lift Tim's spirits. Tim crosses the first ridge in the Carpathian Mountains and descends into the world of the semi-nomadic Hutsul people where he is mentored by a seven foot priest called Ivan. He's invited as an honoured guest to a festival to celebrate the migration of the Hutsuls to the high mountain pastures. Next, Tim must face his own crossing of the highest ridges of the Carpathians. Given a holy blessing by Ivan, Tim heads off in the face of a fierce storm knowing that the most dangerous challenge lies ahead.

After mourning the loss of his father, Australian adventurer Tim Cope returns to continue his journey and now has to face the greatest physical challenge – crossing the highest peaks of the Carpathian Mountains. Beyond them lies the Danube River, which represents the end of the Eurasian steppe and the very edge of the nomad world. After crossing the high ridge, Tim continues across the high plains where he loses his way, but meets a group of toughened, young sheep-milking boys. The friendliness among these mountain people is in contrast to the reception Tim receives in the villages near the border of Hungary. In a land where there is more grass that he has seen on his journey, no one is prepared to give him hay or let his horses graze. After a bureaucratic battle on the border, Tim is welcomed by some Hungarian horsemen who escort him to the Danube and put him up in a traditional yurt tent. At the Danube Tim’s journey is finally over – this is the end of the steppe and the end of the nomad world. The first crossing of the steppe on horseback in modern times has caught the attention of the world media, and ambassadors from Australia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia line up to greet Tim for an emotional finale. Tim has learnt to measure his experience by the hundreds of friends he has made along the way, and is now a different man than he was when he began three and a half years earlier having set off with an impossible dream.