Aussie horseman follows path of Genghis Khan

updated 8:28 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2007

BUDAPEST, Hungary - He scared off wolves with firecrackers in Mongolia and rescued his dog from hungry miners in Kazakhstan. But after three years on horseback, Tim Cope has retraced the route of Genghis Khan and other Asian nomads who crossed into Europe over the centuries.

The 28-year-old Australian arrived in Hungary on Saturday, ending a 6,200-mile trek through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, southern Russia and Ukraine.

"I'm very happy to be here," Cope said in the Hungarian town of Opusztaszer, surrounded by his traveling companions — his dog and three horses. "Sometimes I didn't think I would ever arrive."

A former law student who decided to dedicate his life to adventure, writing and film documentaries, Cope was inspired to make the horseback journey during a bicycle trip from Moscow to Beijing. Trying to push his bike through the sands of the Gobi Desert, Cope watched in frustration as nomad horsemen appeared out of nowhere and disappeared over the horizon.

That got him interested in nomad life on the steppes and the journey made over the centuries by the Avars, Mongols and Huns, among other Asian groups. He set off from Mongolia in 2004 for a trip he thought would take 18 months. It ended up taking three years, and in late 2006, he had to return to Australia for several months when his father died in car crash.

According to Hungarian tradition, Magyar tribal leaders arriving from Central Asia at the end of the 9th century met in Opusztaszer, 90 miles south of Budapest, to divide the land among themselves.

"Here at the Danube River is where the Eurasian steppe ends, with its beginning in Mongolia and Manchuria," Cope said. "So Opusztaszer is the perfect ending symbolically and geographically."

Cope, 28, traveled with three horses and black hunting dog named Tigon that he received as a gift in Kazakhstan. Twice, he had to get his horses back from thieves. In the Kazakh steppes, it became so hot that he added a camel for a while.

Cope, who speaks Russian, quickly learned to trust the wisdom of locals.

Skeptical of wolf danger — at first
"In Mongolia, the nomads always told me that wolves were the most dangerous things on the steppe and I didn't believe them, at first," he said.

Then one night he found himself surrounded by howling wolves.

"When you hear that howl alone at night in the forest, it's one of the most frightening sounds you'll ever hear," Cope said. "After that I took their advice and threw firecrackers out my tent door every night to keep the wolves away."

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