Aussie horseman follows path of Genghis Khan

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In the Kazakh village of Akbakai, Tigon was snatched by unemployed gold miners looking for a meal. Villagers found Tigon seven days later, locked in a mine shaft and nearly frozen to death. He had to be nursed back to health with vodka and raw eggs.

When he was ready to move on, the villagers tried to help with some directions: "Go left to the old well. Turn right to the red mountain. Take a right until you see an old grave, and then take the road to the old hut ..."

"Problem was ... there were hundreds of red mountains, old graves, not to mention roads," Cope wrote in a journal on his Web site.

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When he finally made it to the next town, Ulanbel, he encountered more of the Kazakh hospitality he had relied on for much of his trip.

"At passing the first house, a man spotted me from the window and came bolting out in his silky green gown and fur hat. He probably looked out this window all his life, and on this morning spotted a pretty dirty, unshaven Australian with a string of horses," Cope wrote. "Soon my horses were tied in his backyard and I was drinking tea with his family."

‘Everyone wants you to stay’
Cope says he probably spent about half of his nights in his tent and the rest in farm houses and huts of strangers along the way.

"In Kazakhstan, once you're someone's guest, it's really hard to get away, everyone wants you to stay," he said. "They believe that if you invite a guest, luck will fly into your house."

Cope brought gifts from Australia to exchange with his hosts and gave away many hundreds of photographs. "Exchanging gifts is an important thing in the steppe culture, a way for them to feel you have become a part of their lives," he said.

Cope, who won the Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year award last year, wants to complete a book and a film about his voyage, and is already envisioning future adventures in northwest China and the Middle East.

"It's my way of life, it was not just a trip," Cope said. "I'll be back in the saddle as soon as I can."