Tim Cope is an award winning author, adventurer, explorer and film-maker with a special interest in the traditional cultures of Central Asia and Russia. He has worked as a wilderness guide in the sub-arctic regions of Finland and Russia, ridden a bicycle across Russia to China, and rowed a boat along the Yenisey River through Siberia to the Arctic Ocean.

His most renowned journey was a 3 year, 6000 kilometre journey from Mongolia west to Hungary on the trail of Genghis Khan - a quest to understand the horseback nomads of the great Eurasian steppes. 'On the Trail of Genghis Khan' is his book of that great journey. On this journey he travelled mostly on horseback and camped in many wild and remote locations along his route.

He talks first of the need for friends amongst the local people when crossing the vast almost empty grasslands and deserts of Central Asia..

He goes on to talk of the experience of camping in wild country where the howl of wolves kept him awake at night. He describes the precautions he took to guard his campsite. As he explains, wolves rarely attack people, they were more interested in the horses. If anything happened to them then he would have had real problems. During daylight hours the wolves kept away, but the problem was at night.

Bruce remembers the fierce dogs he discovered guarding the traditional Mongolian tents when he was in that vast country many years ago. Tim tells how he was persuaded to take a dog with him as added protection agains the wolves!!

In 2005 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and regularly leads expeditions into the remote areas of northern Asia.

Track one

It was important to reach out and make friends with everyone I possibly could

By doing that they saw me as a guest and someone to look after

There was one night when I was setting up camp in a forested region

When I heard one howl from a wolf, then another

It turned out we were surrounded

An equine vet in Australia had suggested in that scenario, I should, to keep the predators away, make a fire

I did that – that night they came within 50 metres

What they were really interested in was munching away on my horses

From then on I had to think carefully about what to do

I took some firecrackers with me I used to throw out the tent door at night

That helped to keep them away, particularly in the winter

It also made me reflect on the importance of wolves in steppe culture

Although the wolf is the bane of their life because they attack the sheep and horses

It also keeps the steppe in balance – keeps all of the vermin in check and keeps the grasslands going on into the future without them being overgrazed

They believe that the soul of the Mongols can only be released to the heavens when there are wolves around

Because they eat the flesh of the body and they believe the wolves fly up to the sky and release them

Questions

1.Why was it important to make friends with everyone he possibly could?

2.What happened as he was setting up camp one night?

3.What advice was there about keeping the wolves away?

4.What did he also do to keep the wolves away?

5.What do the wolves attack?

Track two

When I was walking in Mongolia – the dogs! They terrified me outside the ‘ger’ and the tents

On horseback I never really had problems – Mongolian horses are not really bothered by dogs

I always felt comfortable in the saddle

The important thing was to get my own dog and I had thought I would get some big, bear-like mastiff to accompany me

But it did not turn out like that – when I arrived in Kazakhstan the winter was coming in

It would turn out to be the coldest winter in forty years – what they would call a ‘Zuud’ in Mongolian

It was -52 degrees – the earth became laid in this very thick ice

I met one Kazakh who started the winter with 300 horses and finished with one

Because the animals have to dig through the ice to reach the fodder – if they can’t they starve

They say that horses that do survive to spring in those conditions are often naked because they eat the hair off their own body

I was fortunate to be guided in Kazakhstan by a Kazakh guy

At the end of that time he said Tim you definitely need a friend to accompany you on that long journey to Hungary

Someone to keep you warm at night in the tent and most importantly to protect you from wolves

That is when he gave me this little bony pup who I thought would not survive more than a couple of weeks

He was leaping off the snow onto my shoulders to get his paws out of the cold

But sure enough Tigin turned out to be my companion for the next three years as far as Hungary

Questions

1.What terrified Bruce in Mongolia?

2.What did Tim feel was important for him to get?

3.How cold did it become in Kazakhstan?

4.Why do many animals starve?

5.What did a Kazakh man give Tim?