Tim Cope Quotes

In 1736, Bakhchisaray had been burned to the ground by the Russians, and when Catherine II's army completed the conquest of the peninsula in 1783, the last khan, Sahin Giray, took refuge in Turkey, where he was eventually executed.

- Tim Cope

I have brought many artifacts back with me from the steppe. My favourite is a 90-year-old Kazakh saddle decorated with silverwork in traditional motifs. It symbolises the deep relationship between man and horse on the Eurasian Steppe.

- Tim Cope

Had I not stepped into the saddle in the first place, entire cultures, histories, and most importantly, profound connections with people and animals whom I now counted as my friends would have otherwise passed by, invisible.

- Tim Cope

If you want to make the most of travel to Russia, it is better to leave tight plans and preconceptions behind and just enjoy the journey.

- Tim Cope

Although we had been led to believe our mission was suicidal, Russia's intrigue was irresistible. Almost twice the size of Australia, it spans 11 time zones from the Baltic to the Pacific.

- Tim Cope

What drew me to Kazakhstan was a curiosity to learn about life in this 'middle earth' of steppe between the endless forests of Russia in the north and the world's greatest mountain chains to the south.

- Tim Cope

In two and a half years' trekking across central Asia, I'd become attuned to the late autumn conditions when the hazards of winter can blow in under the cover of darkness.

- Tim Cope

When you hear that howl alone at night in the forest, it's one of the most frightening sounds you'll ever hear.

- Tim Cope

Meeting Australian mountaineer and author Tim Macartney-Snape when I was 16 in 1994 had a big impact on me. His ascent of Everest from sea to summit captured my imagination.

- Tim Cope

In the initial stages of my journey, I was trying to travel too fast by horse by sticking to a 'five days on and two off' schedule. On the steppe, time is not measured by days, weeks or hours but the fall of the seasons and condition of the animals.

- Tim Cope

For me, adventures are a vehicle for travelling deep into the fabric of society, coming to know the environmental conditions that shape people's lives and viewing the present in the context of history.

- Tim Cope

I don't think patience is something that any of us grow up with in a large dose. It's a world of instant gratification.

- Tim Cope

From the rugged cliffs of Cape Liptrap peninsula jutting bravely into the swells of Bass Strait, the coast arcs southeast, hugging the waters of Waratah Bay with sweeping flat lines of fine pale sand and knotty scrub.

- Tim Cope

The Khoton people are a small minority group of Mongolians renowned for living a traditional nomad life in the remote slopes and valleys of the Kharkhiraa-Turgen mountain range.

- Tim Cope

I wanted to know what it would be like to get on a horse and ride all the way west to Europe and take a look back at my own culture through the eyes of a nomad.

- Tim Cope

In wider spaces, people bearing historical grudges with each other were separated by the muting qualities of distance.

- Tim Cope

My dream was to ride a horse from Mongolia to Hungary, 10,000 km across the great Eurasian Steppe, and in doing so, come to understand the nomadic cultures that have presided there for thousands of years.

- Tim Cope

In Khazak culture, historically, if any traveller comes riding from a long way, there is an obligation to take him into your home. For the first three days, the host doesn't even have the right to ask his name, his destination or his business.

- Tim Cope

For the traveller, Kazakhstan offers more than just a staging post for the Silk Road, as is often perceived, and there is more than just steppe.

- Tim Cope

A single camel can carry around 300 kilograms. Using camels for hauling during migration is becoming a rarity in Mongolia, where mechanized transport is gradually replacing traditional means.

- Tim Cope

I am struck by the wild character of this land and, as the Kazak herders often do, I have the urge to sing.

- Tim Cope

Learning of my father's passing at age 55 not only shattered the world, far from home, that had become my reality, but catapulted my childhood and relationship with family - which had felt like another lifetime - into the present.

- Tim Cope

When you come out of the storms and sub-zero temperatures into a tiny yurt, there's a sense that family love and care is the most important thing in the world.

- Tim Cope

If you take the time to visit rural regions, where horsemen ride by and yurts are set up in summer meadows, you will come to know that the Kazak culture lives on.

- Tim Cope

My three-year ride by horse from Mongolia to Hungary was the most difficult, most revealing, and interesting of any of my travels. Travelling by horse, you're far more engaged and dependent on the land and other people than by any other means.

- Tim Cope

Perhaps most important for nomads was the belief in the symbiosis that existed between wolf and humans on the steppe. Wolves were an integral part of keeping the balance of nature, ensuring that plagues of rabbits and rodents didn't break out, which in turn protected the all-important pasture for the nomads' herds.

- Tim Cope

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.

- Tim Cope

Reflective of the deep sense of gratitude and respect Mongolians reserved for wolves, there was a belief that only through wolves could the spirit of a deceased human be set free to go to Heaven.

- Tim Cope

We can see every square metre of the planet on Google Earth. But there is no substitute for that sensory experience of going out into the world and discovering things for yourself.

- Tim Cope

Much of my journey in Kazakhstan was about understanding the legacy of the Soviet times and finding out what remained of nomadic.

- Tim Cope

I love the Altai Mountains. Crimea, despite all the conflict, is a remarkable place historically, culturally and physically. The mountains drop down into the sea. Porpoises swim in the shallows. Horses gallop through the grass. There are huge rocks, castles, caves.

- Tim Cope

Many times, I thought the sat-phone was just a hindrance because it can become a crutch. You can call someone in Australia or Europe and talk about what you're going through, but it doesn't actually help. Sat-phones and GPS can't show you where the grass or the wells are.

- Tim Cope

I think in our society we too often choose the people we associate with based on our own hasty judgments.

- Tim Cope

Steve Fossett and I would share a common belief that it is possible and good to challenge yourself to the extreme.

- Tim Cope

I have dreamt of being an author since the age of 14, and writing about my experiences has always been a part of digesting an experience and sharing it with others.

- Tim Cope

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

- Tim Cope

It's hard to find a place where you're out of earshot of some kind of noise.

- Tim Cope

Exchanging gifts is an important thing in the steppe culture, a way for them to feel you have become a part of their lives.

- Tim Cope

Ultimately, it's a sense of camaraderie and friendship with local people that is core to my journeys.

- Tim Cope

Gradually, I came to know my horses intimately. You go through every mood they experience and come to view the world much like a horse.

- Tim Cope

Earth was not built to serve the needs of humans.

- Tim Cope

Bakhchisaray was formerly the capital of the Crimean khanate and once an important crossroad of the Silk Road, where traders met from across the Black Sea, the steppes of Central Asia, Russia, and eastern Europe.

- Tim Cope

Finding shelter with nomads in the desert during summer was a matter of survival for me and my animals.

- Tim Cope

I think the nomads really give us inspiration about how we can live in harmony with our environment.

- Tim Cope