Since I first heard of Genghis Khan, the Mongols have exerted a fascination over me. He and his successors like Kublai Khan established the largest contiguous land empire in history, spanning at its height in the13th and 14th centuries from Eastern Europe to Asia, They conquered and unified China, gave Mongol women power and authority, terrorized Eastern Europe, crossed the Danube, sacked Baghdad, and tried to take on the Mamluks in Egypt. As fierce warriors they used brutal force, but could be remarkably tolerant of cultural and religious diversity. They made the Silk Road safe for trading, and commissioned the construction of a massive fleet, led by Kublai Khan’s famous general Zhang He, to the Indian Ocean. Kublai Khan, creator of the legendary summer capital of Xanadu in Inner Mongolia, maintained diplomatic contacts with European powers, most notably with the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo, who served in Kublai Khan’s court for several years. 

My carriage of the Transmongolian Railways was rocking back and forth, reading felt hard. Somehow I managed to focus on the great many achievements of the Mongols which took up a good chunk of my guide book. In 2002, my wife and me were on our way from Beijing to Lake Baikal in Siberia, the train had just passed the Great Wall of China. The next day we arrived in Ulan Bataar, capital of modern Mongolia. Without doubt I first had to pay honour to the statue of Genghis Khan on Sükhbaatar square. I raised a bottle of Khan Bräu, Mongolia’s fantastic beer. Below the great man, his immense horse and immense achievements, I felt small. Even smaller I felt in the huge landscape of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, a park just 50 kilometers outside of the capital. We hiked between neverending rolling hills, all full of wildflower meadows, grazing sheep and horses. Here and there smoke was coming out of white yurts. Nomads were offering us mare’s milk and accommodation in their yurts. I skipped the milk for its challenging smell, but loved the Mongolian Buuz dumplings. 

Since the very beginning of mankind, humans were nomads. Mongolian nomads spread Buddhism across Asia. Ultimately, the culture and trade of Mongolian nomads served as an intermediary between diverse cultures and people along the Silk Roads. I felt, as a global nomad, at bit at home in Mongolia.