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The second image conveyed by Mongolia is that of hordes of horsemen set out to conquer the world. The fabulous epic of Chinggis Khaan in the 13th century had made Europe discover these curious centaurs that nothing seemed to stop. It is difficult today, observing the rhythm of life of the peaceful Mongolian nomads, to imagine that they are the descendants of these dominant warriors from a large part of the world! However, the steppes of the country still bear the mark of this page of history, which has been given pride of place in recent years. While the site of the tomb of the most famous Mongolian in history has just been discovered (and remains off-limits to the public), Chinggis Khaan's home region, Hentiy Province, is once again taking an interest in his terrible child. On a national scale, the founder of the Mongolian Empire is once again celebrated, both culturally and commercially: Chinggis vodka, Chinggis bars, stamps, statues, coins... In the east of the country, the city where the emperor was born was even renamed Chinggis in 2014. The great Khaan (Mongolian leader) is everywhere, late revenge on his detractors of the 13th century. Revenge especially on the period of Soviet occupation, 70 years during which Mongolia was cut off from the non-communist world and subjected to the political and economic regimes imposed by the Russians.They had erased the images of Chinggis Khaan, which could have awakened a patriotism that had been dormant for several centuries, and controlled the nomadic populations, whose shifting dispersal was incompatible with the Soviet bureaucracy. Mongolia is just beginning to heal the wounds of this submission period. After centuries of confinement, the country now offers the world these pages of history inscribed in its nature, in its cities and in its people.

Chinggis Khaan is not the only one to take revenge for the bullying imposed by the Soviets. The whole population is now returning to repressed traditions and culture for 70 years. Mongolia has thus once again become the host country of Tibetan Buddhism. And, although Buddhism is much less alive among the younger generations, temples thrive again or are reborn from the ashes after the destruction of the late 1930s. In the countryside, animist or shamanist practices have reappeared, at first timidly, and now in the open. In the west of the country, the ger sometimes serve as a mosque for Muslim Kazakh ceremonies. Everywhere, Mongols celebrate this return to spirituality and are ready to share it with all those who are open-minded enough to follow a Buddhist ceremony and a shamanic rite, an offering to the spirits of the mountain or the desert and a prayer directed towards Mecca!