Monument to Genghis Khan

This is the enormous monument in Mongolia dedicated to the greatest conqueror of all time, Genghis Khan. At its height in 1279, the empire stretched from Japan to Budapest, Hungary. I included two photos with this post to show you an artistic shot of the powerful sculpture as well as one of scale. You can actually go inside the monument and exit through a door in the would-be the abdomen, and then it’s a short walk to the top of the horse’s head. What I find so interesting is that the Mongolians celebrate and pay tribute to one of the greatest mass murderers the world has ever seen. Through his brutal conquests, in 20 years his unstoppable army murdered 50 million people, or 11% of the entire world’s population in the 13th century. For the tight closeup shooting upward, my settings were 1/400, f/18, and 200 ISO, and I used a 70mm focal length on a 24-105mm lens.