The rising of the Mongol Empire made it convenient for missionaries, diplomats and merchants to travel across the Eurasia landmass. Direct contact between the extremes of Eurasia was thus possible. In the thirteenth century, Rabban Sawma from the East journeyed westward as far as Europe and left an account of his travels. Instead of focusing on his depiction of the political and religious situation in Western Asia, this paper looks at the aspects revealing his personal encounter with the Latin West, aiming to fill the gap in our knowledge of East-West encounters in the thirteenth century.