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Title: Lost in Mongolia : Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River by Colin Angus ISBN: 0-7679-1280-2 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 09 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Magnificent!!
Comment: I received this book on Christmas day and, much to the dismay of the rellies, I finished it on the same day. As the miserable weather outside lashed at the windows and my Aunt Jennifer babbled about napkin handling etiquette, I was far removed to another world; a land of gushing rivers, Russian mafia, indigenous people, and non-stop action. "Lost in Mongolia" is a true modern-day adventure and Angus vividly details the trials and tribulations that he and his team encounter as they attempt to become the first to fully navigate the length of the world's fifth longest river. It is obvious that the quest to be "first" comes secondary to the team's desire to simply get out and explore the most remote regions of our planet from a unique perspective. Angus' strongest writing comes through as he describes the varied characters that they enounter the whole way down the river. For me, the most haunting moment came near the end where, at 71 degrees lattitude in the perpetual grey twilight of the tundra, they come across a scattering of human bones, remnants of Stalin's period of terror. And amongst the bones a small rotted leather shoe is found, obviously from a little girl. It is a mystery that leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable, juxtaposed near the team's triumphant ending at the Arctic Ocean.
This adventure is definitely worth reading about. It is an insightful and difficult journey through one of the last regions on the planet untouched by tourism.
Rating: 5
Summary: One Really Hair-Raising Adventure
Comment: While Colin Angus is hardly Shakespeare in the writing department, and the voyage he describes was spotted with ineptitude and a lot of luck, this has to be one of the most exciting and hair-raising adventure diaries of recent years. Note that the title is not really representative of the book, as "Lost in Mongolia" merely describes one aspect of the journey. Only the upper headwaters are in Mongolia, while the expedition down the Yenisey River mostly takes place in Siberia.
Regardless, Angus and his mates had a perilous adventure through unforgiving landscapes with friendly people, surrounded by corrupt government officials and the depressing leftovers of Stalinism. The voyagers made some unbelievably stupid decisions along the way, like rafting the river at flood stage, which got them shipwrecked in a forest. Angus then went off on his own in a kayak in search of a lost camera bag, with no supplies and wearing nothing but a pair of pants. He presently got "Lost in Mongolia" for several days, and without the help of some friendly locals and a huge amount of luck, it's amazing that he lived to tell the tale. After the team reunited, more ineptitude ensued when they bought a small rowboat to traverse down the now large and tumultuous Yenisey, dealing with supertankers, dams, and disgustingly cramped living quarters.
In Siberia, they met many interesting people who really make this book a great read, from mafia dons who offered huge amounts of assistance and supplies in return for a little intelligent conversation, to friendly and helpful villagers who gave from their hearts and asked nothing in return. The human side of this adventure is the most revealing, as Angus and the team would have surely been unable to complete the voyage without help from the people of Mongolia and Siberia, assuming that they would even get out alive. This book is both an exciting tale of a real seat-of-the-pants expedition, and an enjoyable showcase of interesting cultures and landscapes hidden behind the decayed Iron Curtain. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating: 4
Summary: Great Read
Comment: I read Colin's first book, Amazon Extreme, and felt compelled to read up on his follow-up adventure. Although I was interested to learn about Siberia and Mongolia, I felt there was no way that Lost in Mongolia would be as exciting as Amazon Extreme. Well I was wrong! Although they weren't shot at by guerrillas or lost in a desert this time around, a whole set of new, and even more intriguing, setbacks plague this intrepid team. Colin is separated from his colleagues for 12 days with nothing more than a pair of pants and a kayak - no food, no money, no shoes, and not even a blanket to keep him warm through the sub-zero nights. This is probably the most interesting part of the book. In the lower Yenisey, the adventurers are almost hit by large ships in the fog and are bombarded by freezing Arctic storms. This was one hell of an adventure!
The thing that impresses me most about Colin's expeditions is that they are fueled by hardly anything more than the sheer determination of following a dream. Coming from a working-class background, Colin never allowed finances to get in the way of his ambitions. As is chronicled in Amazon Extreme his adventure in South America was completely self-financed - money earned from his firewood business. I'm glad to see in Lost in Mongolia that the team was finally able to get some assistance from sponsors.
I would definitely recommend this book for people looking for an adventure read different than the usual run of the mill. The writing isn't quite the style of Thubron, but the story will keep you hooked from beginning to end
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Title: Amazon Extreme : Three Ordinary Guys, One Rubber Raft and the Most Dangerous River on Earth by Colin Angus, Ian Mulgrew ISBN: 0767910508 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti ISBN: 0316739111 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 03 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by Tom Bissell ISBN: 0375421300 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Journal of the Dead: A Story of Friendship and Murder in the New Mexico Desert by Jason Kersten ISBN: 0060184701 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 29 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick ISBN: 067003231X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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