Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River

Description

272 pages
Contains Photos
$19.95
ISBN 0-385-66014-6
DDC 797.1'21'0957

Author

Publisher

Year

2003

Contributor

Reviewed by Norman P. Goldman

Norman P. Goldman is a retired Civil Law Notaire (Notary) who also
specializes in Montreal history and culture.

Review

What do you do for an encore after you have travelled down the Amazon on
a rubber raft? You search for the next challenge and journey down the
fifth longest river in the world, the 5,500-kilometre (3,450-mile)
Yenisey. No one had ever travelled the Yenisey’s full length, and this
is exactly what Colin Angus and two of his cronies did when they became
the first team to run the longest unchallenged river in the world, from
the source of its tributary in western Mongolia to its delta on the
Arctic Ocean.

Engagingly written in a diary format, Lost in Mongolia is a riveting
account of how the three adventurers accomplished this unbelievable
venture. Angus successfully draws the reader into the story by detailing
the dangerous daily life of three men living together in a wild land.
The strongest tales, however, are those describing the beauty of the
rugged landscape and the life of the people who live along the
Yenisey’s banks. There are touches of humour, too, as in the trio’s
encounter with members of the Russian Mafia who wine and dine them in
grand style—quite a departure from their daily frugal life.

Why would anyone attempt such a risky voyage? Angus provides a
compelling answer when he states: “I can never quite shake the notion
that the more challenging the situations you put yourself in, the higher
you set your goals, the more you get out of life.”

Citation

Angus, Colin., “Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed December 26, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/15397.