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

Colin Angus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

From the Yenisey’s headwaters in the wild heart of central Asia to its mouth on the Arctic Ocean, Colin Angus and his fellow adventurers travel 5,500 kilometres of one of the world’s most dangerous rivers through remotest Mongolia and Siberia, and live to tell about it.

Exploration is Colin Angus’ calling. It is not only the tug of excitement and challenge that keeps sending him on death-defying journeys down some of the world’s most powerful waterways, it is a desire to know a place more intimately than you could from the window of a train, to feel the soul of a place. Angus emphasizes that rivers have always been key to the development of complex societies and the rise of civilizations, offering as they do irrigation, transportation, hydroelectric power, and food. But, as Lost in Mongolia captures with breathtaking detail, while they giveth plenty, the great rivers also taketh away in an instant. In Lost in Mongolia, Colin Angus takes readers through never-before-seen territory and his wonderful sense of adventure and humour come through on every page.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Angus didn't know the Yenisey River existed until he came across its name in a book while researching another trip. The Yenisey, he learned, is the world's fifth-longest river, flowing 5,500 kilometers (3,300 miles) from western Mongolia to the Arctic Circle, and had never been run from source to sea. That kind of challenge proved irresistible to the Canadian adventurer. In short order, Angus (Amazon Extreme) cobbled together three companions and (barely) enough sponsorship dollars to keep them afloat, and in spring 2001 set off for Mongolia. The quartet paddled through territory covered by few travelers and even fewer writers. They dealt with financial difficulties, freezing temperatures, a kayak-swallowing maelstrom and more. The book is nearly a blow-by-blow account of the harrowing five-month journey, with trivial events reproduced as faithfully as extraordinary ones. Some sections read as though they were plucked unedited from Angus's journal (e.g., after mentioning fresh milk in one entry, he concludes, "The remaining liter of milk turned into yogurt overnight. I guess with unpasteurized milk, you don't need to stimulate the process. Still, it tasted great"). The characters Angus meets along the way-a kindly Mongolian army officer; a Russian mafia boss; and the indigenous people of the Arctic-are tantalizing, but Angus doesn't linger on them or on the three young men he's traveling with. Some readers may wish Angus had something more to say, in the end, than "we did it." Still, his book should please readers looking for a straightforward, uncomplicated adventure tale. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Asia's Yenisey River, the world's fifth longest (at 3,250 miles), had not been navigated until the author and his two companions made the five-month journey in a whitewater raft and two kayaks. Angus, a "full-time adventurer," describes the trip that began at the 13,000-foot summit of Otgon Tenger in Mongolia, which entailed treacherous rapids; extreme heat, cold, and snow; intense fog; and plagues of mosquitoes and blackflies. One of the most interesting sections details his being separated from his fellow travelers and of a run-in with Russian police. His journey took him through Siberia and into the Arctic Ocean, and Angus describes the people the trio encountered along the way, including shepherds in the Gobi Desert and the Nenets of the Arctic, who lived in reindeer-skin tepees. It's a trip that readers will relish--from the comfort of their homes. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767912802
• ISBN-13: 978-0767912808
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Travel > Asia > Mongolia
  • #19 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Rafting

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Really Hair-Raising Adventure, December 10, 2003

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River (Paperback)

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~]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!!, December 25, 2003

By 

jon sorenson (Winnepeg, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River (Paperback)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River, April 8, 2008

By 

K. Peterson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River (Paperback)

As an explorer, Collin Angus has a deep respect for the natural wonders of earth. In "Lost in Mongolia," he makes an attempt to give readers a sense of what it is to travel down a river at the mercy of nature and he provides an excellent description of how the river acts like a living being with a personality of its own. Through the discoveries readers make about the process of moving from source to mouth, as well as how the water affects surrounding life, he establishes for others the same appreciation that he has for the Yenisey River. The book also doubles as a documentary of the full length of the waterway that is as unique and surprising as the river itself.

Collin has traveled the world on various expeditions since the age of nineteen and ever since has built up a thirst for exploration and adventure. He has rafted all of the world's major rivers including the Nile, Amazon, and Yangtze, with more adrenaline and fervor each time. Soon, adventure became a regular part of his life and would often turn out to be a priority. The Yenisey was the only major river that had not been fully explored by then, and Collin had become set on changing that fact. Angus has written books on most of his trips, and each one reveals more about his double life as a normal human being and an adventurer.

Though his writing does not use spectacular literary techniques to form a connection with the reader, the amazing detail with which he describes each activity and event of almost every day of his voyage is what captures readers. It successfully reels the reader in, slowly but surely and with increasing intensity, by starting with the everyday and at times, escalating to points of rare or special encounters and events. Though some of the curiosities are rather small and may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, by the time the reader reaches the middle of the book, all the little foreign wonders of the journey start to break through and impact the reader with a whole new sense of culture and living in a region unfamiliar to the West.

"Lost in Mongolia" is a relatively simple read for any teen or adult. Through simple writing and connections that are easily made, yet with more than enough individuality and detail to seem as if the memory of the expedition is just as much the reader's as it is Collin's, the documentary successfully leaves the reader with some sort of newfound knowledge of the region. Whether it is appreciation, thrill, or cultural wisdom, it will strike readers on a powerful, personal level that is definitely capable of providing insight much later in life.