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. Map
Prologue
Two Years Earlier
PART ONE: GETTING THERE
1 - Why the Yenisey?
2 - Welcome to China
PART TWO: MONGOLIA
3 - Searching for the Source
4 - Riding the Whitewater to "Carcass Canyon"
5 - Lost in Mongolia
6 - An "Arresting" Time in Sühbaatar
7 - Reunion Stories and Murderous Ruffians
PART THREE: SIBERIA
8 - Crossing the Border with Serious Baggage
9 - The Little Dory That Could
10 - The Welcoming Arms of the Mafia
11 - Banyas and Dam Fishing
12 - Vodka and Old Salts
13 - Above the Treeline and into the Tundra
Epilogue
Acknowledgments Praise For Amazon Extreme:
"Not for the faint of heart ... a riveting book that combines adventure, excitement, and human drama with just enough history and geography to help us share in the total experience." - The Tampa Tribune Colin Angus began his adventuring career at nineteen with a five-year, mostly solo, offshore sailing odyssey. He
has co-produced two documentaries including Yenisey: River of Extremes (runner up for the "People's Choice" award at the Banff Film Festival) for National Geographic. When not in the field, Colin shares his adventures with the public through presentations and articles. Publications he has written for include Cruising World, The Globe and Mail and Explore. Based out of Vancouver, B.C., he is currently preparing for his next adventure. Prologue
The water roiled and bucked in large waves as the river was squeezed between the sheer walls. The air was a haze of cool mist, and a persistent roar filled my ears. I saw the raft teeter on a huge standing wave just inside the canyon as Ben struggled, pulling madly on the oars.
My kayak was incredibly maneuverable, but I had to be careful about some of the bigger rocks. I slid off a two-yard wave and down into a great recirculating hole. The gaping mouth of the vortex boiled and sucked at my tiny vessel, and I dug frantically to escape its grasp. My heart pounded from exertion. Where were Ben and the raft? I had lost him somewhere in the white fog of spray.
My lungs burned as the merciless river pushed me hard toward the canyon wall, threatening to pin the kayak to the jagged rocks. I struggled to get turned back downriver. A large hole appeared that was impossible to avoid - its swirling, circular current swallowed nearly the entire river. I dug hard with my paddle, hoping to generate enough speed to propel the kayak across the boil.
Dig! Dig! Dig! I screamed at myself. Pull! PULL!
I had barely made it to the middle of the hole when the rotating maelstrom pulled me backward and then under.
Everything went black.
I held my breath as the current battered and pulled at me, as if some malevolent force wanted to rip me from the kayak's cockpit and consume me. It pummeled my chest like a boxer. My lungs ached for oxygen as I spun around upside down. I was
