Barbed Wire Babushkas : A River Odyssey Across Siberia

by Paul Grogan

Victor was clearly concerned about our plans to travel along the border, promising that the guards would shoot us on 'They will be made heroes, with medals from Moscow,' he thundered, slapping his chest, ' but you will be dead!' And with that, he moulded his hands around an imaginary machine gun and sprayed our chests with an impressive salvo of spittle. For years they'd dreamed of packing in their day-jobs and travelling one of the world's greatest rivers, so long as it was somewhere warm. Siberia seemed like the obvious choice...Starting from high in the mountains of northern Mongolia, Paul Grogan and travelling companion Richard Boddington set out to make the first source-to-sea descent of Siberia's 4,400km Amur River, known in China as The Black Dragon. After wading up-stream for five days to reach the source, they begin their epic, four-month journey knowing virtually nothing about the region they'll be travelling through, or even where they'll be able to find food along the way. One of the few things they do know about the river is that for almost 2,000km if forms the long-disputed border between Russia and China. the scene of armed conflict up until the late 1980's, it's still considered off-limits, even to Russians. Never sure if they'll be able to continue around the next bend, the pair face guns, gunboats and arrest at every turn, and are forbidden to even set foot in Chinese territory. But beyond this fascade of military might they find a generous, warm-hearted people with a wicked sense of humour and an unhealthy predilection fir poetry, pig fat and home-made vodka. With sun, sauna's and dancing girls also high on the agenda, they are soon swept along by life on the river and the occasional 4 a.m. flood.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Russia

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbed Wire & Babushkas, A River Odyssey Across Siberia, by Paul Grogan (pp 267). This is an irreverent tale of the author and his friend Richard Boddington traveling by kayak from Outer Mongolia to the Pacific Ocean. They completed the first source to sea kayak float of the 4,400 km Amur River, starting in Mongolia, traveling 2,000 km along the Russian/Chinese border, and ending in a passage through Russia. It is a story of mind-grinding paperwork, exceptionally beautiful countrysides, numerous run-ins with AK47 wielding Russian border guards, amazingly gracious (most of the time) dealings with Russians citizens, a mind-boggling amount of drinking, brutally hot dry weather (much to their surprise), and living off what they could buy in small shops in rural villages and the occasional city. There are also numerous references to the author’s testicles, so be forewarned. The multi-month descent is told with a great deal of humor, including some rather harrowing experiences with Russian officialdom who appeared to still have a Cold War mindset. The humor belies a staggeringly audacious adventure by two seasoned adventurers. Highly recommend for kayak expedition and other travel enthusiasts.

[John Grinstead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in a book club. Whilst I enjoyed the book for what it was - an account of 2 lads winding their way along the sino-russian border by canoe, getting into a number of scrapes along the way - I found myself really irritated by the fact that these 2 lads had gone to a charitable foundation for support to carry out this ground breaking journey of discovery, which turned out to be little more than a sponsored piss-up with them continually on the look-out for the opportunity to rub up against illicit alcohol and some of the more unseemly side of communist culture. On the one hand, good for them, but I couldn't help but feel that the Winston Churchill Foundation (or whoever the sponsors were) had been blagged by the lads and should have been asking for their investment back! This is possibly an indication that I am getting past it and turning into one of those Grumpy Old Men as this id just the sort of thing I'd have loved to do as a student!

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying to broaden my literary horizons by reading twelve non-fiction books a year & the title of this caught my eye. I was pleasantly surprised by how readable I found it as I honestly didn't expect a book about a long...a very long...river journey...to hold my attention like it did, however, Grogan writes in an easy & humorous manner which is easy to get swept up in. What struck me was how laid back the pair seemed to be, they didn't seem to have any real concerns about travelling 4400 km in area they knew nothing about. A very gung ho attitude to my mind but certainly made for interesting reading.

It also struck me how well Grogan could communicate in Russian - if only "..drawing on months of night-class knowledge" he gave the impression of being quite fluent - & amazing how many people, even way out in the wilds of Siberia speak such good English. Anyway, the ability to converse with the locals certainly added colour to the journey. Facing guns one minute only to be welcomed into strangers homes the next, there was something happening all the time. For a nation often facing great hardship the pair met some very generous & warm-hearted folk - & one or two eccentrics. The food of an area is always of interest to me, here, however, it didn't always sound so appetising:

"The soup, by comparison was decidedly less appetising: there were all sorts of once-aquatic innards floating around in the bottom of the bowl, most of which looked disturbingly like inch-wide sections of surgical tubing. In reality they were nothing more sinister than the intact spinal tissue of a giant sturgeon."

...but then, of course, there was vodka, lots of vodka...lots & lots of vodka...
....quite an achievement that they managed to get up some days!

An interesting & amusing read throughout but as a result the end of the journey seemed a bit of an anti-climax. My only real criticism is I would have liked to have seen more photos than merely those at the chapter headings.

[Stephen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about two lads Paddling down a Siberia river

[Louise Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont like traveling much so get my view fro m the outside world through tv and travel books must admit it got a bit boring in parts but enjoyed the insight in gave me to the countries they travelled to and the way of life their with a bit of history /geography thrown in. i will think of this book when hear about other such river trips along other rivers like the nile amazon i was quite glad this was something not so well known !!!

[Lee Tait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 3 star , enjoyable read

[Mirjam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideaal boek om in de vakantiestemming te komen! Mits je op watersportvakantie gaat.