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Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River
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.
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.
270 pages, Paperback
First published September 9, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 11, 2009
There is much in Lost in Mongolia: Rafting the World's Last Unchallenged River that appeals to me.
Something about distant, desolate Northern climes -- Siberia, Sweden, the Yukon, Iceland -- has always appealed to me (perhaps because I have spent most of my life on the border of those climes here in Canada), and someday I will go myself to see the Northern Lights in their true splendour and drink clean water fresh off a glacier.
Paddling a river by any means available also packs some serious appeal for me. I have been a recreational paddler for most of my life (although the last few years have seen a dearth of paddling for me), and I know something of what author, Colin Angus, and his adventure mates, Remy, Ben and Tim, faced on their journey along the Yenisey River, from the source to the outlet.
Plus, I am a big sucker for tales of adventure travel, and the cultural sharing that is an inevitable part of the experience is something I long to engage with personally.
Yet even with these reasons to love Lost in Mongolia, I could only muster a mild fondness.
There are some fascinating moments in their trip: Colin's twelve day separation from his friends with almost no gear in the middle of a river in the Mongolian Steppes; their time spent with Irkutsk mafioso Vladimir; the unresolved and strange love affair between Remy and Olya, a pair of born-again Christians who meet in the middle of Siberia while Remy's girlfriend acts as his "secretary" back home; and the team's final days with two Nenet families at 71 degrees latitude, where they visit the site of a Stalin atrocity.
There is excitement to be found in Lost in Mongolia and some compelling glimpses of life in Mongolia and Siberia, but there is something missing in Colin Angus' telling of the trip -- a hint that anything he experienced really touched him.
The travel books I really love are from people who have connected deeply with their journey through the people they meet, the spaces they pass through, and the cultures they encounter. They don't necessarily have to be changed by their experiences, but they need to be touched. And Colin Angus seemed untouchable.
He is so focused on his trip, on the conquering of the Yenisey river, that the things around him -- even his most compelling anecdotes -- come off as annoyances and oddities that get in the way of his paddling. And it makes me wonder if he only wrote about most of those moments to finance his further adventures, not because he feels a genuine desire to share them.
Not that it matters all that much. Even if I don't love Lost in Mongolia, I am fond enough of it that it has inspired me to take on the Yukon River Quest in 2010 with my brother-in-law. It's not a challenge like Angus' conquering of the Yenisey river, but it gets me back on the water with a paddle in hand and lets me see the far North before I head for the equator, and for that I will always be indebted to Colin Angus.
Something about distant, desolate Northern climes -- Siberia, Sweden, the Yukon, Iceland -- has always appealed to me (perhaps because I have spent most of my life on the border of those climes here in Canada), and someday I will go myself to see the Northern Lights in their true splendour and drink clean water fresh off a glacier.
Paddling a river by any means available also packs some serious appeal for me. I have been a recreational paddler for most of my life (although the last few years have seen a dearth of paddling for me), and I know something of what author, Colin Angus, and his adventure mates, Remy, Ben and Tim, faced on their journey along the Yenisey River, from the source to the outlet.
Plus, I am a big sucker for tales of adventure travel, and the cultural sharing that is an inevitable part of the experience is something I long to engage with personally.
Yet even with these reasons to love Lost in Mongolia, I could only muster a mild fondness.
There are some fascinating moments in their trip: Colin's twelve day separation from his friends with almost no gear in the middle of a river in the Mongolian Steppes; their time spent with Irkutsk mafioso Vladimir; the unresolved and strange love affair between Remy and Olya, a pair of born-again Christians who meet in the middle of Siberia while Remy's girlfriend acts as his "secretary" back home; and the team's final days with two Nenet families at 71 degrees latitude, where they visit the site of a Stalin atrocity.
There is excitement to be found in Lost in Mongolia and some compelling glimpses of life in Mongolia and Siberia, but there is something missing in Colin Angus' telling of the trip -- a hint that anything he experienced really touched him.
The travel books I really love are from people who have connected deeply with their journey through the people they meet, the spaces they pass through, and the cultures they encounter. They don't necessarily have to be changed by their experiences, but they need to be touched. And Colin Angus seemed untouchable.
He is so focused on his trip, on the conquering of the Yenisey river, that the things around him -- even his most compelling anecdotes -- come off as annoyances and oddities that get in the way of his paddling. And it makes me wonder if he only wrote about most of those moments to finance his further adventures, not because he feels a genuine desire to share them.
Not that it matters all that much. Even if I don't love Lost in Mongolia, I am fond enough of it that it has inspired me to take on the Yukon River Quest in 2010 with my brother-in-law. It's not a challenge like Angus' conquering of the Yenisey river, but it gets me back on the water with a paddle in hand and lets me see the far North before I head for the equator, and for that I will always be indebted to Colin Angus.
September 4, 2020
Some rivers get all the focus: the Amazon, the Nile, the Mississippi. But the Yenisey? I'd never heard about it until I read this book. Flowing through Mongolia and Russia, the river links dams, towns, and endless, expansive wilderness with the Arctic Ocean. And yet, according to Angus, prior to his 2001 adventure, no one had run its full length.
In some ways, 'Lost in Mongolia' represents a pretty typical entrant into the genre of wilderness travel writing. It's replete with many of the typical features (raging rapids, biting bugs, food misadventures, oh my), as well as many of the common pitfalls (including uncomfortably colonial/imperial storytelling of the local cultures). That's part of why I rate this book as a 3-star rather than 4-star volume. Angus engages just enough in stories about the locals to make this a recurring theme, but not enough to provide actual political, historical, or anthropological context. And, we get some fairly questionable womanizing throughout (such as repeated description of the bodies of women he encounters throughout the trip) that hasn't aged terribly well.
That said, there are certainly some remarkable and engaging vignettes in the story as well. Angus' period lost from the group is really engaging, if confusing as to how they hadn't adequately planned for this circumstance. I was also deeply enthralled by their decision to buy and restore a local boat midway through the trip, which was a really interesting break from the typical day-to-day of the journey. And, the logistical and financial aspects of the trip were fascinating too.
All told, while I can't hold this book up as one I'd recommend to everyone, it is certainly an interesting and engaging memoir of this journey. If you're into travelogues, warts and all, it's certainly a fun read.
In some ways, 'Lost in Mongolia' represents a pretty typical entrant into the genre of wilderness travel writing. It's replete with many of the typical features (raging rapids, biting bugs, food misadventures, oh my), as well as many of the common pitfalls (including uncomfortably colonial/imperial storytelling of the local cultures). That's part of why I rate this book as a 3-star rather than 4-star volume. Angus engages just enough in stories about the locals to make this a recurring theme, but not enough to provide actual political, historical, or anthropological context. And, we get some fairly questionable womanizing throughout (such as repeated description of the bodies of women he encounters throughout the trip) that hasn't aged terribly well.
That said, there are certainly some remarkable and engaging vignettes in the story as well. Angus' period lost from the group is really engaging, if confusing as to how they hadn't adequately planned for this circumstance. I was also deeply enthralled by their decision to buy and restore a local boat midway through the trip, which was a really interesting break from the typical day-to-day of the journey. And, the logistical and financial aspects of the trip were fascinating too.
All told, while I can't hold this book up as one I'd recommend to everyone, it is certainly an interesting and engaging memoir of this journey. If you're into travelogues, warts and all, it's certainly a fun read.
May 19, 2021
Great book overall. The book is well written and is quite captivating. It pulls you in and takes you for a ride down the Yenisey River with Colin. Lots of really interesting experiences with the local people and does dismantle the the fear of Russians, and highlights their generosity towards the whole crew. Excellent book.
September 10, 2019
I found this slow to get going... didn't finish...
February 18, 2018
A great adventure. My only complaint would be such a long trip didn't have nearly as many photos as I'd like to see. My next task is finding the film they made.
January 14, 2025
A good old fashioned adventure story, what more can you want!
May 24, 2018
because of all the office I’ve been watching I just spontaneously decided to picture the main guy as John Krasinski; don’t think I would have enjoyed the book as much if I hadn’t. the gentleman in the author photo is not nearly as likeable in appearance
December 2, 2008
A good adventure book and a quick read, but definitely an adventure book written by an adventurer and not by a writer. Still worth your time.
June 2, 2021
This book's title is a misnomer; he was “lost” in Mongolia for only a few pages, but no doubt this title added to potential reader appeal. At least it did for me; Mongolia has always been in my mind a mysterious geographical and cultural enigma. Three intrepid adventurers travel the length of the Yenisey River from its tributary origins in Mongolia, then trough Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Yes, there are dangerous rapids on the upper reaches and periods of three-mph poking along on the lower reaches and a near collision with a tugboat. At one point after an overturned raft accident, he finds himself in a Mongolian village alone with nothing on but a pair of pants, motioning to townfolk that he'd like something to eat. Instead, the ”mayor” wants him to screw his wife while other villagers look on. Why? The villagers seem to want a blue-eyed infant. He declines that invitation but accepts food offered. Then, in Siberia, a Russian mobster royally hosts the three adventurers (by then with an added two). Poverty and riches! What an adventure! Also, I indeed learned much about these faraway landscapes and cultures; all told with salient alacrity.
September 18, 2021
The start of this book was way more exciting than the conclusion of this epic journey. Will not lie - the premise and the idea of 3 Westerners going to raft though Siberia, wow, it gives me goosebumps. I can agree with other reviews saying that something was missing from giving the story a full 4* - it felt like my travel-writing that focuses mainly on stuff happening and places visited - it's okay but the story tends to get dry quite quickly; sometimes I was left guessing what had happened between the paragraphs.
In short: the story grabbed me in the beginning and left me with kind of mixed feelings at the end.
In short: the story grabbed me in the beginning and left me with kind of mixed feelings at the end.
September 7, 2025
While I genuinely appreciate reading about the author’s adventure, I found it difficult to get past the comments he made about the appearance of each woman he came across, and the interactions he had with some of them.
Hopefully he’s done some soul searching since this was written and has come to appreciate women as equals, also worthy of descriptions and interactions that go beyond their appearance and their usefulness to men.
Hopefully he’s done some soul searching since this was written and has come to appreciate women as equals, also worthy of descriptions and interactions that go beyond their appearance and their usefulness to men.
March 26, 2019
A fascinating true story of this rafting trip in Mongolia. Colin and his mates are true adventurers and the writing is suspenseful. This genre isn't really my favourite, but the story itself was interesting.
October 15, 2017
3.5 stars
January 22, 2019
Compelling story of determination, optimism and ingenuity. That Angus and his shipmates succeeded in reaching their goal despite numerous setbacks is amazing. He is a true adventurer.
November 7, 2019
Pretty fun! The author spends a lot more time on the first half of the journey than he does on the second half which is a bit of a let down.
May 18, 2017
A captivating book from start to finish. Hearing about the first time Colin though about taking the trip, to all the setbacks they had, to getting split up and having to survive with just a kayak and shorts. When they finished the river, all together in one piece, you almost felt as if you'd taken the trip with them. Amazing storytelling about an amazing adventure
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2017
A true life adventure story - a great genre when well written as this one is. Really enjoyable read. I love being an armchair adventurer! (Would NOT want to take on this adventure in real life!)
April 4, 2010
What a ride! At 3,250 miles, the Yenisey River is the world's fifth longest and runs northward from western Mongolia through Siberia to the Artic Ocean. The book is a blow-by-blow account of the harrowing five-month journey undertaken by the author and two companions in a whitewater raft and two kayaks. Plagued by financial difficulties from the start and throughout the trip, the intrepid adventurers face freezing temperatures, treacherous rapids, extreme heat, and plagues of black flies. In addition to the death-defying encounters, the descriptions of the many characters the trio meet along the way will cause you to believe in the kindness of strangers: shepherds of the Gobi Desert, a kindly Mongolian army officer, a Russian mafia boss, and the native people of the Arctic. The book reads like an excerpt from a National Geographic magazine. I loved it.
September 5, 2011
This is a amazing true story of rafting. The last unchallenged river is somewhere near/in Russia. And let me tell you, Russians do live up to their stereotype, which is, in case you forgotten, drinking vodka. This is full of unexpected humor, and the book itself is full of strange content, enough so that you might only want mature audiences.
What surprised me the most is what happened. The author didn't even have to make anything up! It was naturally a great story! Especially since I rarely read non-fiction books, only because they mostly seem..well boring!
It sounded like they made a documentary on it.
A suggested read.
What surprised me the most is what happened. The author didn't even have to make anything up! It was naturally a great story! Especially since I rarely read non-fiction books, only because they mostly seem..well boring!
It sounded like they made a documentary on it.
A suggested read.
August 27, 2014
I loved this book. It was a very quick read. It's close to a 5-star for me. The only reason not is that I missed learning more about the relationships between the rafters - it was as if they were just work buddies, not sharing this incredible experience together. I would have liked to have read more about the interpersonal issues between them, if any.
What an adventure - some of the anecdotes were LOL funny. Love the Russian mafia stories and the Siberian stories. Very fun and amusing to read. I reread a couple of sections just because I enjoyed them so much. Recommend, especially to those who like adventure travel reading.
What an adventure - some of the anecdotes were LOL funny. Love the Russian mafia stories and the Siberian stories. Very fun and amusing to read. I reread a couple of sections just because I enjoyed them so much. Recommend, especially to those who like adventure travel reading.
February 16, 2011
Long middle portion in Mongolia when author is separated from two others gets a bit tedious. The adventures with Russian gangsters are amusing at first but gets a little old after a while.
Amazingly this is the third book I have read in the last year where the travelers were in an isolated spot and learned of the September 11 attacks.
With half the distance to go, one realizes there is less than 20 percent of the pages to go - the travel through northern Siberia isn't terribly interesting, it seems, and glossed over.
Amazingly this is the third book I have read in the last year where the travelers were in an isolated spot and learned of the September 11 attacks.
With half the distance to go, one realizes there is less than 20 percent of the pages to go - the travel through northern Siberia isn't terribly interesting, it seems, and glossed over.
December 17, 2013
The actual "Lost in Mongolia" portion of the book is very short - perhaps only 10% of the tale (the best part, IMO). After that, the trip pretty much goes as planned. It's still a crazy endeavor and adventure but I was expecting a survival story, not a travel/adventure story.
Oh, and if I was Colin, I would have been furious at my comrades for how the "lost in mongolia" part went down. Colin actually hinted towards a lot of tension in the book but never went into specifics. I wonder how close these guys were as friends, or if they actually didn't like each other much.
Oh, and if I was Colin, I would have been furious at my comrades for how the "lost in mongolia" part went down. Colin actually hinted towards a lot of tension in the book but never went into specifics. I wonder how close these guys were as friends, or if they actually didn't like each other much.
November 4, 2014
If you are an adventure junkie or hell even if you are not, this book is a must read. To imagine a bunch of people taking a raft across one of the world's largest and most inhospitable rivers is a premise that is too good to pass up. The story shows so many facets of mankind that just reading through it makes it quite the quite eye opening. From the kindness of strangers to the fury of nature, Colin Angus and his team go through an experience that very very very few of us will ever feel. But at least we have a book to catch a glimpse of what it must have been like.
October 26, 2015
I've stopped reading this book mainly because I've been too busy and I'm reading another book at the time, but also because I'm not a big fan of the writing style or the setting. The first few chapters seemed pretty boring. It felt like it would just drag on and never get to the good part. Speaking of "good part", I don't know if I'd be interested in it. Sure, if they were rafting through the Amazon and had to fight off piranhas and isolated tribesmen, it would be interesting. But Mongolia? I never found frozen tundras and prairies to be interesting.
September 22, 2012
I think I can say with certainty that I'll never go rafting anywhere, let alone in Mongolia, so I liked this book. Because it let me explore territory I won't do otherwise. And that, my friends, is one of the many wonderful things about books and films.You can "experience" new worlds, dimensions, etc. Keep reading, you can't go wrong.
October 31, 2014
If you're expecting action, suspense, and thrills, this is not the book for you. But if you want to read about a group's progress along the 5th biggest river in the world, Angus does a good job of writing about his adventure without too many bells and whistles to distract along the way.
I wanted to be excited, so this wasn't the book for me :)
I wanted to be excited, so this wasn't the book for me :)
May 23, 2008
Got this book last weekend - when I was hiking - and I have already read it - wow - didn't think I was the travel story type of person - yet somehow they read so fast.
April 19, 2009
I picked this book up after attending a lecture by Angus. He and friends follow a river through Mongolia and Russia. Harrowing adventures.
September 20, 2015
I was not overly impressed with the quality of writing, but it was an interesting adventure to read. It was good enough that I would read his more recent books.
March 29, 2011
Russia and Mongolia seem absolutely beautiful, but I would love to learn how to travel by boat... It seems like it creates a deeper connection to the landscape.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews