River Dog

The Brahmaputra is one of Asia's longest rivers, and tracing its course from Tibet to Bangladesh is perhaps "the last great Asian adventure". Undeterred, Mark Shand set out to do just that, and River Dog tells of his journey accompanied by Indian friends and a dog called Bhaiti.

Shand's previous book, Travels on My Elephant, told of travelling in India by elephant; after this experience, he writes, he could not imagine travelling without an animal. Enter Bhaiti--the true hero of River Dog--whose experiences sniffing after bitches and saving his master from death by snakebite provide Shand's wit with plenty of opportunities to make its mark. As they progress, a touching bond develops between Shand and Bhaiti, with the author laughing along with his dog at his own stumbling progress--a 48-year-old not averse to sharing in the odd joint or opium bong, the false stereotype of the intrepid explorer is cleverly undone by Shand through his candour and the self-deprecating title of his book.

Shand certainly comes across as an old travelling hand. As he ventures through India his alcohol consumption increases daily, but fortunately by now Shand and company are travelling by boat and not on foot. Moving into Bangladesh, Shand becomes more observant; this is a new country to him, which gives his writing a freshness that is absent earlier in the book, and the narrative soon culminates with the team's arrival at the Bay of Bengal. Shand's excitement at reaching the sea is real enough, but he is subsequently prevented from completing the journey in Tibet by the Chinese authorities; although this undermines the "epic" nature of the journey, River Dog remains an entertaining account of a river voyage made by an unlikely team of one man and his dog.--Toby Green

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River Dog: A Journey Down the Brahaputra - Rated
Mark Shand has a unique way of narrating his amazing journeys. Very descriptive and atmostpheric. You just want to keep turning the pages as you travel with him and can't wait, like him, to see what's around the next corner. This is definately the book for the armchair traveller. I'm always sorry when his adventures end.

Dog Days: Shand's river odyssey - Rated
An unputdownable river journey, following the course of the Tsiang Po - Brahmaputra from Tibet through the remote Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and on into Assam and Bangladesh. Roguish traveller Shand is joined by his canine equivalent: a streetwise pooch called Bhaiti with a reliable instinct for finding trouble. Compelling and colourful - order it now.

gentleman traveller - Rated
Mark Shand's well-documented and amusing tale of his attempt to navigate the entire course of the Brahmaputra,father of all rivers, from its modest beginnings as a stream in the Himalayas to its conclusion in a delta the size of Belgium and Holland, is a thrilling compendium of the horrors and joys that face the modern traveller.
Shand who is clearly no stranger to India and has friends in both high and low places is almost stumped by the monolithic Indian bureaucracy ( Tony Blair should read this part prior to ordering his next 'nehru' jacket and setting up yet another committee ) before even departing on his run and then to follow through with a metaphor dear to Shand's heart, he is finally 'run out' by the Chinese whose occupation of Tibet means that his bid to navigate the Tsangpo gorges where the Brahmaputra emerges from the himalayas into the wilds of Assam is 'delayed until further notice'.
Like an old-fashioned Saturday Matinee, We'll possibly have to wait for the next instalment to get that part, but in the meantime,like 'Star Wars', we at least have episode 1, and what an adventure it is. Reminding us that no matter how much equipment we can muster or how many layers we might cocoon ourselves in,Shand's description of his mountain outfit reads like Vogue's 'must haves for the serious climber', Nature is still the ultimate arbiter and a force to be reckoned with. In the Himalayas, there are only 2 windows of opportunity
for travel and they're both brief and unpredictable. Nevertheless, Shand is determined to pay his respects to the Gods responsible for the river's beginning and despite altitude sickness, he reaches 'the magic mountain'sacred to Hindus and Buddists alike, before exchanging cold for heat and switching his attention to the north-eastern most tip of India, an area so protected and still the subject of a running war between the former and China,that virtually no visitors are allowed.
Here, where the Brahmaputra river emerges from the Himalayas, Shand's lyricism and love for the people of India, come to the fore and his descriptions of trekking the course of the river through the almost uncharted reaches of upper Assam are what travel books are about.The ability to take us to places we neither have the time, energy or even bravery to visit. Events become more comical and more heart-rending as he proceeds down the river together with his faithful pi-dog (read 'stray', but by now immortalized in Shand's sentimental eyes as a clear descendant of a rare hunting dog who can communicate with his master after unusually large amounts of opium or bhang have been consumed by both) and we're introduced to an almost comical cast of characters out of an Indian mikkado,everyone's favourite being the recurring fixer,friend and photographer, Aditya who could have stepped out of the pages of a Hunter Thompson story.Indeed this book could have come from the school of 'fear and loathing'journalism but for the obvious affection and admiration that the author has for Mother India.
highly recommended and looking forward to the next instalment!