Five months in a leaky boat: rowing through Mongolia and Siberia to the Arctic Ocean by Ben Kozel (Pan MacMillan, 2003) RRP Aus$30

Few expeditions go on to become literary best sellers. A to B voyages, while always courageous, are often long, tedious, drawn out affairs with the action and drama of hardship usually sporadic.

Even Scott’s seminal Voyage of Discovery elicits the yawn factor in parts.

And so Australian river adventurer, Ben Kozel, has a tough time making his arduous 5,540 kilometre journey along the little known Yenisey River a nail biting read throughout. Especially when the barren, sparsely populated landscapes he floats past hardly compare with the lush and mysterious jungle frontiers of his first adventure rafting down the Amazon (as told in Ben’s first travel book foray, Three Men in a Raft).

Ben buddies up with three fellow adventurers, including Australian ‘Travel Adventurer of the Year’ Tim Cope, to trace the formidable Yenisey River from source to sea on a five month voyage that crosses Mongolia and Russia, finishing high in the Arctic Circle.

His account of their journey, Five months in a leaky boat, struggles with the mundane nature of floating down a river that rarely breaks into whitewater and passes through long stretches of near apocalyptic Siberian wasteland.

Not to say the boys’ expedition wasn’t challenging and without moments of humour. Flipping their first raft, losing a team member for days, hints of personality clashes, rebuilding a traditional dory and a myriad of characters encountered all makes for fascinating reading. But the pace can’t be kept up and just when Ben begins to introduce us to a fascinatingly alien world – like that of the Raskolniki or ‘Old Believers’ – he stops short, all too quickly returning to the world of hull draft, cross-winds and oar-blistered hands.

Expedition member Tim Cope gets it right when, as Ben recounts, he implores the team to stop at a Nenet chuum community on the riverbank. Pushed for time and worried the river will freeze over before reaching the Arctic Ocean finish line, they continue on downriver. Tim sulks, miffed at the lost opportunity. I agree with him: I want to know about the indigenous way of life and I want to read about how they then deal with the challenge of beating the ice-over. That’s drama.

There are some good insights into backwoods Russian and Mongolian communities and their struggle with a harsh life numbed by a flood of vodka. And it’s good to see the fellas knock ‘em back in true ‘when in Ruski-land’ fashion.

I also wanted to read more about the fractious group dynamics brought about by the cramped situation of four men stuffed into a 15 foot boat for days on end, especially when one of them begins stealing from the chocolate stash.

Sometimes it’s the details that matter, other times - like the ad-nauseam description of river bend currents - they don’t. But what would I know? I haven’t navigated a 5,540 kilometre river in extreme conditions. So buy the book anyway, it’s still a good romp through an unknown land.

And, umm, Ben, got a spot on your next expedition? I won’t steal the chocolate, promise.