River Dog: A Journey Along the Brahmaputra

River Dog: A Journey Along the Brahmaputra by Shand, Mark. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780316860352.

Birthplace of legends, embracing the great religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, the mighty Brahmaputra begins its journey as a tiny glacial stream high on the desolate plateau of western Tibet, and sweeps eighteen hundred miles through three countries, to end, as wide as a sea, in the Bay of Bengal. No one is known to have travelled its entire length, a challenge described by one explorer as the last great Asian adventure. In River Dog, celebrated travel writer Mark Shand chronicles his attempt to complete this journey. Undeterred by seemingly insurmountable political and geographical logistics and bureaucratic tangles, using superhuman patience, persistence and the black art of persuasion, Mark is constantly manipulated by the power of the legendary river, know in Tibet as the Tsangpo, in north-east India as the Siang, in Assam as the Lohit and in Bangladesh, by turns, the Jamuna, the Padma and finally the Meghna, the largest river delta in the world.