River of No Reprieve: Descending Siberia's Waterway of Exile, Death, and Destiny

Honest description of Siberia's current status - depressing, deteriorating and smelling of vodka. I found Tayler's writing captivating, focusing quite a bit on his interactions with locals who in spite of their poverty and a pretty grim outlook were always very friendly, accommodating and helpful. The descriptions of nature are quite brief and sparse but this may be due to the fact that the countryside was really not changing all that much during his 2400 mile journey downriver. The only problem I found with the book is the lack of photographs and above all - maps. I printed a map of the region to make it easier to follow his travels and it did help a lot. So I highly recommend doing that, unless you are either very familiar with the show more geography of the Lena river or just prefer to be in the dark. To conclude - immensely enjoyable read, Tayler's other travel books are already on my wishlist. show less