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