KEY POINTS:
MAD DOGS AND AN ENGLISHWOMAN
By Polly Evans
Bantam Books, $27.99
Polly Evans has written four previous travel books, each featuring a different mode of transport. In New Zealand she travelled by motorbike, in Argentina on horseback, on a bike around Spain, and China on public transport. In this one, she travels by dog-driven sleds in Canada's northwest.
Arriving in the Yukon Territory in winter when the temperatures can dive to -40C, Evans embarks on her quest to learn how to drive sled dogs. But first she has to serve her apprenticeship: scooping dog poo out of the snow - a job she does with uncomplaining stoicism.
It is the time of the 1600-mile Yukon Quest, a sled race over dangerous terrain. Evans is impressed by the dedication and hardiness of the competitors and their huskies.
A die-hard traveller, Evans conscientiously researches each place she visits. However, I didn't enjoy this book as much as her one on Argentina. My concentration lagged and I felt I needed a larger canvas.
