July 18, 2010

London-Tashkent: 2 Geographers, One Iffy Car, and Miles of Teeth-Rattling Roads

London-Tashkent: 2 Geographers, One Iffy Car, and Miles of Teeth-Rattling Roads 1

Chronicle photograph by Don Troop

David A. Fyfe, an assistant professor of geography at York College of Pennsylvania, looks over maps of the route he and a colleague will take in this month's London-Tashkent Rally, a 5,000-mile drive across Europe and Central Asia in cheap cars.

Enlarge Image
close London-Tashkent: 2 Geographers, One Iffy Car, and Miles of Teeth-Rattling Roads 1

Chronicle photograph by Don Troop

David A. Fyfe, an assistant professor of geography at York College of Pennsylvania, looks over maps of the route he and a colleague will take in this month's London-Tashkent Rally, a 5,000-mile drive across Europe and Central Asia in cheap cars.

By Don Troop

York, Pa.

It was the car that most concerned David A. Fyfe.*

The assistant professor of geography at York College of Pennsylvania had purchased the dilapidated Toyota Celica a few weeks earlier for only $150, sight unseen. In a few short days he and his onetime mentor, Tracy H. Allen, an associate professor of geography at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, would fly to London, kick the tires on their "banger," and drive it onto a ferry to cross the

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Already have an account? Log In Now.