Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25121
OF THE 42,252 MILES THE TRANS WORLD RECORD EXPEDITION DROVE AROUND THE WORLD, LESS THAN 20 PERCENT WERE ON PAVED ROADS, THE REST WERE ON DIRT OR MUD TRACKS, 1 DRIED LAKE BEDS, DESERT PISTES, RIVERBANKS, CAMEL TRAILS, ELEPHANT PATHS AND, AS HERE, OCCASIONAL WATER COURSES, THE FIRST THIRD OF THE RECORD-SETTING ROUTE (FRANCE TO INDIA), 2 3 A CRANE ABOARD THE QUEEN ELIZABETH UNLOADS THE EXPEDITION'S TOYOTA LAND CRUISER IN CHERBOURG, FRANCE, AFTER HAVING ALREADY DEPOSITED THE CAMPER TRAILER ON THE QUAY, 4 AT A WELL IN THE MOROCAN DESERT MANU, THE SPANISH MEMBER OF THE EXPEDITION, ACCEPTS A GOATSKIN FULL OF WATER FROM ARAB HERDERS, IN EXCHANGE, THE EXPE DITION DISTRIBUTED CANDY TO ALL THE CHILDREN, 5 ONLY 1,600 DESERT MILES TO CAIRO, BUT STEPHENS ISN'T HAPPY. THE EXPEDITION WAS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE THERE TWO MONTHS EARLIER CONSTANT PROBLEMS OF EVERY SORT EVENTUALLY PUT THE EXPEDITION A FULL YEAR BEHIND SCHED ULE, 6 TWO EGYPTIAN CAMEL DRIVERS TEST OUT THE AUTHORS' THERMOS POPTENT WHILE THE AUTHORS TRY OUT AN ARAB HEAD SCARF. TODAY, MORE THAN 34 YEARS LATER PODELL STILL USES THE TENT BUT ONLY IN GUARANTEED DRY WEATH ER 7 IN 581 DAYS ON THE ROAD, PODELL AND STEPHENS NEVER GOT A TRAFFIC TICKET, BUT MANY A TRAFFIC COP TOLD THEM TO MOVE ALONG WHEN THEIR VEHICLE DREW LARGE CROWDS, AS IN THE FRONT OF THIS MIDDLE EASTERN MOSQUE. 8 PODELL SHARES A BOX OF MATZOS WITH ARAB CAMEL DRI VERS IN FRONT OF THE PYRAMIDS TO FULFILL A COMMIT MENT TO SPONSOR B MANISHEWITZ, "We are in a cel/ar in Dacca, We know no one; we are strangers in the city, Air-raid sirens are howling, The skies echo with the drum ming of approaching warplanes, and we listen for the bombs to fal/, Outside, vigilantes are marching through the streets with sticks, beating on the gates, They have armed themselves to defend their sacred Pakistan, which has just gone to war with India .... " So begins Who Needs a Road, the story of the Trans World Record Expedition, Fi rst published in 1968, this classic adventure has recently been re-issued in paperback, The new edition begins with a thought-provoking introduction that points out-country by coun try-why the authors' expedition was the last ever to circumnavi gate the world by land: This trip would be impossible today, given the political climates and closed borders of countries such as Libya, Algeria, Iraq and Afghanistan, A fact-packed and highly-readable epilogue describes the current situation of every country on their route, It tells you almost everything you'd want to know about adventure travel from the latest research on cholera epi demics to why eating live monkey brain can be harmful to your health; from which countries have the most landmines to why you'd want to think twice before driving across Indonesia in its present state, to why Hong Kong is the world's 21st century city, Who Needs a Road is an inspirational guide to any adventurer who wishes they could dump their job and take off for two years of camping around the world, cavorting with the Bedouins, crossing the toughest terrain on earth and taking R&R on the lawns of the Taj Mahal.