One Man Rides Alone

Bike and Hike Uttarakhand

De: Ketan Joshi

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

‘If no one walks with you - then walk alone…’ said the great poet Rabindranath Tagore - and he got a Nobel prize for literature for saying so!

I said the same thing and didn't even get a like on Facebook!

But never mind- who cares about likes and prizes? The thing is to travel! The Himalayas were calling and the wife was nagging (No, I wasn’t! - the wife) and the bike was standing sadly in the parking lot and looking at me like a dog desperate to go for a walk!

My Amigos were not ready to ride - the cretins! Imagine putting wife and work ahead of Riding!

So I decided to ride alone - to the unexplored Himalayas of Uttarakhand! (Other people have explored them, of course… but not me)

And what an adventure I had! I explored the place for days on end - going where the wind took me! The majestic temple of Badrinath - Mana village, the last village of India, - the skiing resort of Auli - the border areas of Niti valley - the wonderful Garhwal Himalayas...

Since I was alone and without the corpulent Amigos - I went trekking! The famous ‘Valley of flowers’, the lonely mountain-top temple of Tungnath, the amazing high-altitude lake of Deoriyatal…I was striking a blow for generously-proportioned trekkers!

I scrambled like crazy to get government, army, border security force - and divine(!) - permissions to ride to Mana pass - the high and very difficult pass connecting India and Tibet - and made it half the way too...before my chain sprocket gave up on me!

Actually - the destinations are unimportant - the reward is the journey itself! Meeting amazing people, seeing amazing sights, feeling the joy of an unplanned journey and going where the wind takes you…

If you have to wait for someone to travel with you, you may end up waiting a lifetime!

A unique exploration of India - by an Indian!
Get a real taste of India, with crisp and flavoursome sides of history, culture, traditions - and a lot of fun anecdotes and stories.

Reviews
One more marvellous travelogue by Ketan Joshi - Ketan's style of writing is hilarious. He makes normal incidents extraordinary, with his choice of words and expressions. His adventures and misadventures are a treat to read. What is the life without misadventures! I equally love reading about when he gets lost, as about his spending emotional moments all alone at wonderful places

The travel is done on his Royal Enfield but the book is an excellent travelogue of India with a good background of history and local culture. An easy and very entertaining read and a perfect complement to his previous books.

Ketan’s writing has been a steady companion through some tough days in 2020...The writing is a slow, weaving meander, much like the mountain roads that Ketan rides. He’s removed or lessened some of the overused tropes. He takes detours from his own tale into smaller side plots, as if a cue to dismount, stop and breathe in the views. He rides for fun

Ketan does it again! He's easily one of the most gifted authors in India. If there's any Indian author that you like and you pick up Ketan Joshi's book, he'll kick out your favorite author by a mile! He's absolutely amazing!

Hats off to Ketan! One of the greatest Indian authors IMO! I pray that he keeps on writing book after book! (@Ketan, please never stop writing!) He's the PG Wodehouse of India.

About the author
Ketan Joshi is a biker, backpacker and travel writer. He has travelled the length and breadth of India, and has travelled to more than 50 countries around the world.. He is the author of 17 books - including the ‘Three Men on Motorcycles’ and the ‘One Man Goes Backpacking’ series, and also has a podcast and youtube channel.