wee2books.blogspot.in/2017/05/three-men-motorcycles-ladakh.html​

Three Men on Motorcycle: The Amigos Ride to Ladakh by Ketan Joshi is the funniest travelogue I've ever read. The other two travelogues that I read and found exceedingly humorous were Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad and J. K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat. The Innocents Abroad had some serious doses of History, that as an Indian I didn’t find much interest in. The same goes with the description and histories narrated in Jerome’s classic.

Unlike the two classics I just mentioned, Ketan Joshi’s Three Amigos Ride to Ladakh made me feel at home. There were pilgrims marring the scenic beauty, the indecisive and adamant officer at a border check post, tourists polluting mountain lakes, the lazy and incompetent goods clerk, and not to mention the police trying to find an excuse to extort money – all these make us Indians feel very much at home. Then comes the most important part: the destination is Ladakh.

I’ll tell you how I came across this book. I first borrowed it from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, read it and then decided I should have it in my collection. So I bought it – not the ebook of course – but the hardcover. There are a few books that you read a number of times in your lifetime. You had a terrible day in your office, you had a break up, you’ve shifted to a new town and missing your old buddies – all you need is a book that can make you love your life again. That book shouldn’t be an ebook. Hell, no!
The first thing you notice about Three Men on Motorcycles is its intimate style of narrating things. The whole thing is extremely informal. Though it certainly comes under the travel genre, this book is more about the kind of relationship you have with your best friends. You swear at each other, you insult and make fun of each other, you are downright mean to each other, but despite it all, you can’t live without each other. Three Amigos are just like that. They drink rum together, smoke weed together, but most importantly, they ride their Royal Enfields together. If you have even one friend like them, you should consider yourself extremely rich.

Alright! Now there is a fourth person, Bharathi, who though physically not present with the amigos, keeps guiding them through cellphones, emails and sometimes when there’s no network, through her minions. “UTHO REY. UTHO REY.” They say. That drives them into ‘perpetual motion’ besides driving them crazy. I must mention something here though. The idea of Bharathi taking possession of humans and animals and controlling them remotely, her getting inside Ketan’s mind and making suggestions therefrom – they were doubtlessly funny. But I also found them interfering into and sometimes obstructing the smooth flow of the story. The idea was good when it started, then it was used again and again. By the time I reached the end of this book, it became so dull that I actually started to skip anything written in all-caps because they were supposed to be related directly or indirectly to Bharathi.

There is hardly anything that’s still or static in this book. It’s like a motion picture. It’s like The Motorcycle Diaries, only less philosophical. But that is because the three friends are in ‘perpetual motion’. There is history, there are descriptions, but they are brief and humorous. Even reading the history will make you smile. There is hardly a paragraph in this book that you read without laughing out loud. The literary style is lean. There is nothing that is unnecessary. If there’s anything that isn’t related to Three Amigos, then probably it’s never mentioned in this book. I read a lot of contemporary literature. The verbosity scares me. Not even once in this book had Ketan Joshi overridden the law of brevity.
Do present Three Men on Motorcycles: The Amigos Ride to Ladakh to your son on his 18th birthday.

goodreads reviews

"I read many blogs about many places, and i myself have written couple of blog posts about the places i visited, but reading a complete 200 odd pages travelogue is a first time for me. I picked the book the moment i read the tag line, the Amigos ride to Ladakh. Ladakh i guess is the dream ride for many people who have passion of riding a bike. whats better than doing it with close friends. 
Coming to the book, its very crisp and no unnecessary details. Its funny too. For any one planning a trip to Ladakh, this book can be handy guide though it doesn't have all the details, it can help us plan better. 
Adi's goggle stories, his sulking, bawa s love for the dirt roads all were put in a good way. How can i complete this review without mentioning about Bharathi, if i forget her probably i get to hear UTHO RE tomorrow morning, before my maid comes. 

May be one day i will find my Bharathi and will do a ride akin what these guys did :)'

​

​"A rather unusual mix of travelogue and amusing fiction which works particularly well.
A real insight into the challenges faced by those traveling around the Himalayas in India by motorbike. A nice balanced amount of fact (for those planning a similar type of experience) and description (so you can really visualise their surroundings and difficulties) interspersed by a fair bit of male orientated banter and antics. 
I Love the Bharathi character, really hope she exists................ If I ever plan to travel in India, it would be her I would seek out first!
A good fun read"