Arvind Kamath Blog on Travel and Leisure

On the Inca trail --- Machu Pichhu and Cusco City MachuPichhu, the name resonates with mystery, intrigue and of course one of the new Seven Wonders of the modern world. MachuPichhu in the native quechualanguage means “old mountain”. For me, i t was the journey of alifetime and a dream travel destination that was long awaited. Machu Picchu is today the top tourist destination in South America attracting global tourists. However few Indian touristsvisit this place perhaps due to the long distance involved or lack of awareness.But thanks to the super hit film “Robot”, in which Rajnikanth shakes a leg withAishwarya Rai on top of Machu Pichhu for a popular song inappropriately titled“Kilimanjaro”, Indians have started to realize the potential of this greatarchaeological site. (still from the movie Robot shot at Machu Pichhu in 2010 for the song "Kilimanjaro") Itravelled from Lima , the capital of Peru to Cusco City by flight. The flight lasting approximately 75 minutes offer...

Lima - Royal capital city of Peru T he moment my business trip to Lima got finalized, I immediately rushed to the World map hanging in my bedroom. How far Lima is from Bangalore and what air route should I take to reach this far away destination? I finally decided to take the Bangalore – Dubai – Sao Paulo – Lima route which consumed the least journey time (approx 30 hours) and return from Lima via New York and Dubai, which was also for the same duration. This trip broke 2 of my travel records a) the farthest journey ever undertaken by me and b) the longest nonstop flight (15 hours from Dubai to Sao Paulo). However the thought of visiting this exotic South American capital city made me feel very excited, since this was my first visit to Latin America. On breaking this news to my friends, almost everyone suggested that I also visit Machu Pichhu, which was recently declared the new 7 th wonder of the world. Who knows when I will get another opportunity to visit the Land of the...