TARMA “The Pearl of the Andes”

INTRODUCTION

This blog has been created by Aaron Aguilar, Sandra Aquijes, Dafne Ames and Yalylle Cardenas, students of Tourism, Hospitaity Management and Culinary Art from the Ricardo Palma University, with the objective of making known the beauties of Tarma and promoting the domestic tourism.

We should start saying that Tarma is an excellent place to be visited by people who want to get in harmony with the nature and with the traditional customs of the zone.
It is located in a valley in the center of Peru, just 5 hours away from Lima and it is known as “The Pearl of the Andes” because it is surrounded by a variety of flowers.
Visitors will find a variety of activities to do and a lot of cultural places to visit meanwhile they also taste the traditional culinary art of the community.

LOCATION

The city of Tarma is located in the center of the province of Tarma, Junin, about 230 km east of Lima. It is located at 3,050 meters above sea level in the valley of Tarma, formed by the river of the same name on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera de los Andes. Tarma Valley is famous for its cultural landscape, with large plantations of flowers and herbs, so it is called Valley of Flowers.

WEATHER

Temperate and dry, average annual temperature 53,6º F. (12°C.)

TYPES OF VISITORS

Tarma is a city that is visited more and more often by Lima people, due to the city’s close location to the capital, the lovely climate, the beautiful flowered valleys, and also because it is a strategic point of communication between the highland and the central jungle.

ACCESSIBILITY

There is a very good accessibility to reach Tarma. There are a lot of carriers that could take there for few soles (no more than 50 soles); this bus trip lasts 6 hours.  On the other hand, if you want to go by road from Lima, you have to take the Central Highway and drive until the 230 kilometer. Passing Ticlio, you will find Tarma. The trip by road lasts 4 hours, but you have to be careful with the tight turns and with the large buses and trucks that pass by.

It is also possible to reach Tarma by air, since new airlines have included Jauja as a new connection with the Jorge Chavez International Airport. Jauja is approximately 50 kilometers away from Tarma; that is to say, an hour away by bus.

HOSPITALITY

It has a wide range of comfortable accommodations in all segments. In the upper-medium segment there are certain hotels and ranches.

COMMUNICATIONS

Tarma has all the modern means of communication in telephony, mail, television and fax. These services are usually given by the hotels, and in some public places.

CAUTIONS FOR TRIPS TO HIGHLAND

Soroche is a quechua voice that means "sickness of the heights", or sickness of the mountain, produced by the decrease of oxygen in the air. The effects that produce are sickness, headache, and lack of appetite.

People that are in good physical conditions are less susceptible, or almost unlikely, to suffer soroche. When arriving to a city with great altitude, to avoid soroche it is recommended, not to carry out physical efforts and to rest the first hours for the acclimatization, this way there is no possibility to be affected.

Usually people use an infusion called "mate de coca" which is offered at the visitor's arrival or you can find in any restaurant even the hotels, this is a healthy and hot drink that avoids the soroche. This infusion is made with the leaves of coca, and it is not considered a drug.