Travel Guide Tarma

The small city of the department of Junín, posed at a soft altitude of 3 050 m, is located at 57 km of La Oroya and 115 km of Huancayo. Located at the bottom of a fertile valley, it enjoys a vegetal environment rich in eucalyptus. Its natural beauty earned it the nickname of "Pearl of the Andes". Although founded in 1538, Tarma has few colonial buildings. General Odría, who held Peru under his boot from 1948 to 1956, is buried in the cathedral of his native city. In its surroundings some ruins will interest the connoisseurs. The most significant are around the village of Huasahuasi (48 km to the north), in an area already populated 5,000 years ago: San Pedro del Tambo and its rectangular houses; Purunmarca, 3 km away on foot, and its cemetery with underground passages; Taulish and its circular watchtower. Lovers of wild landscapes will find their happiness with its lakes, such as the Laguna Mama Cocha (13 km and 3,800 m above sea level) with its cold crystalline waters, the Laguna Raypi Cocha which abounds in trout and waders or the Laguna Torococha, so called for the red rock in the shape of a bovine slumped in its centre. Tarma, located below the Cordillera, is also the natural gateway to the Selva Central.