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October 19, 2009 15:26:49

The Gruta de Guagapo

By Jessie Kwak
Photos By Robert Kittilson

The Gruta de Guagapo is the beating heart of the fertile Palcamayo Valley, just 35 kilometers north of Tarma.

Said to be the deepest in South America, the cave is accessible enough to entice the adventurous traveler, though it does not give up its secrets easily.

The Gruta de Guagapo is one stop among many on most local tour companies' itineraries, and according to our guide the place swarms with tourists on the weekends.

But on a sunny weekday morning we stood at the mouth of the cave alone except for our guide and the taxi driver who had brought us there, the four of us dwarfed by the entrance.

We didn't see another soul until we left the cave an hour later.

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September 28, 2009 9:05:53

Tarma: Warm Landscapes

By María Henea Tord
For El Comercio

This traditional and welcoming city is a launching point for various excursions to fertile valleys, picturesque towns and deep caves.

Tarma is a city that is visited more and more often by Limeños, due to the city’s close location to the capital (only four hours away), the lovely climate, the beautiful flowered valleys, and also because it is a strategic point of communication between the sierra and the central jungle.

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October 1, 2006 19:20:30

Tarma and the Chanchamayo Valley

Courtesy of

Leaping from the highlands to the jungle in just one hour

(LIP-wb) Accompany us on a journey by road to two of the most beautiful, and most frequently-visited, destinations in the central highlands. Tarma, an enclave of flowers and fertile fields, and the Chanchamayo valley – all the beauty of the central jungle region within easy reach. Fasten your seatbelt and join us!

Tarma, “The Pearl of the Andes”, is located just 56 km from La Oroya. It is reached along a descending, serpentine road that passes through some of the most beautiful farmland in the country. This famous landscape of mountains and rolling fields is a patchwork of different-colored crops – vegetables, barley and especially the multi-colored flowers grown to supply Lima’s markets.

Among the smallholdings, great eucalyptus trees rise majestically, and full-bodied weeping willows accompany the river as it meanders through the valley. Many of the houses are still roofed with red tiles, conferring added charm to the area. Tarma was founded by the Spanish in 1538, but it wasn’t until the government of General Odría – a tarmeño in love with his homeland – that the city began to develop.

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In Running the Inca Trail with two Olympians
Carmen Valdivia says :
July 21, 2011 15:16:32
Have you considered locals participation such as "porters"? I know they are quite amazing ...
In Running the Inca Trail with two Olympians
David O says :
July 21, 2011 3:47:41
Walter, you're still a 'liberal hack' writer but this article contained something of int ...
In Running the Inca Trail with two Olympians
Walter Rhein says :
July 20, 2011 18:49:42
Nope, Choquequirao cost S/. 37 to get in. There was a guy selling tickets at a little station ...

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