Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [243]
El Mejorcito de Tarma (32-1766, 32-3500; Arequipa 501; mains S7-15; lunch & dinner) From Chiclayo, the owner of this restaurant decided upon arrival in Tarma some years ago that the restaurant food in town wasn’t good enough. The positive result is the Mejorcito (the ‘bestest’). The modest menu runs the gamut of Peruvian favorites, with grilled trout being a less obvious but excellent choice.
Turistico al Rosal (Huaraz 305; menú S6-8, mains S10-12; 6am-4pm) The serene flower-filled central courtyard and the excellent fish dishes are the reasons to head here. There are two inside seating areas too. Feeling adventurous? Try the Tarma specialty mondongo: a broth made with maize, tripe, minced pork hoof and vegetables.
Drinking
Discoteca Danny (Malecón Galvez 627) Popular with (mostly male) locals and often with a S2 cover charge, Danny has recorded and live Latin music with plenty of space for drinking, too.
Getting There & Around
The forlorn, minuscule (but official) terminal terrestre (bus station) has just one bus daily leaving for Lima at 10pm (S20, six hours).
BUS
Bus companies usually have their own terminals here.
Los Canarios (32-3357; Amazonas 694) Has small buses to Huancayo (S9, three hours) leaving almost hourly from 5am to 6pm.
Transportes Chanchamayo (32-1882; Callao 1002) Has 9am, 2pm and 11pm departures to Lima (S20). Buses coming through from Lima go to La Merced.
Transportes Junín (32-1234, 32-3494; Amazonas 669) Has five daily buses to Lima including bus-camas (bed buses) at 11:30am and also 11:45pm (S15 to S25). It also has 5:30am and 1pm departures for Cerro de Pasco.
Transportes La Merced (32-2937; Vlenrich 420) Has buses to Lima at 8:45am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 10:30pm, 11pm and 11:30pm (S17). The evening services offer bus-cama options for S25 (upstairs) or S30 (downstairs). The 12pm service originating in Lima goes on to La Merced and Oxapampa.
Transportes San Juan (32-2308; Odría 1021) In front of the Estadio Unión Tarma at the northeastern end of town (a mototaxi – motorcycle taxi – ride here costs S2). Has big buses to Huancayo (S10, 3½ hours) via Concepción and Jauja, as well as frequent buses to La Merced (S5, two hours).
OTHER TRANSPORT
By the gas station opposite the terminal terrestre, colectivo taxis take up to four passengers to Lima (S30 each) or local destinations such as Junín (S15) or La Oroya (S15). If you want to go to Cerro de Pasco or Huánuco, you can take colectivos from here, too, though you will have to change cars up to three times to get there. Fast colectivo taxis to Huancayo (S20) leave from Jauja, about 600m south of the terminal terrestre.
Almost opposite Transportes San Juan, colectivos to La Merced charge S15. This is a spectacular trip, dropping about 2.5km vertically to the jungle in the space of just over an hour. For destinations beyond La Merced, change at the convenient Transportes San Juan La Merced bus terminal. Ask around the stadium area for other destinations. During the day frequent minibuses for Jauja (S6) leave from the roundabout by the terminal terrestre when full. A bus stop next to Transportes San Juan has minibuses to Acobamba and Palcamayo. Cars for San Pedro de Cajas leave from the northern end of Moquegua. The tourist office can help with transport-related queries.
Return to beginning of chapter
ACOBAMBA
064
Colorful Acobamba, about 9km from Tarma, has profited substantially from and is famous for the religious sanctuary of El Señor de Muruhuay, a white shrine visible on a hill 1.5km away.
The sanctuary, one of Peru’s top pilgrimage sites, is built around a rock etching of Christ crucified. The image supposedly appeared to smallpox sufferers during a regional epidemic, healing them when authorities had left them for dead. Historians claim it was carved with a sword by a royalist officer who was one of the few survivors after losing the major independence Battle of Junín (Click here)