Celendín for tourists

Celendín is a small city in the Northern Peruvian Andes, more or less 1000 km north-east of Lima. A beautiful environment with still a traditional every day life. For tourists there are several places/things of interest.

One can still find lots of people wearing the traditional clothing, mostly the campesinos: women with typical skirts in all kinds of colours, and men with their ponchos, of course both with sombreros. Especially the traditional markets are worth a visit. Here lots of campesinos from all around Celendín come together usually in the weekends.

There's the production of handmade straw hats (sombreros de paja) of very good quality, which is a beautiful tradition which has existed for many years.

The last couple of years they have started to grow "tomatillo", in Celendín, the official name is aguaymanto. It's a kind of yellow/orange berry. They use it for mermelade and more and more other products. The name is "tomatillo" because it looks like a small tomato. Also the cacoa they grow in the northern parts of Celendín is of very good quality. In Celendín you can by the local chocolate, but it's not the chocolate we use to eat, it's pure cacoa they use for hot chocolate.

You can try the thermal (medicinal) baths in the Valley of Llanguat with a water quality even better than the famous Baños del Inca in Cajamarca.

The area is also the site of some very interesting ruins. And there are some really nice waterfalls, all in a beautiful area.

And Celendín has its own small museum.

Find out more on the next pages:

If you would like to have private transportation and a local "guide" to take you to these places, please contact us by e-mail.

Last changes: 15-03-09© Q'espe design © Fotos Susan van der Wielen