Tirana is characterized by its traditional festival that attracts thousands of tourists every year in honor to the Virgen del Carmen, people are dressed in colorful traditional costumes and make different dances in order to celebrate it. It is 70 km from Iquique in the Pampa del Tamarugal
The town of La Tirana is located in the Pampa del Tamarugal (Tamarugal pampa). It is a quiet small town that celebrates the Catholic holiday of La Virgen del Carmen every 16th of July with a grandiose festival that attracts thousands of visitors and believers. Between the 12th and the 18th of July the town undergoes a metamorphosis in which believers offer music, dance and gifts to their Virgin patron saint. It is an outstanding and unique spectacle in Chile.
Location: Región de Tarapacá, 72 km (45 mi) east of Iquique, and 20 km. (12.5 mi) east of Pozo Almonte. It is located 1773 kms north of Santiago at an altitude of 995 mts.
When to go: Year round.
Attractions
La Tirana Sanctuary
Virgen de La Tirana Museum
Pampa del Tamarugal
Services
Lodging
Foo
Transportation
Roads.
Gastronomy
The cuisine in the North of Chile is characterized by a variety of legumes and cereals, due to the arid climate. Within the most common ingredients are quinoa, a staple in the Inca culture, also is the potato, carrot and various tropical fruits like mango, passion fruit and guava.
Among typical dishes are roast alpaca cooked on firewood, chuño which is a soup-based Popes alpaca, onion, wheat and other vegetables. Also you can find al types of seafood and fishes to make differents dishes.
Further to the North, a typical sweet is the chumbeque this fact of flour, lard and layers of Orange, mango, passion fruit jams. There are also the pululos, which are a kind of very common puffed rice in the north end.
How to go
Plane: From Santiago to Iquique.
Bus: From Santiago to La Tirana/Iquique.
Tour: From Iquique to La Tirana.
Recommendations
Since this traveling destinations is a coastal zone, the weather is desertic and very dry. There aren’t any extremes temperatures in the coastal area during the day or night. The average annual temperature is 18 ° C.
Many of the excursions and tours that are done here take you to visit places that are in the Chilean plateau, 3,500 above sea levels. This means that people may experience altitude sickness. It is important that people drink lots of water so they keep their body well hydrated. People shouldn’t make sudden or harsh movements, and let their body get used to the heights and the altitude.
Stores in rural areas are open all day, but they close between 13.00 and 15.00. We advise you to carry local currency (Chilean pesos), since it isn’t possible to pay with debit or credit cards in kiosks and rural stores.
Do not throw garbage on the beaches, parks or streets. To take care of our environment is everyone's responsibility. Avoid fines by following the rules.
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