One last busy day in Lima - part III - ChocoMuseo, Inka Plaza, and some burgers

During my final afternoon in Lima I was to try out one of the chocolate workshops at the Choco Museo, which is within Inka Plaza. If there was any doubt that you were within the epicenter of souvenir shopping in Lima, the walk over to Inka Plaza from the Parque Kennedy area would clear that up for you right quick.

I was there for the Bean to Bar workshop, 3pm version. I got there a few minutes early. Easy to find the location, but didn't seem like they were getting ready for anything quite yet.

I spoke with one of the young women to understand what was going on. She seemed a little surprised to hear that I was part of the upcoming session, as it would be en español. Apparently una familia Mexicana had booked up most of the slots in the 3pm session. I thought I was to be testing an english version of the experience, too. But I told her that sí, hablo español, entonces no habrá ningún inconveniente. However, I did still have a few minutes until the workshop started, so I did a quick spin of the pasillos in Inka Plaza. Good to see some familiar items that Judy and I had picked up back during our visit in 2006. Our golden sun mirror is long gone, but we still have maybe 4 of those little foldable stools that we paid $6 each for. Now they run like $20+. Inflation.

Eventually we did start the bean to bar workshop. We began with making our own chocolate bar. Step one was picking your preferred chocolate, dark or milk. I'm a dark chocolate fan. But since I would be sharing my handiwork with Judy, I opted for milk chocolate.

Next it was time for the toppings. I felt that quinoa y almendras would be a good combo (spoiler alert: I was right). Lot of choices and you can see how kids or anyone with a sweet tooth could get carried away.

Once you've got your bars all done they are taken away and set in the nearby fridge.

Then it's education time. First you get introduced to the gigantic cacao fruit. And yes, junior did seem to be wearing pajamas and that face was representative of his mood for most of the workshop. But his two sisters, mom, and su abuela were there to keep him entertained and in check.

Next we got a lesson about the fermentation process. Definitely did not know any of this.

Then it was bean roasting time. We were told to pick out 6 good ones each for collective roasting.

Around this time I was fading and less vigilant in capturing every step of the workshop. We tried a couple of traditional drinks. One dating back to Incan times, another more Mexican in nature. I was happy with my bean grinding skills.

And of course I was pleased with my final product. Combo learning experience, hands-on activity, and a built-in gift to bring home for the wife.

Now I had about 90 minutes or so before my car would take me to the airport. I decided to hit one of the Inka Plaza locales and get a baby alpaca tapete for the dogs. Lucha approved once it got home.

I also decided to patronize the McDonald's at the northern tip of Parque 7 Junio. If you look closely you can see a Burger King sign across the way. I had tried the BK on my first night in Lima. Didn't love it. If you're deciding between which US mainstream burger place to eat at during your visit in Miraflores, I highly recommend the McDonald's. Much better atmosphere.

Two hours later I doubled down. Yes, I went for Burger Boy at the airport. Well, not a true double down. Went the healthy route with a chicken sandwich at McDonald's. But a double dinner nonetheless. Slept pretty well on the red eye back to Mexico City.

One last busy day in Lima - part II - visiting artisans in Nuevo Lurin [November 2025]

After my visit to Museo Pachacamac we continued south along Antigua Panamericana Sur for ~20 minutes to Nuevo Lurin.

Scenery continued to be an uninspiring landscape of grey skies, grey pavement covered in beige dust. It's an area of modest/lower economic resources and is permeated by the ancillary aspects of regional industry. Heavy trucks. Various services related to maintaining the transportation and construction industry. Local markets and small blue collar enterprises.

Our objective was to visit some local artisans in this community which has ties to the Ayacucho region. I didn't know much about Ayacucho before taking this excursion to visit the artisans of Nuevo Lurin. And I won't try to go in depth about it here beyond noting that during the years of the Shining Path's terroism many people from that region were displaced under threat of serious violence. Some relocated to this area in the southern edges of Lima. And they started to settle in the fashion of claiming barren lots, without any public services --- electricity, water, sewage, etc. --- with the hope of one day officially being granted title to the land and becoming recognized and serviced by the municipality. From what I gather this approach to 'settling' is not uncommon and happens across Peru. We saw some similar areas on the outskirts of Arequipa, too. It's a long, complicated, difficult process, but the light at the end of the tunnel is after 10 years you *might* get some official recognition and begin to establish some stability. It's not an easy life and one I suppose you only choose when the alternatives are worse.

So with that brief context, I'll transition into the visits I enjoyed with some of the artisans of Nuevo Lurin.

We pulled off the main drag of Antigua Panamericana Sur and into the community itself. Reminded me in parts of different small towns in Mexico that I have visited with Judy. One part Capula, mixed with maybe one part Metepec.

First stop was Textiles Quispe.

You can find them on Google Maps or on Facebook.

This was much more up my alley. In an earlier chapter of our Paskwarho adventure we worked with some artisans from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. They are amazing weavers producing gorgeous tapetes, bolsas, portavasos, and more. We have a number of great pieces in our condo here in la cdmx. Anyway, I am familiar with artisanal weaving and loved hearing the story of this coop as they showed me around their taller.

They had a handful of looms of various sizes, including the big boy over in the corner, which was in use during my visit. So I was able to capture an impromptu live demo. If you can't make out the audio he is telling me that a piece measuring 250cm x 180cm takes about 3 weeks worth of 10-hour days to complete.

There was some fantastic work on display, and they have the various recognitions to show for their effort and dedication. I would have loved to pick something up. But (a) I had no room in my luggage and (b) our place already has a pretty solid amount of tapetes de lana mexicana, so no real need. But if you can support them with an online purchase or donation, please do.

My guide picked up on my obvious interest and enthusiasm for this part of the tour. I think he was disappointed in my general underwhelmedness at Pachacamac. But this Nuevo Lurin stop was my wheelhouse. So he added an ad-hoc stop to another artisan that wasn't part of the original schedule. We drove a couple of streets over to Jampaq Perú.

Now we were really getting into my zone - ceramics. I'm still partial the work of the artesanos Michoacanos. But this was a fun stop. The artisan welcomed us despite arriving unannounced. And once he realized that I could speak some Spanish and knew what I was talking about, he opened up quite a bit. Plus, his dog approved of me, which I know helps break the ice. He had some nice work, ranging from the pieces he produces in volume to pay the bills and the more intricate pieces where he can express more creativity.

After a nice 20-minute visit we were on our way to the third and final stop of the tour, which was Llinco Perú.

Sr. Juan was ready for us and told me his story as I snapped pics around the workshop.

I don't know how I missed it when I was there --- distracted I guess --- but I'm now noticing that this little box he was showing me is of Christmas ornaments. I could have made room for that. Now I'm a little bummed I didn't pick these up.

After a few minutes chatting with Juan I was led out back for a lunch. I'm telling you, this setting could have been the interior courtyard of one of our partners in Capula. Very, very similar vibes and layout. I was comfortable here. And the food was absolutely delicious.

On the way out I asked Juan where his horno was because I didn't see anything that looked like what I was expecting. Even some of the smaller tallers in Capula have a stand up horno that is like 2-3x the size of a nice refrigerator. He walked over to this blue box and opened the lid.

Wow. It was the size of a convenience store ice cream cooler. To produce all the pieces he had in the shop. Unbelievable. Now looking at the pic I see it's connected to the tanks of gas lp against the wall. So I probably should have picked up on that. But still, incredible.

This was a very interesting and rewarding couple of hours in Nuevo Lurin. May not be for everyone, especially given the distance from downtown and the scenery. People seek different experiences with their vacation time. But I'm glad I got the chance to do this. And I'll close with a couple pics of the timeline that Juan has posted on his wall, explaining how he got there and what he's doing now. You can also follow him on Instagram via @llincoperu