Back in Lima, only this time we booked a hostel that people had reviewed as quiet! And to our delight it was, even though it was still in the middle of Miraflores.

After a nice sleep in we set off to book in our next leg with Peru Hop, a hop on hop off bus that runs between Lima and Cusco. To us, the thought of not having to book hostels or buses or catch taxis between the two sounded perfect, plus it included some activities on the way.

That done we moved on for some lunch, then made our way to the Choco Museum which ran courses in chocolate making. Given our slow movement for the day we missed the 2pm class so booked for the 5.30.

We started with a brief history lesson before getting stuck into it. We had to roast the beans first, which allowed us to more easily separate the bean from the husk, from which we made our first drink, chocolate tea. Just the husk, some honey and hot water.

Then we had to crush the beans into a paste. Each with a mortar and pestle, we began to crush and grind and mince and crush and grind and mince and smoosh and grind and crush and... you get the idea. This process went on for quite some time until our teacher was satisfied that we had collectively achieved an appropriate level of pastiness.

Using our paste we made 2 drinks, the Aztec version of a hot chocolate and the European version. The Aztec version consisted of our chocolate paste, hot water, chili, honey ad a red colouring, instead of the traditional human blood. Mixed by pouring from one jug to another several times, we managed to make a good mess, but it tasted delicious.

The European version was adapted by the Spanish for European tastes. With chocolate paste, hot milk, cinnamon and sugar, this one was mixed by spinning a wooden stick between you hands to create a nice froth (if you are better at it than we were). This version was much creamier.

Unfortunately if we had actual wanted to produce chocolate from our paste we would have been there a long time, so instead we were then give some melted chocolate that had been prepared earlier so we could make our own to take home. We felt like kids again! We had about 15 different flavourings to choose from, including some locally inspired flavours such as coca, chili and quinoa puffs, plus other favourites like nuts and Oreos.

Once we had carefully constructed our finely crafted choccies, we had to wait a little while for them to set then we were able to take them home. We may have eaten a few that night.

The next day Fergus had arranged for us to catch up with an old client of his, Ian, now living in Lima. Ian and his wife Vilma picked us up in a taxi and we went to a lovely restaurant by the coast where they made sure we tried some of the best local dishes. The food was amazing, and while Fergus caught up on mining and geology with Ian, Lindsay practised her Spanish with Vilma who was extremely patient!

From there they took us to the market where they treated us to a variety of the strangest fruits known to man, as well as some nuts and grains. While we tried them all back at their apartment, Vilma was able to explain the health benefits of them all, and while some of them were delicious, even the promise of fighting cancer didn't help the taste of others.

Our last day in Lima was fairly quiet. We walked quite a way to a park that used to be an Olive plantation. It was filled with Olive trees of course, but wasn't particularly pretty or exciting. Making our way back to Miraflores we managed to buy some supplies and Fergus found some jeans that actually fit him.

LAPFWT