I'm at the Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chavez, in Lima. We're catching a flight to Buenos Aires at 1am. Uhhhh man, there's a lot to say!
The day we left the Amazon for Macchu Picchu was collectively the worst day we've had so far. It was just... a nightmare. We left the lodge in the Amazon at 9am, and didn't get to our hotel in the village of Macchu Picchu until probably around 10:30 that night. When we got to Cuzco, there was all this fuss about our tickets, we didn't have them, we couldn't get a hold of anybody, basically all the shit hit the fan and we kinda had to stand around and wait. Eventually it got figured out and we got on a train at 8:30, lugging all our shit to the train through barely-cleared roadblocks in the dark as it rained on us, I sit down in the packed train car, cold, wet, tired, I pull out my paper journal to write about how miserable I am and my pen explodes all over my hand. It's kind of hard to explain the incredibly foul mental state we were all in at that point... none of us wanted to wake up the next morning. Despite how exhausted we all were that night, it was hard to fall asleep because of the sick feeling in all of our stomachs. Good vibes are crucial between people who spend this much time together, I'm telling you. Crucial.
The next day was much better. Once we started shooting, I think we all felt back on track. Macchu Picchu is incredible... it was hard to take in because we blitzed through it so fast, but wow. I was pretty impressed by our hotel, too. It was fairly high up on the pimp scale. I didn't take any pictures, but Natasha took lots. I'll have to get some from her.
It's getting kind of crowded in this internet place... I feel bad because I've been here for a long time. It's cheap as shit, though. There are rowdy boys punching each other on the other side of my glass partition.
Peru 's been pretty awesome... I've learned that I actually do like haggling. The markets here are incredibly cheap. Everything is pretty cheap. The people are short. There are lots of stray dogs. The corn is very big. Altitude sickness is for reals; it makes you feel kinda dizzy, you get tired fast when you climb shit, and it makes pens explode. Children like to run up to stopped trains and wave in hopes that people will throw money out the window. That's all I've got right now.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Whoa, okay. So I was just out on the river, with Cesar and the boat operator guy. I think his name was Samuel. Or I guess, Samuèl. Anyway we watched the last ghostly lights of sunset disappear behinnd us as the huge sky made way for bright stars, as we began our little hunt for nocturnal animals. There are lots of bats! We saw a couple of caymans (like alligators) pretty close-up. They are sinister-looking little dudes. The moon came up slow and burning orange like a soft imitation of the sun. It was awesome.
Anyway, I've been up since 6am-ish and it's been a very full day. Just wanted to say that we just got word late this afternoon that the strike in Cuzco is over, people are taking care of us and our travel arrangements incredibly well, and things -should- go smoothly tomorrow, and we will be heading to Macchu Picchu. It's been a lot of fun. This place has really begun to grow on us.
Oh yeah, and Cesar is a guy who works here who's been like, our guide dude for everything in the past four days. Actually right now, we're the ONLY guests here. I put forward a motion to have a raucous party. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, Cesar is a wicked dude. He lent me his computer, actually, and that's what I'm typing on. I was like, "¿Hey Cesar, what's going on here? Is this a windows system made to look like a Mac?" And he was like, "Jes, it is Peruvian ingenius." Oh, brother. Anway, you'll see him in two episodes. You will love him.
I hope there is still dinner. I'm gonna go investigate that.
Anyway, I've been up since 6am-ish and it's been a very full day. Just wanted to say that we just got word late this afternoon that the strike in Cuzco is over, people are taking care of us and our travel arrangements incredibly well, and things -should- go smoothly tomorrow, and we will be heading to Macchu Picchu. It's been a lot of fun. This place has really begun to grow on us.
Oh yeah, and Cesar is a guy who works here who's been like, our guide dude for everything in the past four days. Actually right now, we're the ONLY guests here. I put forward a motion to have a raucous party. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, Cesar is a wicked dude. He lent me his computer, actually, and that's what I'm typing on. I was like, "¿Hey Cesar, what's going on here? Is this a windows system made to look like a Mac?" And he was like, "Jes, it is Peruvian ingenius." Oh, brother. Anway, you'll see him in two episodes. You will love him.
I hope there is still dinner. I'm gonna go investigate that.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
restfully unresting
Alright. So I guess I never really finished the Grand Canyon trip. Maybe I will finish it up later. Maybe not.
I'm updating from the office at Reserva Amazonica in... The Amazon. We should have left by now, the plan was to go from here back to Puerto Maldonado, fly to Cuzco, and take the train to Macchu Picchu. But! The travel advisory board has done their job, and surprise surprise, they were right about the 'civil unrest' in this area. The Cuzco airport is on strike... and I think the trains, too. It's all to discourage tourism, as that's the only way for us to get to Macchu Picchu. It's weird because the public sector is on strike but the islands and things being affected are all private, as one lady said to me in the airport in Puerto Maldonado. It's a very, very effective way of discouraging tourists, though. The strike is supposed to be short-lived, so we came back to the lodge we were staying at in the Amazon and decided to wait it out, rather than try any funny business with a 30-hour bus ride down a bumpy road into the middle of a potentially violent city with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment and nobody to help us. Makes sense, right?
Anyway, we're fine. It's just a little stress on the mind with regards to making up for lost time, and finding a new story for whatever we'll have to cut out of the plan in order to make it to Macchu Picchu. This day is a bit of a gift in a way, because the itinerary was supersaturated and we all would have run down at some point, so a day of relaxing is always welcome. The Amazon is intensely cool. I'll write about it later... I think I'm going to take a nap.
I'm updating from the office at Reserva Amazonica in... The Amazon. We should have left by now, the plan was to go from here back to Puerto Maldonado, fly to Cuzco, and take the train to Macchu Picchu. But! The travel advisory board has done their job, and surprise surprise, they were right about the 'civil unrest' in this area. The Cuzco airport is on strike... and I think the trains, too. It's all to discourage tourism, as that's the only way for us to get to Macchu Picchu. It's weird because the public sector is on strike but the islands and things being affected are all private, as one lady said to me in the airport in Puerto Maldonado. It's a very, very effective way of discouraging tourists, though. The strike is supposed to be short-lived, so we came back to the lodge we were staying at in the Amazon and decided to wait it out, rather than try any funny business with a 30-hour bus ride down a bumpy road into the middle of a potentially violent city with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment and nobody to help us. Makes sense, right?
Anyway, we're fine. It's just a little stress on the mind with regards to making up for lost time, and finding a new story for whatever we'll have to cut out of the plan in order to make it to Macchu Picchu. This day is a bit of a gift in a way, because the itinerary was supersaturated and we all would have run down at some point, so a day of relaxing is always welcome. The Amazon is intensely cool. I'll write about it later... I think I'm going to take a nap.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
it has begun!
Man oh man. It's a little after midnight, now, I'm in my room at the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix, AZ. This hotel is like... have you ever seen Melrose Place? It totally looks like it was once that, it's got the pool in the middle and everything, and then someone came along and decided, "This place is a dump. We gotta do something." And threw a bunch of flashy paint and art and funky things everywhere and re-introduced it to the world as a cool place. And it is pretty cool, minus the 80's music that plays nonstop in the lobby. But hey, free phone calls! To anywhere! In the whole world! That's the kick-assinest thing I've ever seen at a hotel.
There's a lot to tell... three days of shooting have gone by; I'm a little sunburned, now. We'll start at Day 1.
Day 1: we were at the Grand Canyon for 8:30, to do this mule ride thing down the side of the canyon. I stood in on an orientation given by a dude named Casey, who waxes up the ends of his mustache (a sign of authority, he says). It was at this point that my toes started to get very cold. After the orientation, we got paired up with our mules. Mine was named Zanzibar. One of the dudes, Pancho (also with waxed mustache) tells me Zanzibar hasn't been ridden before. I tell him that he is joking. Since I'm not following the whole group all the way down, I ride in between two guides, Pancho and Buff. Buff also says something about me being one of the first to ride Zanzibar. I reconsider Pancho's earlier words. But you never know with those dudes; half their fun is making fun of the tourists, I guess. After that, we took a helicopter ride over the Canyon. Holy balls, that was gorgeous! We had a lady pilot, too, which was pretty rad. Her name was Ann. We had these headphones on, right, so she could talk to us through them and provide commentary without having to scream her face off, but when she wasn't talking, there was this ridiculous playlist going on, like with that song from 2001: A Space Odyssey and other assorted tunes. As we were landing, that Green Day song starts playing, you know, I hope you had the time of your life yadda yadda, and then right after, "Give a little bit..." Directing us to the gift shop, much? The ride itself was spectacular, though.
We break for lunch, then head back to the canyon. I met up with a couple of Rangers, Diana and Andy. At this point I become an official Grand Canyon National Park Junior Ranger, along with millions of children ages 4 and up. It was fun. I have a little plastic badge and a cool patch with a scorpion on it. We were there for the rest of the afternoon, and then drove to Sedona, this small city nestled in among gorgeous red rock mountains. I fell in love as soon as we drove in. The inn we stayed at had the most amazing view; we checked in just as the sun was setting behind the mountains. As night set in and the stars made themselves known, we could stand on the little terrace and look up at the sky, straight ahead at the silhouette of the mountains, and down at the trees, houses, and soft lights of the locals. Really a beautiful place. Woke up early the next morning and was lucky enough to catch a bit of the magnificent sunrise. And then we continued on for Day 2 of shooting.
There's a lot to tell... three days of shooting have gone by; I'm a little sunburned, now. We'll start at Day 1.
Day 1: we were at the Grand Canyon for 8:30, to do this mule ride thing down the side of the canyon. I stood in on an orientation given by a dude named Casey, who waxes up the ends of his mustache (a sign of authority, he says). It was at this point that my toes started to get very cold. After the orientation, we got paired up with our mules. Mine was named Zanzibar. One of the dudes, Pancho (also with waxed mustache) tells me Zanzibar hasn't been ridden before. I tell him that he is joking. Since I'm not following the whole group all the way down, I ride in between two guides, Pancho and Buff. Buff also says something about me being one of the first to ride Zanzibar. I reconsider Pancho's earlier words. But you never know with those dudes; half their fun is making fun of the tourists, I guess. After that, we took a helicopter ride over the Canyon. Holy balls, that was gorgeous! We had a lady pilot, too, which was pretty rad. Her name was Ann. We had these headphones on, right, so she could talk to us through them and provide commentary without having to scream her face off, but when she wasn't talking, there was this ridiculous playlist going on, like with that song from 2001: A Space Odyssey and other assorted tunes. As we were landing, that Green Day song starts playing, you know, I hope you had the time of your life yadda yadda, and then right after, "Give a little bit..." Directing us to the gift shop, much? The ride itself was spectacular, though.
We break for lunch, then head back to the canyon. I met up with a couple of Rangers, Diana and Andy. At this point I become an official Grand Canyon National Park Junior Ranger, along with millions of children ages 4 and up. It was fun. I have a little plastic badge and a cool patch with a scorpion on it. We were there for the rest of the afternoon, and then drove to Sedona, this small city nestled in among gorgeous red rock mountains. I fell in love as soon as we drove in. The inn we stayed at had the most amazing view; we checked in just as the sun was setting behind the mountains. As night set in and the stars made themselves known, we could stand on the little terrace and look up at the sky, straight ahead at the silhouette of the mountains, and down at the trees, houses, and soft lights of the locals. Really a beautiful place. Woke up early the next morning and was lucky enough to catch a bit of the magnificent sunrise. And then we continued on for Day 2 of shooting.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Grand Canyon
So, we're at the Grand Canyon National Park. We left Las Vegas at around 10 this morning and got here at around 4, with a time difference of +1 hour. The drive was beautiful. We saw the Hoover Dam. They're building a bridge that goes straight over it; right now the road is all twisty and slow. I liked it that way, but I bet it's a pain for people who drive it all the time, or are in a hurry or something. Anyway, we haven't actually seen the Grand Canyon yet, or done any shooting. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I'm in the lobby of the 'Grand Hotel,' very different from the Hard Rock in Vegas. I'm sitting on a couch in front of a real fireplace, most of the interior is wood and stone [or just looks like wood and stone] and there are huge moose heads on the wall. It smells nice here. There's snow on the ground and it's fairly cold... much like late March in Ottawa, I'd say. Or April, I don't know. Nobody's really here at this time... the Grand Canyon is not so happenin'. Even the McDonald's is closed and it's not even 7:30 in the evening. That's all, really; I guess I should save my words for when the real fun starts.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Las Vegas
We're here, we're settled. I have a room to myself, I think it's as big as my apartment. 2 queen size beds and a huge TV. Kinda lonely, but lots of room to stretch. There's a fancy Bose alarm clock/CD player... looks like I picked the wrong time to switch to the iPod. Five minutes of this radio station has confirmed that I am indeed listening to Christian Rock. This needs to change. Alright, so we just got back from seeing Cirque du Soleil's Beatles Love Show. It was incredible, absolutely. A great start to the whole adventure. I haven't seen so much explosive creative talent in a long time. My imagination has woken up a little. I think I'm going to take a bath.
PS- my room is on the 5th floor, next to a door that reads 'B.E. Office.' What could that mean? Bedroom Entertainment? Baby Elephants? Fingers crossed for Baby Elephants.
PS- my room is on the 5th floor, next to a door that reads 'B.E. Office.' What could that mean? Bedroom Entertainment? Baby Elephants? Fingers crossed for Baby Elephants.
en route to Las Vegas
Chilled. Out. is how I would say I am right now. Listening to some reggae station on satellite radio. Did you know they have little touch screens on the backs of every seat on these new planes? And USB ports? [The future is nuts, yo. Maybe eventually the world will become a giant computer that you just plug yourself into anywhere you go. Or maybe I'm just being ridiculous. Little of both? Anyway,] There's so much selection I don't even know what to do. The initial running around was pretty intense, though. The lady who checked us in in Ottawa was this ridiculous tiny little stress case, I'd say no taller than 4'10" in orthopedic shoes. She was so ridiculous. [Seriously, she was so stressed out... her movements were all jerky like an exploding robot in an ill-fitting suit. She just kind of left us before checking all of our bags, saying, "I have to go to transport!" and getting someone else to finish it up, who also didn't know what was going on.] Watching all the people who work such high-traffic, stressful jobs, I realized that much of the world is just here to break people. Work people's nerves until they forget what quality of life is. I can't let this happen to me. Things are flying along well (ha ha) with the rest of the crew- we all get along just fine. I love being on planes. 'm gonna kick it. out.
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