Bond... James Bond

Rumours had it that part of the next 007's Quantum of Solace movie was going to be filmed right here in Paranal. All conversations during the past month would end up on Bond and Olga Kurylenko, la chica Bond. They were also going to shoot in Antofagasta and the most controversial issue was that, in the plot, these places are supposed to be Bolivia, and chileans and bolivians have an historical background of not getting along very well...

We started seeing some movement around here, but mainly basic staff people coming and going, taking notes for the preparations. On Tuesday, however, a boom of people invaded this place, with tons of equipment, cars, trucks, making everyone really excited. In the afternoon we were given a lecture by the observatory director about what was planned for the upcoming days and all the restrictions that we would be subjected to. Details on the scenes shot are confidential and pictures were forbidden, which caused quite a fuss with the usual arrogance of the staff people.

All was done with great secrecy. A stuntwoman came first to perform and test one scene. It was tough, she fell a couple of times. After that, another actress came (rumours about her being Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter and the second bond girl were heard as well, but I cannot confirm that) for another scene. The main actors only came for two days and their arrival time was unknown. I stayed up until late one night to see if they would arrive, but got no luck... Today, however, they were there, early morning. I barely saw them and didn't even recognize Craig, someone had to tell me that he was there.

The truth is that Paranal almost stopped to see the shootings. Someone (nobody knew who) would regularly play the Bond tune in the communication radios for just a couple of seconds. Today, with all the actors, everyone stayed to watch a bit more. It is also the day I would come down to Santiago, my turno had ended. I got to see a bit of all, but it was disappointing that I barely saw the actors... well, almost disappointing. With some audaciousness, my reward came in the end!

(After failing so many times to stealthily get a picture of the bond girl, Olga, I was despairing watching the shootings, sitting quietly, one hour before leaving. At some point I see her and another girl walking towards the residence. She was not in the scene they were shooting and everyone was outside, so I gave them a few minutes and followed them inside. She was sitting in the lounge talking with another guy, no security around, not much staff movement as well. I took a deep breath, convinced myself that I had nothing to lose, heart beating completely out of control, shaking all over with the excitement coming from antecipation and approached them. I asked in a surprisingly polite english if I could ask for a picture. The two of them staring at me, those big surprised gorgeous green eyes staring at my abandoned puppy face, until she babbled a "oo..o..ok". I asked the guy to take the picture (and therefore to avoid any chance of having him also in the picture), held her shoulder and got myself THE picture. I know what you are thinking now, but I will NOT post that picture here, it is mine, my own, my precious!!)

More info in
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-07-08.html

San Pedro de Atacama #1

Since one day and two nights in Antofagasta were enough to see the city, I decided to go also to San Pedro, a small and charming pueblo in the middle of the desert. It is a gathering point for tourists, because it has plenty to offer. From half-day géiser tours to 3-day trips to Bolivia salt lakes, bike riding, volcano climbing, natural park sightseeing. Well, the options are endless. After more than 10 years, I biked again, under the sun, during 6 hours, 25 kms, across rivers and between canyons, explored caves, visited old inca ruins, bathed in a 35ºC geothermal pool at 4500 km altitude, watched the most gorgeous sunsets and tasted the nice local food. These experiences are hard to describe. Check out the pictures in the end.

However, this was not the most valuable part of this trip. In the four days I spent in San Pedro, I learned that when you travel on your own, you are only alone if you want. I must say I was only alone for a few hours and I could have chosen not to.

This time I didn't book a room, I booked a bed, in a dorm, thus sharing a room with three more people. I did it because it was cheaper, but from now on I will do it always, because it is just great! That room hosted seven different people while I was there and the atmosphere is awesome because people hang together, either to go for dinner or to schedule tours or activities. That's how I met engineers, accountants, consultants or archaeologists, boys and girls, young and... less young, travelling for a couple of weeks or backpacking for more than half a year. I was in fact amazed with the amount of girls that actually travel fearless on their own.

Pablo (Colombia), Carisa (US) and myself were the ones that stayed together at the hostel for longer. We did quite a lot together and at some point decided to make a parrillada for everyone at the hostel, to bring people together. When there isn't one supermarket where you can find all you need, fun increases quite a lot. So we went outside the tourist area, fetched local stores for vegetables and meat, bargained for quantity discounts and chose a fine chilean wine, all this under the confused look of the people behind the counters. Everyone then helped with the food in an amazing 12 people unorganized synchronization. The final reward was to watch people talking enthusiastically, not only with us, but among themselves as well, around a glass of wine, when a few hours ago they didn't even know each other. Providing some moments of pure joy to people is very very rewarding. In the end, I know I will not be able to keep in touch with everyone I meet, but I keep them with me anyhow.

San Pedro de Atacama Photo Album

Antofagasta

I spent part of my first days off in Antofagasta. The second largest city in Chile, 150 kms north from the observatory. It was part of the process to decide where to live for the next year. During my stay at the guesthouse, I had heard terrible tales about this city, about how nothing it had, just a portuary city with its waters polluted with arsenic. I was almost obliged to make my choice of living in Santiago before even coming to the north...

Well, it is not so bad, I was in fact surprised! The city as a whole is surrounded by mountains on the east, by desert on the north and south and by the charming pacific on the west. The center is a maze of perpendicular avenues, built of colourful wooden houses and full of animation on the streets. I would say it has a bigger influence of bolivian and peruvian people than Santiago, but the same fancy people can be seen, just the atmosphere is more of a local fishing town than of a big developed city.

There is one main pedestrian street, full of shopping centers, international fast-food chains, book and music stores. During the whole day, there is street animation, either jugglers, clowns or an old woman singing spanish melodies with an amazingly clear voice. I stayed in a rough but clean hostel, in the center, the bed was to forget, but it only costed me 7 Euro per night. Pizzas are bad, they don't use mozzarella cheese and their concept of tomato sauce is to cut the tomatos in cubes... There was however one restaurant with excellent food and piano nights, a bit more expensive but very very pleasant. I had the time to see chilean police in action, chasing a guy on the streets. Poor lad...

Well, in the end I decided to live in Santiago, for the sake of my social sanity. Next turno off, I'll go down to get myself a place I can call home...