Across Lima and into Mordor
This blog entry about the events of Tuesday, December 16, 2003 was originally posted on December 17, 2003.
DAY 59: The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a phenomenon in many countries around the globe, Peru included. Tolkien’s world is very much a part of Peruvian pop culture as it is in the States, and with the worldwide December 17th release of the third film, Peruvian nerds, like their North American and European counterparts, lined up in hordes to see El Retorno del Rey. In fact, a front page article in the national newspaper El Comercio had a picture of the hundreds of Peruvian nerds who sat in theaters for ten hours straight watching all three movies back to back to back.
AS NICE AS IT WAS TO BE in a house with a Christmas tree, it was sort of depressing being there alone; the woman of the house kept to herself unless she had to make me my complimentary breakfast. Plus, it was annoying that I always had to ring the doorbell for her to unlock the two doors whenever I wanted to get inside.
I packed my bags and trekked like a hobbit the one mile to the other side of central Lima to the Hotel España, a “favorite of budget gringo travelers” according to Lonely Planet. Immediately I saw why: situated in a huge four-story colonial house, it included sculptures, a cafeteria/bar, in-house internet and a rooftop garden with a view of the nearby Franciscan monastery (picture above) — and all for just $3/night for a dorm bed. Not only that, but they kept a few pets, including a parrot that could say “Hola” — as you can imagine, the novelty wore off after about the 20th time — a cute little kitten and a bunny rabbit that lounged near my dorm’s door. I don’t know about you, but I think it might have been the kitten and bunny that warranted the popularity of the place.
Above all, there were actually other people at the hostel, which was a welcome change. Over the course of the day and night, over snacks, beers and card games, I met a Canadian girl from Ottawa, a British girl from one of the small British Isles, a guy from Scotland and two Americans from Colorado. All of them had either just arrived in Lima or were about to head home for the holidays. I also met — unavoidably — the older, portly and very drunk eastern European(?) guy in the cafe who, assuming that I was Peruvian and therefore a waiter, kept on asking me for more beer.
BEING MY SECOND TIME IN LIMA, I wandered away from the main plaza to see some sights I hadn’t yet seen. I walked through the Plaza San Martin to the scenic Parque de la Exposition, followed by the Parque Italiano — flanked by the architecturally impressive Palace of Justice — and the Plaza Francia. I saw with my own eyes, that central Lima didn’t really feel as unsafe as Lonely Planet suggested.
I took the suggestion of the Canadian girl to visit the the nearby Franciscan monastery. The ticket cashier saw my appearance and automatically put me in a Spanish-only tour group. As the guide took us to the church, the library, and the catacombs, I just nod my head and pretended to care what she was saying — which I probably would have done if it were in English anyway.
BEING ON THE INTERNET PRACTICALLY EVERYDAY to do The Blog, you might have guess that I am a borderline nerd. (Wait, did I say “borderline?” I meant “borderline crossing.”) And so, like the rest of the nerds, I went on one of the many long lines to see the third El Señor de los Anillos film — it was playing twice every hour between the two theaters across from each other in the main pedestrian mall. Fortunately for me it was in English with Spanish subtitles, although I’m sure the ambiguously gay tendancies of hobbits translate in any language.
Allow me to digress for a moment because I must say that the film totally kicked ass — the best of all three — possibly because it finally ended instead of leaving you hanging. Legolas kicked ass, Gandalf kicked ass, Samwise — they all kicked ass. The only time the film didn’t “kick ass” was when the projectionist — probably dozing off after watching the 3 1/2 hour movie for the sixth time of the day already — forgot to swap reels when one ended.
This prompted the audience to angrily whistle profusely. Whistling, unlike in the U.S., is a form of detest. The late swapping of the reels happened at least four times over the course of the movie, causing the nerds to whistle over and over.
I would have hated to be the projectionist. From my experience — and viewing of certain movies of the 1980s — you don’t want to upset nerds; they get their revenge sooner or later.
Special Thanks to Alice Mao for her holiday donation to The Global Trip 2004 Pledge Drive! You rock! More postcards to come…
This holiday season, remember TGT2004 gear, WhatEXIT.net apparel and the book Hyenas Laughed at Me and Now I Know Why make great stocking stuffers! (Please excuse the gratuitous plug.)
Next entry: The Taxis of Miraflores
Previous entry: Looking for Christmas in Lima
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Comments for “Across Lima and into Mordor”
firST!
cute kitty!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 03:17 PM
wow, i think i beat love penny. i still have to see lotr3. how come they have to change the reels so much? i don’t recall reel changing from the other 2 movies? weird.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 03:23 PM
damn you, love penny!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 03:24 PM
haha! i posted when u turned around to do work.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 03:25 PM
Eric - BTW I bought the book for my uncle for X-Mas! He like humor so I figured you’d be great. Don’t end the blog, I love it and it helps me plan places for my next vacation.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 03:53 PM
Damned cute bunny and kitty.
What’s nerd in Spanish?
Posted by matto on 12/17 at 04:56 PM
nerd (english) = nerd (spanish)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 06:55 PM
Hey dude! glad you made it out of amazon ok- still have’nt caught up with all amazon blogs. I’m in oruru, boliovia awaiting the red eye bus to uyuni to visit the salars. Had a great time at inca trail/machu picchu 6 lago titikaka. By the way when I was in cuzco the cuzco soccer team cenciano, beat the colombian team & went to final with argentenian riverplate- 3-3 tie- too bad you were’nt there- bigtime parties! there is a tie breaker game in few days- maybe you’ll be in cuzco by then.- take care & keep in touch.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 07:20 PM
Still trying to catch up. You know Erik, you should have your own fan club! The Global Trip dot com Fan Club (or someting like that). You would probably have alot of members!
Keep up the great work!!!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 07:28 PM
but if he has a fan club, he might end up like selena…we can’t have that now….
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 07:52 PM
run-Away! ... runAway! the rabbit from Monty Python’s Holy Grail returns !
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 08:15 PM
if he does start a fan club, can i be the president of it?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 08:19 PM
I got my postcard!! I’m a little bummed, it was mailed within the US. Kind of missed the point of that “post office” in the Galapagos…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 08:59 PM
just want to say I love you son & God bless….
look up fr.Jim geaney for all you know he teaches at that beautiful seminary. again his address is:
Apt 18 - 1036
Lima 18, Peruhe might invite you to christmas dinner with the seminarians. also it will break the monotony of being alone. he probably will recognize you
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 09:02 PM
LP if you’re the president, then you’ll have to shoot erik like in selena…or you can change his fate and just be president and let him live….
ahhh…poor poor selena…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 09:22 PM
Oh WHY was I actually working when I could have been posting before Love Penny?? I’ve got to get my priorities sorted out!
I’ll get you yet Love Penny!!!Wicked pics Erik… That hotel looks awsome! $3 is amazing for that place!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 09:23 PM
i got my postcard too!! i was really hoping a psycho would deliver it to me, but it was only the mailman. oh well, THANKS!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/17 at 11:57 PM
El Retorno del Rey was great.
Not enough Legolas though. :/PS. I’ll join your fan club.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 02:37 AM
The kitten is cute, the bunny looks yummy!! Dem’s good eatin’s!!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 03:34 AM
markyt: i was already shining my pretty 9mm bullets…..
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 03:53 AM
shining = polishing (stoopid keyboard)
...anyway, its only a scare tactic so Erik would keep the stories coming.
hmm…come to think of it, Yolanda Saldivar said the exact same thing. interesting.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 03:58 AM
Hope you feeling cheery again.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 06:27 AM
Wow, that’s one bitchin’ hotel. It would cost less to live there for a whole year than it does to rent an apartement back here in NYC for just a month. Plus, my place doesn’t have statues.
Still haven’t seen LOTR3 yet - nobody spoil the ending for me! That means YOU Alice!Posted by dunlavey on 12/18 at 06:54 AM
everyone dies, and the ship sinks. oh wait, that’s the ending to titanic. i haven’t even seen lotr3 yet. but once i do on the big screen, you know i’ll dl a copy for future reference…... =P
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 01:53 PM
Wow, all the back and forth comments on this one… and I thought *I* was the nerd… haha.
Thanks guys, keep ‘em coming, and I’ll continue to write more!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 02:00 PM
I’m impressed with how beautiful Lima is. Sure it’s the well-funded municiple stuff, but still. And that hotel, $3 a night, and people—much better than that lonely joint.
Waiting for Sun. Matinee for LOTR3 (work work work)... it’s killing me, so please nobody go and spoil it.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/18 at 04:30 PM
Man - those buildings are gorgeous! Better than the WHITE of our buildings, in my opinion… Yes, I’m late, but such is life. I’ve seen ROTK TWICE so far. Who’s the nerd now?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/01 at 10:06 PM
NOELLE: Glad to see you’re catching up! I’ll be NIZ for a couple of days tomorrow, so you’ll have more time…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/01 at 10:14 PM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
Next entry:
The Taxis of Miraflores
Previous entry:
Looking for Christmas in Lima
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Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
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1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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