Day 1 - Saturday 22 May 2010
Photos by Robert Cunningham & Mark Dermul.
Our adventure
actually started in August 2009. That’s when the Trip got
announced on the website and people could sign up. Needless
to say that the 18 spots were taken in a matter of days. I
even had several names on the reserve list, should anyone
have to drop out. This actually happened three times, but
they were replaced very quickly and in the end, 18 Pioneers
left for the intergalactic sandbox that is
Once arrived, we soon were united with our
three jeep drivers (good ol’ faithful Fethi among them) and
set off for Sidi Jemour – aka
Toshi Station in
Anchorhead. ‘Dude, that’s awesome!’ was heard here for the
first time, but it certainly would not be the last… not by a
long shot!
Sidi Jemour is a
place of worship, so we were not allowed to enter this
temple, but then all the scenes were shot outdoors anyway.
Sidi Jemour is only seen briefly in a shot where the
landspeeder rushes into Anchorhead on its way to Mos
Eisley. The scenes where Luke and Biggs say their goodbyes,
which can be found on the Behind the Magic cd-rom,
were cut from the final film and unfortunately not restored
for the Special Edition. We all took turns posing for
a great photo, holding a… power convertor. Irresistibly
funny!
Approximately 6
kilometers to the south we encountered Ben Kenobi’s
Hermitage. It was still in great shape and hence the
‘Dude’s and ‘Awesome’s were handed out in abundance. Many of
the Pioneers were surprised that it’s such a small structure
(remember that the one you see in the Special Edition
is larger, but also completely CGI, so check out the
original movie!) and that it was so close to the water.
After all, this is just a fisherman’s house, where the
fishermen relax after a long day at sea. There were more
bushes around than can be seen in the movie. Lucasfilm had
those removed for the shot to give it the look of a house in
the unforgiving Jundland Wastes.
Our last stop before
crossing over to the Tunisian mainland by ‘le bac’ – the
ferry – would be Ajim. There we found the 40-year old
domed building that doubled for the Mos Eisley Cantina.
It is completely surrounded by modern structures (I
witnessed the start of the construction works in 2005) and
one can only wonder how much longer it will be before this
small, but iconic landmark will be gone forever.
Stormtrooper
Checkpoint – where the
landspeeder is stopped and the famous line ‘These aren’t
the droids you’re looking for’ was delivered, is now
gone. An apartment building took its place. But the
Falcon Blast Off Alley was still easily recognizable,
although there are many buildings in the background now,
that were not there when shooting took place. Let’s not
forget that it’s been over thirty years. Needless to say
that many photos were taken there as well.
