April 4 Day 48
We got up early after a restless sleep and got our cab to the airport. On the way I realized that I had left my wedding ring and earcuff on the bedside table. Since we left the key in the room and the owner was elsewhere in the city and we only had his e-mail, there was no point in turning back. Fortunately, there was free wifi at our gate and I was able to e-mail from there.
At the airport, Easter Island has its own gate, probably because it is semi-autonomous and has an additional security gate unseen on other internal flights. At the gate we noticed that our fellow passengers skewed much older than any other flight we took and few backpackers seemed to be making the expensive trip to Easter Island.
Our flight was on a big jet with seats in the centre. We had entertainment panels but they either couldn't or wouldn't get them working for this flight. We entertained ourselves by talking to an animated couple from New York in front of us and an innocent looking Australian beside us.
Taking off from Santiago, we could see mountain tops peeking out above the clouds. At the coastline we could see a few tankers and then it was hours of clouds and ocean.
We landed at the small airport and were amazed by the luggage carousel. Never had we seen so much everyday stuff mixed in with the luggage. More than a dozen coolers were there, many boxes and a huge bag of dog food kept going around and around amongst the suitcases. We found our bags and looked for our names on a sign for our airport pick up. After everyone else had left and a half hour's wait we took a cab to our place, only to have the owners show up behind us 5 minutes later. No explanation was given (they had little English) but giving us welcome leighs felt a little anti-climactic.
They gave us a glass of juice while we were getting settled and then put a huge platter of ceviche in front of us for lunch. It was restaurant quality good, but not Meg's favourite dish so we had lots left for dinner.
We were a 20 minute walk from downtown and hadn't dealt with humidity since Columbia. The town had its charms but was mainly tourist oriented and had frustrating few street names, numbers or signs. The tour company recommended in our book was full until 3 days later and I couldn't find another recommended one. We were tired and so went with a place that was open on the main strip as we wanted to see things first with a guide rather than renting a vehicle and seeing things on our own without context.
With the tour settled, we went shopping for a few days worth of food. There were many places in a row, each with a different selection. The prices were a little higher than the mainland but the choice was better than in San Pedro De Atacama. They still had the Chilean custom of weighing fruit and vegetables yourself and sticking the price to your item before coming to the cash. We forgot but the grouchy cashier didn't seem to mind going and doing it for us.
We walked back with our groceries, made dinner which was eaten with some of the wine we brought over with us and went to bed early as we were still 2 hours behind the locals (time zones, you know). Showers before bed and a nice fan made for a good night's rest.
We got up early after a restless sleep and got our cab to the airport. On the way I realized that I had left my wedding ring and earcuff on the bedside table. Since we left the key in the room and the owner was elsewhere in the city and we only had his e-mail, there was no point in turning back. Fortunately, there was free wifi at our gate and I was able to e-mail from there.
At the airport, Easter Island has its own gate, probably because it is semi-autonomous and has an additional security gate unseen on other internal flights. At the gate we noticed that our fellow passengers skewed much older than any other flight we took and few backpackers seemed to be making the expensive trip to Easter Island.
Our flight was on a big jet with seats in the centre. We had entertainment panels but they either couldn't or wouldn't get them working for this flight. We entertained ourselves by talking to an animated couple from New York in front of us and an innocent looking Australian beside us.
Taking off from Santiago, we could see mountain tops peeking out above the clouds. At the coastline we could see a few tankers and then it was hours of clouds and ocean.
We landed at the small airport and were amazed by the luggage carousel. Never had we seen so much everyday stuff mixed in with the luggage. More than a dozen coolers were there, many boxes and a huge bag of dog food kept going around and around amongst the suitcases. We found our bags and looked for our names on a sign for our airport pick up. After everyone else had left and a half hour's wait we took a cab to our place, only to have the owners show up behind us 5 minutes later. No explanation was given (they had little English) but giving us welcome leighs felt a little anti-climactic.
They gave us a glass of juice while we were getting settled and then put a huge platter of ceviche in front of us for lunch. It was restaurant quality good, but not Meg's favourite dish so we had lots left for dinner.
We were a 20 minute walk from downtown and hadn't dealt with humidity since Columbia. The town had its charms but was mainly tourist oriented and had frustrating few street names, numbers or signs. The tour company recommended in our book was full until 3 days later and I couldn't find another recommended one. We were tired and so went with a place that was open on the main strip as we wanted to see things first with a guide rather than renting a vehicle and seeing things on our own without context.
With the tour settled, we went shopping for a few days worth of food. There were many places in a row, each with a different selection. The prices were a little higher than the mainland but the choice was better than in San Pedro De Atacama. They still had the Chilean custom of weighing fruit and vegetables yourself and sticking the price to your item before coming to the cash. We forgot but the grouchy cashier didn't seem to mind going and doing it for us.
We walked back with our groceries, made dinner which was eaten with some of the wine we brought over with us and went to bed early as we were still 2 hours behind the locals (time zones, you know). Showers before bed and a nice fan made for a good night's rest.
 |
| The big moai on the downtown harbour. |
 |
| Our lodging on Easter Island. |
No comments:
Post a Comment