April 5 Day 49
We got up, had breakfast and waited for our pickup. We were first, which meant we got to spend lots of time on the bus waiting for people who weren't ready. A bunch of these people were bringing towels and swimsuits, which surprised us. Apparently we were to be spending more than an hour at the only sandy beach on the island, but no one told us so we weren't prepared.
Once we got everyone we were told that our first stop had changed from an original site of a village to a recreated one. We saw a chicken coop, the huts where people lived which were shaped like an overturned boat, plants protected by circular rock walls and simple cooking areas. It was interesting for a little while but the site was easily explored in a few minutes. The group was mainly Spanish except for us and a Canadian woman with her son, who started off the day fairly bratty but became more tolerable as he got tired. She had pulled him from school for a year and was home-schooling him as they traveled.
Since there were only a few of us, our guide did the Spanish explanation first and the English after. The Spanish tourists were obviously getting a lot more information and even felt for us, as few of the group who could also speak English added details which our guide hadn't bothered to tell us. It turned out to be an issue that got more extreme as the day progressed.
The next two stops were the most impressive of the day. The first was a large area with a lone moai at the entrance and a line of 15 down below, some of them huge. The rain had begun to pick up but it didn't deter the tourists. We were told that the moai on its own traveled the world as a museum exhibit and raised enough money for a Japanese group to restore the site. The row of 15 was the largest on the island and they had a variety of sizes and shapes. Only one had the hat(Hair? knot top?) on. The rest of the site had some rubble and some petroglyphs we couldn't find but the big line of statues was definitely the star here.
We drove a short distance to Ranu Raraku (Meg likes to pronounce this in her Scooby Doo voice). This was the quarry where almost all of the moia were carved out and transported all over the island. Not all of them made it to their final destination, so this has the most moia of anywhere and in various states of completion. Apparently they didn't contain a soul until they were put on the ahu (platform) so these could face the sea or any direction while the rest faced inland. Some broken ones were lying on the ground, others were standing in a hole waiting for their backs to be carved and others were still mainly part of the mountain, waiting for the initial carving to be finished. They weer all over the place, you could get pretty close to them and see details and differences like no where else.
Our guide started to get really annoying here, saying that he'd give the English explanation once we go higher and three elevations later we got a much shorter description than out Spanish compatriots. On the way back, two members wanted to climb up to the volcano but he tried to deter them and said it was a 30 minute hike to get up there, which we found out later wasn't true.
The lunch was excellent, with bbq meat and fresh juice ad vegetables and a good conversation with several of our group members. We then headed out for the afternoon part of the tour, which was underwhelming.
One thing I haven't mentioned are the animals on the island. Wild horses are everywhere, apparently 7000 of them and cars have to stop for them all the time. They walk around the suburbs of the town and were even coming into our hostel to munch some plants. Dogs are like Chile, healthy-looking and everywhere in the streets, sometimes in packs. Cats are rarer but around and cattle and chickens wander where they will. It's odd at first but you get used to it.
We saw the largest moia, which was lying topped onto its face. At the same site there was a magnetic rock but our guide didn't know where it came from or what it was used for and gave us another short description.
Our last stop as more than an hour at the beach which we hadn't been told about and therefore weren't dressed for. There was no information given to anyone here but there was another row of moia and a few other ruins that we read about on information panels. We walked around the only real beach on the island but quickly ran out of things to do while the rest of the group swam.
We headed back across the centre of the island and quickly got back to town. We wanted to be let off downtown so that we could book with another tour company but we seemed to be zigzagging all over the place so we just shouted for the bus to stop when we were close to their office. They were full the next day but we booked for Monday and headed back to our place.
On our way back we heard someone shouting something derogatory about Canadians and found our New York friends from the plane at a restaurant. We had a drink with them and caught up on island adventures (theirs were all good) with a passion fruit pisco sour. The conversation brightened our mood and we found out they wee going to the same cultural show that we were the next night and so made plans to meet up there.
We walked back, had a reheated dinner and had a good sleep under our fan after confirming with our hosts that we could rent their 4 by 4 on Sunday.
We got up, had breakfast and waited for our pickup. We were first, which meant we got to spend lots of time on the bus waiting for people who weren't ready. A bunch of these people were bringing towels and swimsuits, which surprised us. Apparently we were to be spending more than an hour at the only sandy beach on the island, but no one told us so we weren't prepared.
Once we got everyone we were told that our first stop had changed from an original site of a village to a recreated one. We saw a chicken coop, the huts where people lived which were shaped like an overturned boat, plants protected by circular rock walls and simple cooking areas. It was interesting for a little while but the site was easily explored in a few minutes. The group was mainly Spanish except for us and a Canadian woman with her son, who started off the day fairly bratty but became more tolerable as he got tired. She had pulled him from school for a year and was home-schooling him as they traveled.
Since there were only a few of us, our guide did the Spanish explanation first and the English after. The Spanish tourists were obviously getting a lot more information and even felt for us, as few of the group who could also speak English added details which our guide hadn't bothered to tell us. It turned out to be an issue that got more extreme as the day progressed.
The next two stops were the most impressive of the day. The first was a large area with a lone moai at the entrance and a line of 15 down below, some of them huge. The rain had begun to pick up but it didn't deter the tourists. We were told that the moai on its own traveled the world as a museum exhibit and raised enough money for a Japanese group to restore the site. The row of 15 was the largest on the island and they had a variety of sizes and shapes. Only one had the hat(Hair? knot top?) on. The rest of the site had some rubble and some petroglyphs we couldn't find but the big line of statues was definitely the star here.
We drove a short distance to Ranu Raraku (Meg likes to pronounce this in her Scooby Doo voice). This was the quarry where almost all of the moia were carved out and transported all over the island. Not all of them made it to their final destination, so this has the most moia of anywhere and in various states of completion. Apparently they didn't contain a soul until they were put on the ahu (platform) so these could face the sea or any direction while the rest faced inland. Some broken ones were lying on the ground, others were standing in a hole waiting for their backs to be carved and others were still mainly part of the mountain, waiting for the initial carving to be finished. They weer all over the place, you could get pretty close to them and see details and differences like no where else.
Our guide started to get really annoying here, saying that he'd give the English explanation once we go higher and three elevations later we got a much shorter description than out Spanish compatriots. On the way back, two members wanted to climb up to the volcano but he tried to deter them and said it was a 30 minute hike to get up there, which we found out later wasn't true.
The lunch was excellent, with bbq meat and fresh juice ad vegetables and a good conversation with several of our group members. We then headed out for the afternoon part of the tour, which was underwhelming.
One thing I haven't mentioned are the animals on the island. Wild horses are everywhere, apparently 7000 of them and cars have to stop for them all the time. They walk around the suburbs of the town and were even coming into our hostel to munch some plants. Dogs are like Chile, healthy-looking and everywhere in the streets, sometimes in packs. Cats are rarer but around and cattle and chickens wander where they will. It's odd at first but you get used to it.
We saw the largest moia, which was lying topped onto its face. At the same site there was a magnetic rock but our guide didn't know where it came from or what it was used for and gave us another short description.
Our last stop as more than an hour at the beach which we hadn't been told about and therefore weren't dressed for. There was no information given to anyone here but there was another row of moia and a few other ruins that we read about on information panels. We walked around the only real beach on the island but quickly ran out of things to do while the rest of the group swam.
We headed back across the centre of the island and quickly got back to town. We wanted to be let off downtown so that we could book with another tour company but we seemed to be zigzagging all over the place so we just shouted for the bus to stop when we were close to their office. They were full the next day but we booked for Monday and headed back to our place.
On our way back we heard someone shouting something derogatory about Canadians and found our New York friends from the plane at a restaurant. We had a drink with them and caught up on island adventures (theirs were all good) with a passion fruit pisco sour. The conversation brightened our mood and we found out they wee going to the same cultural show that we were the next night and so made plans to meet up there.
We walked back, had a reheated dinner and had a good sleep under our fan after confirming with our hosts that we could rent their 4 by 4 on Sunday.
 |
| Contemplating across the ages... |
 |
| The moai who never made it to their pedestals. |
 |
| Their hats/hair whatevers. |
No comments:
Post a Comment