The entire plane was buzzing with curiosity as we landed, craning our necks to look out the windows. Every morning I woke to one screaming rooster, followed by all the other roosters across the island. The only reasonably priced food was bananas. My departing flight was full of friends I’d made.

Rano Raraku

I’ve had a growing affection for the Easter Island stone heads, or Mo’ai, ever since watching the film Night At The Museum as a child. Like everyone else, I was surprised to find that the Polynesian territory, known to natives as Rapa Nui and called Isla de Pascua in Spanish, belonged to Chile. Being so remotely located, I don’t see myself ever going back. This once-in-a-lifetime tropical getaway was a welcome break from the clouds and cold of the mainland.

Getting There

Find a boat going towards the middle of no where and stay on it for months, or take a flight with Latam Airlines and hope it doesn’t add two years before you can retire. Flights to Isla de Pascua (IPC) are once a day from the Santiago (SCL) airport and usually $500-1000 for a round trip ticket.

I’ve read that flights are also offered out of Lima, and that it possible to hop on some leg of a multi-city flight involving Tahiti. Britis Airways Avios and American Airlines miles are possible to redeem to reach the island.

In any case, do not under estimate the on-flight service. Perhaps I torture myself with cheap airlines too much, but the five hours each way were the high points of luxury on my trip.

As I was waiting for my flight to South America on Day One, I pulled up the regular LAN airlines website, and put in the two airports I wanted. There were roundtrip flights for five days starting at $288, so I didn’t think much and booked, internally crying a bit out of gratitude.

Ahu Akivi

Accomodation

The only town is Hanga Roa, with a whopping population of around 6,000. The airport was a 15-minute walk away and every hotel and campsite offered free shuttle service and a complementary lei if a reservation is made ahead of time.

But of course I had nothing booked. When boarding in Santiago, I saw two young travelers holding camping gear, and looked like they were possibly American university students. They were. Tyler and Taylor, from North Dakota and North Carolina respectively who were exchanging in Viña del Mar at the time, said I could totally tag along to their campsite and offered me space in their two-person tent inthe case that our accomodation didn’t have any for rent.

Bring

It would be naive to show up without dry foods such as rice, ramen, and snacks, and all toiletries including soap and shampoo. Produce is even allowed as long as the bag containing it is checked and not carry-on. The need to import everything results in prices tripling the mainland.

Pack clothes and shoes suitable for hiking, swimming, and protection from wind and rain, sun and bugs. The island is dotted with caves where headlamps or flashlights were essential. Taking the blanket from the plane helped me keep warm at night as it served as an extra layer in my sleeping bag.

Eating

I made ramen, rice, and oatmeal. I paid around $15 over five days for fruits, vegetables, and eggs from minimarkets or roadside stands.

The locals and apparently a newspaper article report that Tia Berta’s has unbeatable empanadas and the tipico of the island is the atun con queso, $4.50.

I will never live down missing the village feast by one hour. Free for anyone stopping by, the meat was cooked with the traditional Polynesian method: underground. By the time we had rushed back from biking, the only thing left were the coals in the sand, still smoking from the heat. I knew not having this cultural experience would a huge mess-up.

Getting Around

High-quality mountain bikes at Make Make (main street/ calle principal) were $17.60 for a full day. The three of us showed up at mid-day and were offered a $14.70 per person package deal for the rest of that day and all of the next day. It was the most well-functioning bike I had ever ridden, and trust me, on these trails of volcanic rock the sturdy tires and smooth gear changes were much-needed. Check the lock they give you and make sure it works.

Hiking and hitchhiking are just as suitable for seeing the entire island.

Ovahe

See and Do

National Park Tickets

Tickets are $44 for foreigners and $15 for nationals (including foreign students studying abroad), and valid for five days. They are sold at the airport where I recommend going ahead and buying it, as well as the Conaf Office by Orongo.

Most sites don’t check for tickets but Orongo village as well as Rano Raraku can only be visited once and both would be silly to skip.

Hike Rano Kau

Day 18

In my crappy Santiago hostel, I froze under the cheap covers during my two hour attempt at a nap. The 24-hour airport shuttle service, TransVIP, picked me up 15 minutes early and then got me to the airport in only 15 minutes, $10. I don’t decide when I should be at the airport, the transport company does, based on my flight details. So I checked in an hour earlier than the time they picked.

The airport wifi was so good I didn’t sleep until I was on the plane, holding back from the tempting new-releases available on our personal TVs.

Which was amazing compared to what I was used to. I was expecting a tiny jet-type aircraft, but this was a triple row spacious mansion. I made sure to wake for the omelet and fresh fruit for breakfast, served with ceramic plates, chilled metal utensils, and glass cups.

Five hours later I was greeted by fresh wind and salty air. The water washing up on the volcanic shores was pleasantly lukewarm. Random mo’ai everywhere.

Walking among such distractions, we reached the Conaf office too late to buy tickets (go before 4pm) and instead ascended the Rano Kau crater with some Chileans we ran into. They’d been working in Hanga Roa for several years. Two hours round trip. The trail goes to the Orongo office, but without tickets we couldn’t visit it.

The interior of the crater was quite marshy. I couldn’t treat any moment of that evening seriously, with trippy sunsets and the tiniest town disappearing in the distance as we hiked.

Orongo: The Birdman Village

Day 19 (am)

Finally owners of national park tickets, Taylor, Tyler, and I went back up the crater to visit Orongo, a stone which known for the ancient tanata manu, or birdmen, traditions of the Rapa Nui culture.

Today the ruins feature residential complexes of circular houses, viewpoints of both the puny island where the eggs are found and the Rano Kau crater, and stones carved with petroglyphs.

Ahu Akivi and The Banana Cave

Day 19 (pm)

We passed a ceremony for a Chilean holiday which I believe was Navy Day, with local military and mayors and fancy things. They sang the national anthems of Chile and Easter Island. The island flag is a red tribal boat on a white background.

Happiness is the feeling of eating camping food. I poached an egg in the boiling water of my pot of broccoli and ramen.

Ahu Akivi is a row of seven mo’ai. Visit, take photos, and head back to the main road before taking a right.

At what looks like the entrance to private property, hopefully there will be cars and ATVs parked on the side of the road as in my case. That means there’s something to see, something you get used to as there’s very inconsistent site markers across the island.

Following a dirt road I reached a cave, or Ana, which looked like two giant holes in the ground with bananas plants growing out of them. Officially known as Ana Te Pahu, it was once used as shelter and there are paths within for exploring and exits further along. I’m unsure if the routes are still completely open because I wasn’t in the mood to go far into pitch dark by myself.

Bike The East Coast: Vinapu, Rano Raraku, and Ahu Tongariki

Day 20 (am)

Goal (that failed miserably): wake before sunrise, bike the 46km loop, and make it back for the village feast. At 1:30pm the Rapa Nui locals were roasting meats and handing it out to everyone. Except it was crazier because they would be using the traditional Polynesian method of hot coals in the earth.

Taking the slight right off the airport road, Vinapu is an archeological site quickly reached by taking another right turn near some industrial complex. The coolest thing here was Ahu Tahira, a wall of perfectly cut and matched stones without any mortar, strongly resembling Machu Picchu.

Aside from taking in the coastline and grassy plains, numerous other points of interest are along the way, such as the toppled mo’ai of past civil wars and ceremonial remains at Vaihu. Further north is Pu o Hiro, an ancient instrument along the lines of a trumpet or blow horn. In the eyes of commoners like myself, it looks like a giant stone with holes in it.

Rano Raraku was the highlight of all the sites I visited on the island. The ruins of the mo’ai factory, it’s what I had always pictured Easter Island to be: a volcano covered in the heads that seem to be rising out of the earth, some faceplanted. In certain areas there are incomplete, half-carved half still-in-the-quarry statues. Moreover, a nice five-minute hike to the crater reveals its pretty lake, the perfect spot for a picnic.

Speaking of food, I was starving at that point because I had gorged on all my snacks from Santiago on my first night out here. But we were only halfway.

Tongariki is the largest Ahu on the island. A set of 15, the mo’ai stand majestically against the coast. The site has been restored from being toppled once again during civil wars, and later drowned by a tsunami. It took five years. One of the mo’ai is the heaviest, at 86 tons. There was some ambiguity about being allowed to walk up to the base of the mo’ai—don’t worry, you can.

After a short stop at Ovahe cove (which I will detail later as it is better categorized with another beach), the rest of the loop was hills of pure torture.

Tahai

Day 20 (pm)

No feast grub left. Defeated, Rodrigo from Santiago invited me to lunch at Club Sandwich. I wolfed down a chacarero. Rodrigo also introduced me to mixing cerveza and orange Fanta, another Chilean habit.

I used the last hours I had on my bike rental to go visit Tahai, a group of three ahus along the west coast just minutes past town. Facing the sea, from left to right, the ahus are named Vai Uri, Tahai, and Ko Te Riku (with a topknot and restored eyes!). With broken or blank information signs, it was a little hard to tell where the canoe and ceremonial structures were. More stone housing can also be found in the complex.

Maunga Terevaka

Day 21 (am)

A refreshing run and the usual oatmeal and energized me, but I still trekked Terrevaca, the summit of the island, at the solid pace of a snail. A family passed me, including the grandmother.

Regardless, I highly recommend this hike.

I began at the trailhead near Vaitea, reached via hitching. The reward? A pile of sticks with the skull of a horse at the highest point, and a 360 view of the Pacific, with an extreme dose of windy.

Anakena Beach

Day 21 (pm)

My next driver sent me to a cozy sand beach that had to have been manmade.

Anakena is the main beach on Easter Island. That day was overcast and the water was cold. Still, people were in the ocean. Several arechaeological sites and mo’ai were located to the right.

Splats of rain hit the floor and I started rushing back to the road. I was spared by a young Chilean couple.

Another great spot to chill out is just a few kilometers south, called Ovahe. This cove is more remote and was so pretty to walk up to the day before.

Back in the camp kitchen I learned that cheap canned tuna in Chile means shredded fish that comes in the form of a watery pulp. Tasted just fine.

Caves

The island has quite a few well-known caves frequented by tourists. All are small in size and quite dry. I already mentioned Ana Te Pahu (The Banana Cave). Ana Kai Tangata has ancient paintings, and roughly translates to The Cannibal Cave, though there is no proof that actual cannibalism was practiced by natives. I did not have a chance to visit it.  Ana Te Peu, or The Two Windows, is described below and slightly further north is Ana Te Pora.

Caves are dark. Bring headlamps and a buddy or two.

Las Dos Ventanas

Day 22

Pro: my tent held up against the terribly windy night. Con: My throat was so sore and I spent a while clearing my sinuses, before grabbing Matt to go trekking around the west side of Rapa Nui and find some caves.

Two cliffside openings looking out into the sea are characteristic of Las Dos Ventanas.

Intermittent dumps of coastal rains were accompanied by more wind. Call me a pussy, but I was too sick and miserable to finish the loop.

An hour into the return trek, I weakly smiled at a passing car knowing there was no way, but the driver hit the brakes, insisting that we got in, nevermind drenching his back seat. I forever owe rides to all the hitchhikers out there.

The last thing consuming my thoughts was a tuna and queso empanada from Tia Berta’s. I relished in the cheese and oil.

Polynesian Dance Show

Quite the touristy thing to do, a couple spots in towns offer night shows throughout the week, approximately $15. The dancers wore traditional costumes, or in other words, they weren’t wearing much at all.

Anna from Germany had been invited to go to the show for free by her taxi driver. It was her third time attending. Each show was slightly different from the last. My attempt to tag along failed when my alarm didn’t go off on time so I ended up with about eleven hours of sleep.

Scuba Dive

T and T went to scuba dive on our second day, something I had done for cheaper and better in Cuba.

They booked through our camp staff and paid around $45 for around 40-minutes of a beginner dive. However, they were put with a larger group and getting everyone organized made the excursion last four hours total.

With certification, it’s possible to dive and see the sunken Mo’ai, which other travelers said was a spectacular experience.

Final Day

Day 23

I barely made it back from getting my passport stamped at the post office, located next to the fire station, before the daily 11:30am shuttle trip that Benjamin makes to take all his departing guests to the airport.

I had been itching for that plane ride, the most luxurious part of my trip so far. For lunch, there was plenty of both red and white wines. I really enjoyed How To Be Single and Deadpool.