Hanga Roa

Our trip to Rapa Nui was absolutely amazing. It was a must needed break from school (we don't get a spring break, so the semester just seems to go on forever.) It was Iván's first time on a plane, and I personally think he got pretty spoiled. The flight was about 5 hours, all of them over the ocean (obviously). We had seat back TVs and they gave us a full on meal.

Here's our airplane. There are not "gates" at the airport, just one long strip of tarmac. That's because there's not a whole lot of air traffic: there is one flight from Peru, one flight from Santiago, and one flight from Tahiti. And not every flight goes every day. It is probably the most relaxed airport I have ever seen. You can practically walk up to where the planes taxi and take-off/land. And, of course, we had to do the old walk out on the tarmac and climb up the stairs to the plane in this airport.

 When we arrived, we were greeted by this dance show! Pretty cool, a typical dance to welcome us to the island. I think we just got lucky, because there was someone from the government on our plane so they wanted to show off a little. Rapa Nui is part of the Polynesian chain of islands, like Hawaii, but while the decorate with flowers in Hawaii (for example, their skirts and what not are made with tropical materials), in Rapa Nui they use a lot more feathers (not their outfits). The climate is also not tropical, like in Hawaii, but a lot more dry. However, it is possible to note some similarities (I think hypothetically they both stem from the same ancestors).

This is one of two fake moai that they had at the camping we stayed at. We were greeted at the airport with flower leis plus flowers for our hair (for the ladies), hence, the decoration. After wearing them ourselves, we attached them our tent to decorate for the rest of week.

Since we arrived in the afternoon, we decided to explore the town and the nearby coastline on the first day. Of course, I was pretty stoked when we came around the first bend in the road and I could spot the first set of real moai. (Extra points if you can spot them in the picture.) We put on swimsuits in hopes of having a quick dip into the water--even though the best beach is on the other side of the island, there are two swimming spots in town--and headed out on the road. Where we were staying was on the outskirts of town. It was about a 15 minute walk to the town center along the coast or a 10 minute walk if you walked through town on the main street. We usually opted for the coastline because it was really beautiful, and we were on vacation, so we weren't in any sort of hurry to get anywhere. 

Here's the main road that went along the coast. We got to know it fairly well, walking to and from town. And, of course, we brought a soccer ball :)

These were the first real moai we encountered (not the same ones pictured above). They are right in the middle of town (well, sort of, I mean, there on the coast in the middle of town). These two are a bit more worn down than a lot of the other ones, but it was extremely exciting to have our first encounter with a real moai after reading about them for months before our trip.

This is the main little bay where everyone parks there boats (hence, all the brightly colored boats). It's also one of the main swimming spots in town because it has a mini-beach and the water is nice and calm. I only went into the water for a few minutes before wimping out because it was fairly cool and the temperature outside was getting colder as well.

After hanging out at the beach for a little bit and seeing that part of town, we headed to other end of town where there are several ahu (moai platforms). There are 3 ahu--one with 6 moai and 2 with one moai each. The one that is pictured above is the only moai on the island that still has eyes. Apparently at one point, most of them had eyes. However, most of their eyes have fallen out by now because they are rather fragile (made out of coral). I think I like them better without eyes anyways, it's like they're always watching you when they have them...creepy. Oh, and most of them used to have the "hat" on their heads as well, but a lot of them have fallen off/were never replaced by the archaeologists when they were fixing up the moai. There is a debate about what the "hats" actually represent, but more on that later at the "hat" factory. 

Of course, we decided to stay for sunset since the sun sets right behind the 6 moai. It was a pretty amazing sight. I really liked this ahu. Just sitting in front of it and looking out at the moai and the ocean and thinking. It was pretty peaceful. I also like how on this ahu there are moai of all different states of repair/disrepair (however you want to look at it). And, how you can tell that each one is unique in how it looks.

Here's a picture of the whole complex. The nearest moai is the one with eyeballs, the farthest ones are the 6 together. And, you can kind of see the town in the distance.

Ever since our first day arriving on the island I fell in love with it. The people are very nice (although I've heard if you try and stay they can become not-so-nice), and the whole island is so calm and laid back, but at the same time everyone works really hard at what they do. It never seems like anyone's in a  hurry and they just take things as the come.

The end of an adventure: Bogotá

Bogotá was our last stop on our summer adventure. I have to say, it was probably my least favorite of the places we visited (besides some of the little towns in Peru, but those we didn't go to for the towns, we went to for the ruins, which were awesome). I think part of it was that it was overcast most of the time we were there, giving it sort of a depressing feel, part of it was I was little bit sick (stomach issues, the usual travel problems) and part of it was I was really ready to get back to Santiago, be home again and see the people who I had been missing all summer long. However, that is not to say that I didn't enjoy the time I had in Bogotá. We mostly stayed around the neighborhood where our hostel was, going to a few museums and just wandering the streets to take in the city.

During our trip, we got really into set lunch menus. They were always the best deal and gave you a lot of food which was usually pretty good. Our first day in the city, we had a little trouble finding some place to eat because we got in during the late afternoon--after the regular lunch time but still not dinner time (aka, a lot of restaurants are closed). And, Colombia is more expensive than everywhere else we had been, so a lot of the prices we saw just seemed ridiculous. However, we finally settled on a restaurant that seemed to have a decent menu a decent price. And, I was happy to see this sign:

Breath peacefully, this space is free of cigarette smoke :)

One of the cool things about South American cities in general is the cool street art (see, you can call it street art when it's graffiti with style, not just big, ugly, tags done my different gangs). In my opinion, it helps brighten up the city and discourages people from drawing other things on the walls that wouldn't be as aesthetically pleasing.

Another thing I love about Latin America are the brightly-colored buildings. This is not to say that everywhere is this way. For example, downtown Santiago is your more run-of-the-mill big city gray buildings. However, if you go outside of the city, or to some of the neighborhoods, there are lots of colors. (This is also not to say that there aren't some brightly colored buildings in the states either. take my house, for example, bright yellow with the bright blue front door :) Everything is just more fun with a little bit of color.) The neighborhood we were staying in had lots of brightly colored buildings. It helped cheer me up a little with the dull gray skies that seemed to be the weather in the city. Some o the buildings even had really cool patterns, in additions to their cool colors, like this one:

Now, I have to say, this building I did not understand. I saw it sticking out from a few blocks away and dragged Maya over to it so we could check it out. It was a candy-cane church! Or at least, that's my interpretation. So, random, in the middle of Bogotá, because everything else in that area was a gray/brown color. I liked the vibe it added to the neighborhood. 

This was our hostel. It was a really cute little place with lots of cool people staying at it. We actually even met another girl who was doing an exchange a La Catolica from Germany.

The main church on the square. It's just so...ominous looking.

One of the main government buildings. It even has scary gargoyle-bird things on top. The plaza is nick-named plaza of the pigeons...I'm sure you can see why. 

The city is built up into the mountain sides, so a lot of the streets are on hills. Our hostel was at the top of one of the hills, so we always got plenty of exercise walking hope after our adventures.

We never actually got the chance to go up on this hill because we were only in the city for a few days. But I thought it was kind of cool how it looked like the church was actually IN heaven.

Looking up the street from our hostel towards the mountains.

Our first stop in the city was the Gold Museum. Maya was really looking forward to it (she specializes in Latin American studies, so she knows all about the ancient cultures. This means that as I go meticulously through the museum reading all the signs carefully and getting as much information out of it as I can, she goes through appreciating every piece of artwork, already knowing what the sign says. Result? She ends up waiting like an hour for me at the end. Thanks for the patience Maya :) ) Anyways, mos the museums with indigenous artwork focus on pottery with a few gold and silver pieces. This place was packed full of gold pieces, with a few pottery pieces. Apparently it was a hot item for ancient Colombians. It's a really nice, modern museum with lots of interesting information and beautiful relics.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the museum.

A gold conch shell:

A gold necklace-type-jewelry. It's amazing how intricate they could make the pieces, even though they were fairly small.

Some sort of headpiece (I think). I still don't know how they managed to stay standing with huge chunks of gold on their head, in their ears, in their nose, around their neck...

I think I have a weird mummy obsession. The fascinate me and creep me out all at the same time. They always look so...pained in their afterlife. Maybe it's because they have to skin left on their face, so their teeth just look creepy.

Colombian sweets. Of course I had try one after seeing the little carts selling them on every street corner. You got two wafer-ish cookies, and then you got to pick what you put inside. Mine included sprinkles, condensed milk, and caramel. Yummy.

On our last day we had until the late evening to get to the airport, so we decided to head out to a local art museum that someone at the hostel had suggested to us. This is my interpretation of colonial religious at (they always have this expression in the paintings, I swear). Anyways, I'm not a huge art fan, but the museum itself was beautiful and it had all kinds of art, so I definitely enjoyed it all the same.

A famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero. He reinterprets famous works of art, with an interesting twist. Maya didn't like it much, it just made me giggle a little. Interesting style. He actually also did a collection on Abu Gharib which is on loan in Santiago right now, and which is fairly interesting. Anyways, here's his interpretation of the Mona Lisa.

Our last day in Bogota, we decided to get Mexican food (very Colombian, right?) We had been trying to go the restaurant ever since we saw it after we arrived, but it was always closed. However, we finally went when it was open. And it was worth the wait. It was the best mexican food I have had all year :) (one thing, Chile's food, in general, is not the greatest. There's just a lack of variety).

After a few days in Bogota it was back to the airport and back to Santiago. I had somehow managed to find a direct flight, which I was really happy about. So, even though I left about 2 hours after Maya, I got in before her since I didn't have to change planes. The Bogota airport, past security, is one of the worst international airports I have ever been in. There was 1 restaurant. I'm not kidding. Like 3 teeny-tiny shops plus like two coffee stands. And the internet reception was intermittent. Needless to say, after Maya left, I was pretty bored.

However, once we boarded the plane, I was happy to be on my way (to my other) home.