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The South American Odyssey
  • The Craze for Travelling
  • The Craze for Travelling

The South American Odyssey

A 147-day adventure by The Craze for Travelling Read more
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    Swimming time

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    After walking around the moais and other archeological places near the beach, it was swimming time. We jumped into the Pacific Ocean. The water felt so good in the heat of the day. Tge waves were amazing too, neither too big nor too small. We enjoyed swimming at the beach for about 15 min before coming out and drying ourselves. After that, we had a light bit expensive meal at the shacks on the beach before heading on.Read more

  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Papa Mango
    Papa MangoPapa MangaiHekeCanoe

    Papa Vaka

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Papa Vaka is a prehistoric ceremonial site where many religious petroglyphs are carved on the lava flows at the ground level (called papa). The petroglyphs reflect the ancient Rapa Nui's deep concern for the sea and control of its resources. There are figures associated with the sea like fishhooks, canoes and various marine creatures.

    Papa Mango - this petroglyph has 2 marine species represented with simple line diagrams, the kahi (tuna) and mango (shark). There are many figures of kahi mainly because it was highly regarded as a source of food in ancient times and only 2 of mango because it was not part of a typical diet.

    Papa Mangai - this petroglyph has the largest concentration of the mangai (fish hooks) on the island. These were mainly used to catch the highly valued kahi (tuna) and foe this reason these were also called mangai kahi. One of the most extraordinary petroglyph here could represent heke (an octopus) or pikea (a crab) or some kind of mythological sea creature.

    Special canoe - although this panel consists of many canoes, turtles and hooks, the main figure here is the 12 meter long double hulled canoe. This is the largest petroglyph on the island. Maybe it represents the canoe of a king or the canoe in which the original ancestors of the Rapa Nui arrived on the island.    Read more

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    Hare Vaka with petroglyphs

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Our next destination was Hare Vaka. These are ruins of an early settlement on the island. They are spread in a lava field. The remains of the walls of the rooms have some petroglyphs carved on them. Besides that, there was nothing nearby except lava field now overgrown with grass. This places is not marked by a board or anything. We just had it on Maps.me so we were able to walk on a narrow barely visible track and reach it.Read more

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    Cave with human bones

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Another place nearby that wasn't marked by any board or traxk was the 2 storied cave with human bones but it was marked on Maps.me so we decided to find it. We walked across the lava fields following our gps and eventually reached a tree coming out from a hollow in the ground. The gps indicated this as the location but the only things we saw were a small narrow hole about half a meter deep and another one on the other end of the hollow about 2 mts deep but very narrow (about 30 cms wide). We walked around a bit to see if we had missed any other openings but there were none.Read more

  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Vertical hole in the ground
    Vertical hole in the groundThe horizontal hole at the base of the vertical holeHristo decides to investigateAt the end of the horizontal hole inside2We both in the 1st chamber

    Into the rabbit hole

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    Every time we would come back to the 1st hole, tge gps would indicate we are nearest to the cave. We looked in a bit more carefully and saw that at the base of the hole, there was a narrow hole going horizontally. This was about 30-40 cms high and about 50 cms wide. A person would barely fit in there.
    Hristo decided to investigate but there could be animals or snakes etc there so we made a lot of noise and stamped our feet above to scare out anything that could be there. After that Hristo climbed into the vertical hole and started sliding into the horizontal hole with his feet first. He reached a small chamber where he was able to sit up and there was enough space for 3-4 more people. He saw another opening from this chamber, equally narrow and going one level down. He called out to me and confirmed that the air was breathable and flowing so we wouldn't lack oxygen inside. I followed him in, same manner with my feet first and sliding on the back. The chamber was barely big enough to sit but had some space to move around.    Read more

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    The horizontal hole at the bottom of the vertical hole, from inside the top chamber
    The horizontal hole at the bottom of the vertical hole, from inside the top chamber2Crawling into the 2nd chamberInside the 2nd chamberPlace to stand and walk aroundAt the entrance of the 2nd chamberHuman bones

    Deeper into the earth

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    From the 1st chamber we could see another narrow hole going down further one level and with the help of our mobile phone lights, we saw thats it opened up into another chamber. The entrance to this chamber too was extremely narrow at about 50 cms diameter. Hristo squeezed himself into it and I followed him. We found ourselves in a big chamber about 2 mts high and 7-8 mts wide. In the middle of the chamber was a rock on which we saw the human bones as marked on our Maps.me gps app.Read more

  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Taking pictures of the bones
    Taking pictures of the bonesEnd of chamber2Getting ready to lie down and crawl outHristo coming out

    Back on terra firma

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    After exploring the 2nd chamber for a while, we decided to head back the same way as we had come in. This time head first towards the 1st chamber and then towards the exit, on our backs and slowly crawling horizontally.
    We came out at around 6:40 pm, dusted ourselves and got ready to go on.    Read more

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    Rano Raraku volcano
    Rano Raraku volcano2Ahu Tonga Riki

    Back to Hanga Roa

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    We were at the opposite end of the island (North East) from Hanga Roa where we had booked a place in the local singing and dance show at 7:30 pm. The show was to start at 9 pm but our host had told us that it generally gets very crowded and we should all leave together at 7:30 pm to get good places. We even had got a discount on the entrance due to him booking the places. We got the tickets at 10000 CLP per person while the actual price of the tickets in the town were from 15-20000 CLP.
    We decided to skip all the points on the South coast of the island and to return next day early morning and see them before we return the vehicle at 11 am. On the way back, we passed the volcano of Rano Raraku and the Ahu of Tonga Riki.    Read more

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    Kari Kari cultural show

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We reached back Hanga Rao at 7:30 pm. Within a few minutes everyone from our camp that wanted to go to the show was ready and we left at 7:45 pm. We were the first ones to arrive and on suggestion of our host chose to sit slightly behind but higher. We got our faces painted with clay by the local artists in local patterns.
    The show started promptly at 9 pm. It was absolutely fantastic. Amazing light effects, lovely live music and singing and fabulous dancing.    Read more

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    Kari Kari show dancing

    December 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    During the Kari Kari show, there were 2 dances where they invited select people from the audience to dance and of course both of us were chosen by different girls from the dance troupe and we were on stage learning the dance and doing it 😉😉

    Some of my dance moves on the stage..
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZmyGy2ieQnH7Y03s2

    It was a fantastic experience. It lasted till about 10 pm and was totally worth the money we paid.    Read more

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    15 standing moais
    15 standing moaisRano Raraku craterFace petroglyphsTuna petroglyph

    Ahu Tonga Riki sunrise

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We had been told that the sunrise at Ahu Tonga Riki was fantastic, so we woke up at 6:30 am and drove to the Eastern edge of the island some 25 kms away. We arrived at 7:30 am just before sunrise. There were quite a few other people there but it was cloudy. We walked around the marked area and saw some petroglyphs and a lying down moai.

    Ahu Tongariki is the largest ahu on Easter Island. Its moai were toppled during the island's civil wars and in the twentieth century the ahu was swept inland by a tsunami. It has since been restored and has fifteen moai, including an 86 tonne moai that was the heaviest ever erected on the island. All the moai here face sunset during Summer Solstice.    Read more

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    Rano Raraku

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island in Chile. It was a quarry for about 500 years until the early eighteenth century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the island's known monolithic sculptures (moai) were carved. Rano Raraku is a visual record of moai design vocabulary and technological innovation, where 397 moai remain. Rano Raraku is in the World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui National Park and gives its name to one of the seven sections of the park.
    We reached there at about 8 am. The vehicle barrier was closed and there was no board or sign informing about when they would open. We needed to return the car by 10 am so didn't have the time to wait. We parked the car outside the barrier and walked in. There were a few other vehicles waiting there. Some of them decided to follow us in 😉
    Inside, we crossed another barrier and a wicker gate and went in. The hillside had a number of moais spread all over and they looked very mystic in the overcast sky and the extreme silence of the morning with no one else around.    Read more

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    Incomplete moai in the quarry

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    There were 2 quarries on the outside of the crater.

    The incomplete statues in the quarry are remarkable both for their number, for the inaccessibility of some that were high on the outside crater wall and for the size of the largest; at 21.6 m (71 feet) in height, almost twice that of any moai ever completed and weighing an estimated 270 tonnes, many times the weight of any transported.

    Some of the incomplete moai seem to have been abandoned after the carvers encountered inclusions of very hard rock in the material.

    Others may be sculptures that were never intended to be separated from the rock in which they are carved.    Read more

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    Tukuturi2

    Rano Raraku crater

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Tukuturi is an unusual moai. Its beard and kneeling posture distinguish it from standard moai.

    The peculiar posture of this statue is well known on Easter Island and is called tuku turi or simply tuku. It was the posture used by the men and women who formed the chorus in the festivals called riu, where the posture was known as tuku riu. Typical also of the singers was the slightly backward inclination of the trunk, the raised head, and the goatee, all also seen in the statue.

    The sides of Rano Raraku crater are high and steep except on the north and northwest, where they are much lower and gently sloping. The interior contains one of the island's three freshwater crater lakes, which is bordered by nga'atu or totora reeds. These plants, once thought as evidence of contact with the South American mainland, are now known to have been growing on the island for at least 30,000 years and were used by the Rapa Nui for thatched shelter and swimming aids.

    When we were walking towards the crater track, the guards came amd saw us and the rest of the people inside. I guess they were incensed and started honking the horn of their vehicle to catch our attention. We didn't want to miss out on the crater so we ignored it and continued our climb to the edge of the crater. We spent about 10 min there before returning back to the entrance. The park was still not opened. We were questioned by the guards. Ome of them was quite angry but the seniormost was pretty cool about it. He just told the other guard to check our pictures and if nothing damaging found, to let us go. They checked our pictures and of course we had obeyed all the rules except the entrance in not allowed timings so we were let go. 😁    Read more

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    Back in Hanga Roa

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    We were back at Hanga Rao at about 10 am and decided to leave the vehicle at our camping only. Here we paid for our stay and our host presented us with a Moai necklace for good luck. He informed us that he would drop us at the airport at 11 am. So we had 1 hour and we decided to go to the main street to have our breakfast. We were back at the camping by 11:15 am. We were dropped off at the airport by 11:30 am. After checking in, we went around looking at the souvenir shops. That's where we learnt that the script of the Rapa Nui is quite similar to the Indus Valley script. Its not really a script but symbols with meanings and quite a few of them were similar. I verified this later on the net.Read more

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    Back to Santiago

    December 15, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    We took our flight at 2 pm and after about 5 hours of flying, we landed in Santiago when it was sunset time. We had booked a hotel (Hostel Santiago Backpackers) near the city center. We took the Transvip transfer (it cost 7000 CLP per person) but since it is a shared service, we reached our hotel by 12 in the night only. The room we got was a very small one with a bunk bed but the hostel otherwise was quite nice. I slept immediately while Hristo went to a corner pizza shop to have some food.Read more

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    2Entrance to the hotel2Our temporary room 😁

    La Casona hotel

    December 16, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We woke up a bit late, just in time to have our breakfast before it closed at the Santiago Backpackers Hostel. We wanted to extend our stay but there were no rooms available. The ones that were, were abov6our budget so we decided to check out and find another place. We found a room at La Casona for 46 USD and the hotel was just 300 mts from our hostel. We booked it and went there to check in.
    The place was lovely with a nice period feel. The decor was also from times bygone but the furniture was quite modern. We checked in and were told our rooms would be available at 2 pm only. We asked if we could use the bathroom etc in the meantime, for which they didn't have a problem. We spread our stuff in the common area and used the common showers to get ready. We also used this time to find a laundry nearby and gave our clothes for washing.    Read more

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    Plaza de Armas Santiago

    December 16, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    By the time we got ready, it was about 4:30 pm. We had fixed up a meeting with Natalia at 5 pm so we walked to the Plaza de Armas. This is the main square of Santiago. Nothing very impressive or outstanding. There was a big christmas tree and some statues dressed up like the 3 wise men. The kids were excited and queueing up to take pictures.Read more