Day 57: 26/8/12
I'd to leave a few minutes earlier than expected this morning as the taxi rang to say the main road was closed due to a marathon so it would take longer to get to the airport. On the way there was a big blazing fire in an area that looked like the little shacks the poorest people live in. By the way yesterday on the bus tour we passed a man lying on the road with the police around him, it looked like he got knocked down.
Got to the airport in plenty of time anyway which was good as there were huge queues at the LAN check-in. For Easter island I had to check in at the international desks but go to the domestic gates!
By the time I'd queued through everything I'd only about half an hour to wait. The plain was a nice big one with tvs each. I had an Asian woman beside me who neither spoke English or Spanish- the air hostess had fun with her!!
When you have your own tv flights ate very entertaining! I watched Wanderlust with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Anniston. Then I watched the 5 year engagement. I was half way through Going the Distance when he had to land so they were turned off!
The airport was tiny, just one big room really. There was a carousel for the luggage but they didn't use it. They opened a back door, reversed the truck up to it and proceeded to carry every single bag into the hall. One guy who had been on the plane was obviously a local as everyone knew him and he helped out with the bags! One man went to get his bit they stopped him. When they were all lined up a police dog marched up and down through them. Them we were all told to get the bags which meant there was a stampede like chaos! I got mine anyway and made my way to the exit, which was right beside us! We had filled in forms on the plane for entry to Easter island but noone asked us for them.
Outside there was a woman with my name on a sign. She handed me information of the tours the next few days and put a garland round my neck- very Hawaiian style!!
I was brought to a minibus then where a few other people and I were transferred to our hotels. The trips dont start until tomorrow. The island is very green- the plants all look quite tropical. The houses are all small. It all looks very rural, but pretty! Most of the roads were just mud boreens. The hotel is nice. The rooms are all in little houses around the main reception are. There were towels left out on the bed decoratively with flowers in them. Also a table and chairs in the room- I feel quite spoiled! I was pleasantly surprised when she told me there was wifi. I had to pay $5 US but that's grand.
I settled in and then went to ask the girl in reception what I could do for a few hours. She told me to walk along the coast road and do a loop bringing me onto the main street which is just down from the hotel. I must have been giving her a very strange look because she said 'it's no big deal, it's just there'.
So I ventured off towards the coast. There was a cemetery there. Their graves ate look ours except the headstones are plain, not like the graves in South America which have little wooden boxes. You could see the pacific ocean stretching for miles around! I didn't go too far along that road though, it started looking quite isolated. So I went back up towards the hotel and headed for the main road. Surprisingly it's not too main! I think it may be called a main road as it is paved and has footpaths!! There were loads of trees around with pretty,colourful flowers that Muireann would love. There was a little square and then a row of about ten shops and restaurants. That was it. I went into the supermarket to get some water. There was vetting little food there, a lot of tinned food! I presume their food comes from a long way away, apart from fresh food.
I went back to the hotel them and read for a while before dinner. There are set times for lunch and dinner and you are supposed to say before 4 if you want dinner. I only arrived at 5 (by the way there's a seven hour time difference) and the receptionist was reluctant to let me have dinner as I hadn't booked it, but eventually she changed her mind! Dinner was interesting. I got rice and potatoes which tasted weird and something else. I think the woman said it was Tuna (my understanding of her Spanish) but it didnt taste like tuna. Either their tuna is very different or it was something else entirely! Then I got papaya for desert. I tasted papaya juice a few weeks ago and it was rotten. Unsurprisingly the papaya was rotten too! There's a weird smell from it.
Anyway, heading to bed. Looking forward to finding out more about this place tomorrow!
Have a great birthday Dad!