Easter Island Country

Chile’s island in the eastern Pacific is the easternmost island among the Polynesian archipelago. It is famous for its huge stone statues. The island hangs alone on the sea, 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Pitcairn Island to the west and 3,540 kilometers (2,200 miles) from the west coast of Chile to the east. The island is 23 kilometers (14 miles) long, 11 kilometers (7 miles) wide, triangular in shape, and covers an area of ??163 square kilometers (63 square miles); its highest point, Mount Terevaka, is 600 meters (1,969 feet) above sea level.

The earliest inhabitants of the island called it "Rapa Nui" (Rapa Nui) or "TePitote Henua" (meaning "Navel of the World"). The first Europeans to land on the island were the Dutch. They named the island "Paaseiland" (Paaseiland, which means "Easter Island") to commemorate the day they arrived. The inhabitants of the island are mixed, with Polynesian Mainly Asian; almost all live in the village of Hanga Roa on the west coast. Population 3,304 (2002)

Geographical location Collapse edit this paragraph

Easter Island is located in the southeastern Pacific, near the intersection of 27 degrees south latitude and 109 degrees west longitude, covering an area of ??about 117 square kilometers. It is now part of the Valparaiso region of the Republic of Chile. It is about 3,000 meters away from the South American continent Chile. Kilometers, it is also far away from other islands in the Pacific, so it is an isolated island in the southeastern Pacific. Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands in the world, with the nearest inhabited Pitcairn Islands also having 2,075. km distance. The island is approximately triangular in shape and consists of three volcanoes.

Natural climate Collapse edit this paragraph

It has a tropical oceanic climate, with no streams on the surface, and is dominated by crater lake water. The source of drinking water, the Ranokao Crater Lake has a diameter of 1.6 kilometers. The climate is warm and humid, with an average annual temperature of 22°C and rainfall throughout the year. The annual rainfall is 1,300 mm. The rainfall reaches 1,590 mm. It cannot change the lifestyle of the people on the island, but the fishery and agriculture are affected by the moon and the wind.

Tourist attractions fold and edit this paragraph

1. Birdman Festival

The biggest traditional festival on the island is the annual "Birdman Festival". Every spring, all islanders gather on the top of Orongo Volcano to elect their leader "Birdman" and worship their gods. "Birdman" comes from a myth circulated on the island: in ancient times, the creator Mako Mako taught religious rituals and sacrificial items-seabird eggs to the priests on the island, and designated two reefs on the sea for collecting bird eggs. [1]

Every year in August and September when the seagulls fly, the islanders will gather at the Orongo Beach to select a player to swim down the cliff to 2. Search for bird eggs on a large rock kilometers away. The first player to get the bird egg immediately swims back to the island and gives the egg to his chief, who becomes the "bird man" of that year. It is worshiped as a god by the islanders. This activity has been discontinued for more than 100 years due to shark attacks when swimming to collect eggs. However, the sacred rituals and colorful costume performances are still preserved today, and the "Birdman" is still worshiped by the islanders. . In order to meet the needs of tourism, the event time is changed to February every year, so that more tourists can witness this strange custom.

2. The most charming attraction on the island is Anakai Folding

Anakai in the north of Easter Island is the most charming attraction on the island. In addition to a row of majestic "Moai" stone statues, there is a long and wide golden beach; the palm trees on the shore are lush and green. Climb to the top of Trevaca, the highest point on the island, with an altitude of 507 meters. You can have a panoramic view of the island's large and small volcanoes and surrounding stone statues. The vast Pacific Ocean and the blue sky are integrated into one, which is refreshing. Not far from the mountain is the famous "Seven Moai" scenic spot. According to legend, it was the place where the seven sons of a Maori wizard awaited the arrival of King Otu-Matua. "Dahai" is the best-preserved "Moai" stone statue group on the island. Every evening, people walk here to watch the sunset. The glow turns half the sky red, and the huge stone statues set off their eternal silhouettes.

The people of Easter Island are hospitable, friendly and polite, and they present garlands of flowers to every guest. Young men and women are good at singing and dancing. During holidays, men wear flower garlands around their necks and bare their upper bodies, while women wear flower ornaments on their heads and feather skirts to perform graceful feather skirt dances. This dance is similar to the hula dance in Hawaii and is a "repertoire" of Chilean tourism activities.

3. Folding wooden boards that can talk

A wooden board with strange patterns engraved on it was once found near the stone statue. It was called the "talking wooden board", but these wooden boards later encountered the "civilization" The catastrophe caused by "their". After explorers discovered Easter Island, European missionaries came to the island to spread God's "will." They ordered that all the boards be burned. Only one local resident snatched 25 planks, nailed them into a fishing boat, and fled to the sea. Later, these 25 wooden boards were preserved and collected by famous museums around the world. These surviving "talking wooden boards" are 2 meters long, with square patterns carved on both sides using shark teeth or hard stones, such as fish, birds, vegetation, paddles, etc., as well as some geometric figures. The meaning of the patterns on these "talking boards" has not yet been revealed.

4. Folding stone statues

The stone statues on Easter Island are generally 7-10 meters high and weigh 30-90 tons. Some stone statues weigh 10 tons with a hat. So many. The stone statues are all carved from a single piece of dark red igneous rock. All the stone statues have no legs and are all busts with similar appearances. The facial expressions of the stone statue are very rich, and its eyes are specially inlaid with shiny obsidian or shining shells, which is particularly expressive. All of them have narrow foreheads, high nose bridges, deep eye sockets, pouty mouths, large ears hanging from their shoulders, and arms sticking to their abdomens. All the stone statues face the sea, with indifferent expressions and majestic looks. Looking from a distance, it looks like a team of warriors preparing to go out for battle, which is spectacular. Most of these huge stone statues are on the seaside. Some are erected in the grass, some have fallen on the ground, and some are erected on altars. These stone statues are carved from pale yellow volcanic stone. Some are also wearing hats. The hats are carved from red rock, several meters high and shaped like a column. Some stone statues are also engraved with symbols, a bit like tattoo patterns. In addition, stone statues twice the size of these huge stone statues were also discovered, but they were mostly semi-finished products.

Travel Guide Fold Edit this paragraph

Transportation Fold

Aviation

Chile’s largest airline - LAN is the only one with flights to Airlines to Easter Island fly between Santiago and Easter Island's Mataveri International Airport five times a week. Flights from Easter Island to and from Santiago range from $630 to $900. If you can arrange your itinerary, you can pre-purchase it with a credit card on the airline website. After success, you can print out the ticket yourself, and the price will also be greatly discounted.

It should be noted that please reconfirm your booking status two days before departure, because flights are often overbooked.

Plane

For Asian tourists, the journey to Easter Island is very long. You must know that there are only two route options to Easter Island. One is from Chile, which takes about 7 hours, and the other is from Tahiti, which takes about 5.5 hours, which is shorter than the time in Chile. Therefore, unless they are planning to travel around South America, most tourists from Asia arrive at Easter Island via Tahiti.

Airplanes are currently only accessible by LAN airlines. However, LAN mileage can be accumulated on AA. The plane takes off every day from Santiago, the capital of Chile. The flight time is 5 hours. There is a two-hour time difference between Easter Island and Santiago.

The airline offers flights from Santiago to Tahiti with a stop at Easter Island, probably 2-3 times a week. So if you want to visit both places, you can choose this convenient and dreamy route.

Food folding

The most distinctive local snack is a pie called empanada, which is also available in Argentina, but it is not as delicious as the Chilean one. There are also local rice dumplings wrapped in corn leaves.