Getting lei’ed

I was expecting Santiago, Chile to be similar to Buenos Aires, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Buenos Aires is Paris and Barcelona with a soupçon of Mexico City. Santiago is much more run down and “authentic”, but it’s never a good sign when you are told you absolutely should not walk outside your hotel on your own after dark. Or after light. Or ever. I was thrilled to discover that the guide who picked me up at the airport, Nelson, was not an older woman (I really hate having to tar all those guides with the same brush, given that is my own demographic, but I’m scarred by those women!). He is, however, an older man who became a guide after 40 years as a naval engineer. He has been round the world over 60 times, and he didn’t shake his finger at me and tell me to “pay attention” once. After dropping my bags at the hotel, we embarked on a whirlwind tour of Santiago.  We started at St Lucia hill, the slightly more down at the hill sister of Santiago’s main hill - St Cristóbal.  St Lucia is right in the middle of town and you can easily walk up.  Nelson, having already travelled round the world 60 times, felt no need to accompany me on this walk, but that may have also beenrelated to the fact that we was somewhat portly and seemed to struggle to walk anywhere. Maybe he is still getting his “land legs”.  Anyway, I was delighted to be left to my own devices to walk up and down the extremely uneven and dilapidated stone steps and broken handrail that in the US would have let to at least 100 law suits daily. At the top I was rewarded with a great panoramic view of the city which stretched out as far as the eye can see until the Andes forms an abrupt end to that. We then had a meander around the central food market. I think this was less a part of the tour and more about Nelson doing his shopping.  Honestly, I much preferred this than hearing about the history of the post office building or the man who funded the railway. I was liking Nelson more and more. The selection of fruits and veg was immense, and prices were beyond affordable.  Nelson got 2 kilos of beautiful peaches for about $2.  We then had a quick whiz round the main plaza so I could see the statue of Salvador Allende  (the world’s first democratically elected Marxist president) and see the destruction that the military dictator, Pinochet did when he overthrew the government with he full backing of a number of western governments.   I can’t help but think how close any western democracy (one in particular) is only millimetres away from a similar fate. 

I was returned to my hotel with more stark warnings about walking alone (or frankly, walking not alone). I needed to eat though so I called an Uber to take me to an area where there are lots of restaurants that we had seen earlier. Nelson had explained that for some reason, Ubers are perfectly safe, but I should avoid local taxis at all costs). The first thing I noticed upon calling the Uber is that in Chile, they are about 70% less expensive than they are in Argentina.  I found this to be true of pretty much everything. The Uber arrived quickly, and as Nelson promised, the driver did not attempt to rob, rape or murder me. The restaurant I chose specialised in traditional Chilean food, so I ordered a glass of the excellent local red and a Pastel de Choclo, a little version or South American food heaven.  The Pastel de Choclo is a sort of deep dish pie made of nicely seasoned beef mince mixed with chicken, boiled eggs, olives and raisins, covered with a topping of corn purée that has been blended with milk and butter giving it a slightly sweet flavour. It is then baked until golden and crispy. It is my new favourite food.  There was a group of four people in their early 20s at the next table who I think met as they are all staying at the nearby youth hostel. A mix of American, Canadian, English and something else, they were all more than a little “merry”,  It was fun to watch them be 23 and tipsy. They seemed distressed to see me eating by myself (or maybe they just saw me as a source of free beer), and they asked me to join them. I politely declined as I could have been their granny. At that point the young Canadian came to sit at my table, quiz me about my travels and eat half my dinner. It was actually quite entertaining. They eventually left and I took another perfectly safe Uber back to my hotel.

I had an early flight the next morning and Nelson picked me up at 6 AM to take me to the airport. He seemed very pleased to hear that I had not been mugged, or worse. Santiago airport was just as chaotic as Buenos Aires domestic airport, but I eventually figured out where to go and got my bag checked and my boarding pass printed. The flight to Easter Island (which I will henceforth refer to as Rapa Nui) took about four hours and was absolutely fine.  The Rapa Nui airport terminal is less of a terminal than a hut with one baggage carousel. As I waited for my bag, we were provided with great entertainment from a sniffer dog and his handler who sniffed every bag coming out. He never found what he was looking for, but every couple of minutes, the handler would throw down a decoy which the dog dutifully identified as drugs/guns/illicit fruit or whatever he was looking for. The dog would then be rewarded, not with a treat, but about a 30 second game of fetch and tug of war. It was adorable.  I think that could be standard in every airport. Yet again, my bag arrived without incident. Hurrah!  On the way out, the guards at the door asked if I had any honey in my bags to which I dutifully and honestly replied “no”.  I have no idea why this was the only contraband they seemed interested in, but if I was a honey smuggler it would have been pretty easy to get it past them though I bet it would not have made it past Fido.

`I had a transfer to the hotel with a group of people, but to be honest we probably could have walked as the hotel is about 300 meters from the terminal but then I wouldn’t have been greeted with a lovely flower lei to wear round my neck. The Piku Vai Hotel is fairly typical of those on Rapa Nui - basic, a bit run down but charming in its way.  It was still fairly early so I dumped my bags and walked the 20 minutes into town. It was lovely to walk again in the blazing sunshine, but to be honest, there’s not much in Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui’s only town. It is, however, built on a most spectacular coastline, with black lava rocks for the clear tourquoise water to crash over. I found a bar overlooking the water, ordered a beer and spent a very pleasant hour gazing out over the Pacific Ocean.The original inhabitants of this island called this place “Te Pitó o Te Henua” or ‘Bellybutton of the World” as it is about 2000 miles from the nearest continental land mass. It is certainly more remote than Timbuktu.  I took another route back to the hotel, ensuring that I had then seen pretty much all there is to see in Hanga Roa.  I then decided to hang out at the pool for a bit to cool down.  I there met Susie and Lynn, two American women travelling together.  Although they know each other having grown up together in Ohio, Lynn now splits her time between DC and Mexico and Susie lives in Nyack NY, just outside NYC. They were the only people I met (other than the 23 year old Canadian) on this trip who invited me to join them.  I was very grateful, and they have been terrific company.  We are all three Jewish ladies of a certain age so that gave us a certain shared outlook and sense of humour.  

We walked back into town for dinner at a place recommended by my travel agency for its spectacular sunsets. It did not disappoint, nor did the tuna ceviche and carpaccio which was fresh and delicious. We have since discovered that the menu is pretty much the same at every restaurant in Rapa Nui. The sunset over the surf, enhanced perhaps by a pisco sour or two, was glorious. It was pitch black by the time we left, and there was no wifi or phone reception to look at google maps.  Lynn is one of those people who can say things with absolute confidence leading you to be 100% certain she is right - in this case about the route back - even though you really didn’t think this was the way. She wasn’t right, and  we got spectacularly lost.  It’s a small island though with not many roads so we retraced our steps, corrected our original error and eventually made it back safe and sound. I did vow never to listen to Lynn again when it comes to directions. 

Breakfast the next morning was nice enough, although I’m puzzled that on an island chock full of pineapples and bananas, none were in evidence. My first tour started at 9, and it was a full day overview of the island. Tourism is really the only industry here, but they do it extremely well. You are not allowed to explode the sights on your own, but you must be accompanied by a local guide who must be an indigenous Rapa Nui (same name for the place, people and language).  It is often disappointing when one finally visits iconic destinations, and my hopes weren’t particularly high for Rapa Nui after a trusted friend said she was underwhelmed. But… when those giant statues (Moai) appeared in the distance, I got a chill down my spine and felt quite emotional. They are truly impressive. The Rapa Nui culture is not ancient. They think that the first settlers came from somewhere in French Polynesia about 1200 years ago, but when you think about how far this place is from anywhere else, that fact alone is hugely impressive. The building of the moai was born from the evolution of ancestor worship. They were carved from the side of a mountain using stone axes which is also incredible to imagine. No one really knows how they were transported from the quarry where they were carved to their final resting places but it must have been quite an amazing effort however it was done. I won’t give you a lecture here on the history of the Rapa Nui and the Moai, but I will just say that  I absolutely loved the tour, learning about the history and reigniting my childhood love of archaeology.  We finished the tour with a quick trip to the only sandy beach on the island where one can swim. The water was blissful and I wish we had had more time to enjoy it.

Last night, Lynn, Susie and I walked into town and found another restaurant for more raw tuna. Susie has a friend at home who was married to a Rapa Nui and whose daughter now lives here with her farmer husband and baby daughter. They joined us for dinner and it was fantastic to get some real insight into what it is like to live here. It is not an easy life, but the trade offs are simplicity, beauty and a great place to raise kids. I had thought be pack a torch for the walk back, and it came in very handy. More tours today before starting the long journey home tomorrow.