South American Six-Country 26-Day Challenge Trip Day 24: Easter Island, the long-desired sacred land
March 24, 2025
Yesterday’s sleep was decent. After getting up at night, I still managed to sleep until 5 AM when the alarm woke me. I went downstairs at 5:30 AM to pick up the packed breakfast, which included two slices of bread with cheese, a bottle of mineral water, an apple, a cake, and a pack of nuts.
It was a bit chilly in the morning, so I had to wear a jacket. We set off at around 6:30 AM, and it took only half an hour to get from the hotel to the airport.
Easter Island is a special territory of Chile, so we also had to go through exit procedures, and they gave us a specific exit form that would be collected when boarding the plane.
For some reason, my boarding pass just couldn’t be printed, so they gave me a screenshot of the QR code instead.
Security checks went smoothly as well, since we didn’t have any checked luggage, and the whole process took about 40 minutes. There were still two hours before the flight! Was it really necessary to come out so early?
It would have been better if everyone could have slept for another half an hour!
My data plan still wasn’t activated today, so I asked someone in Shanghai to call and complain again. After several attempts, I saw that the balance on my phone was already 110 yuan, but the South American data package just wouldn’t work.
It was really frustrating. I switched the China Mobile SIM card to slot 1, but it still didn’t work. China Mobile told me to turn off data roaming and restart the phone for five minutes. This kind of hassle is really unbearable.
Today’s flight to Easter Island was on a Boeing 787-8 wide-body aircraft, and it was almost fully booked!
The flight lasted over five hours, and there was a free lunch. When I got on board, a foreigner was sitting in my seat and rudely told me to sit in the row in front. Such impolite behavior from a foreigner is truly baffling; it seems that there are rude people all over the world.
After more than five hours of flying, we finally arrived at Easter Island, where the local indigenous people greeted us with singing and dancing.
We first visited the quarry, climbed a small hill, and were very excited to see the Moai statues. Of course, the most impressive were the 15 Moai statues on Easter Island, standing tall by the seaside for thousands of years, witnessing countless changes in the world.
Then we went to see the navel of the world – the sacred stone of Easter Island, which is a circle of stones.
After that, we headed to the white coral beach. The sun was too strong, so after taking one photo, we went to a café to avoid the sun.
Tonight’s dinner was a barbecue picnic by the sea, watching the sun slowly set, which was indeed very romantic.
The best often comes last. After dinner tonight, we watched the sunset, and the Moai statues under the brilliant twilight were uniquely charming and intoxicating.
We reluctantly bid farewell, retracing our steps as the sun dipped below the horizon. Upon our return to the hotel, the sky was still ablaze with a stunning red glow, a breathtaking finale to our day. The scenery had exceeded all expectations, like the crescendo of a passionate and splendid symphony, bringing our journey to an unforgettable peak.
Among the World Heritage sites on Easter Island, the most enigmatic are the Moai statues. Over 1,000 colossal half-body human-faced stone figures have been discovered, with 600 of them standing in neat rows along the coastal platforms. These statues vary in size, ranging from 6 to 23 meters in height and weighing between 30 to 90 tons. Each one exudes a unique and solemn presence, their faces turned away from the sea, as if lost in deep contemplation.
