Easter Island. It is one of the most isolated points in the world, in the South Pacific far off the coast of Chile in South America. When you are there you are the furthest removed from any populated place on the entire planet!
It is speculated that 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon island shores. Over the centuries that followed, a remarkable society developed in isolation on the island. For reasons still unknown they began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. These monuments, known, as "moai" (pronounced Mow – eye), are some of the most incredible, and to this day - mysterious, ancient relics ever discovered!
The mystery though is not only what the eye can see, but what it cannot. Rano Raraku, the quarry where the majority of statues where carved for later moving to their intended sites, holds, locked in the earth numerous Moai that were carved but never moved to their final resting place. Their heads stand up to 16 feet out of the earth but deep beneath are the bodies of the Moai. When excavated it shows the true height and grandeur of the final carvings! Today, Easter Island remains a land of mystery, of virgin beauty, and is very tranquil and peaceful. Tourism is the driving force of the local economy and as the word spreads of this amazing and unique destination, more travellers who are heading to South America are adding on a few days to journey into the middle of the pacific - to Easter Island. It is there where they can both immerse themselves in one of the world’s most mysterious ancient civilizations, as well as one of the world’s most beautiful and serene destinations. Check out what Goway has on offer for both Chile and Easter Island.
By Don Forster
Born in Australia and raised in Canada and Papua New Guinea, Don took his first solo trip to Bali – aged just 13. Since then, Don’s travels have taken him to every continent. He’s been a backpacker in Asia, Europe and Egypt, an overland adventurer in East and Southern Africa, and an overland driver in South and Central America. He is especially fond of Peru, Patagonia and Namibia, though his longest adventure to date has been a London to Kathmandu run via the Middle East.
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