Back in Santiago

Back in Santiago (18/05/2017)

I spent a last few moments on Easter Island nipping to the post office - postcards are so retro but I felt compelled to send a couple!  They also put an Easter Island stamp in my passport, a great tip I had from an American girl a couple of days earlier.  I then went for a final walk to the coast to take in my last view and consider again my existence on this tiny speck of land in the vast ocean.  I eventually managed to wrench myself away, back to the hotel to collect my things for my transfer.  The driver gave me a moai necklace as a parting gift.

Mataveri airport is so small and so close to the town you can check in then go for a wander!  However the flight was earlier than I had thought so I contented with buying a last few souvenirs at the airport, through security to a lovely outside waiting area.  The flight was fine – I listened to Marillion on the in-flight entertainment and chose a classic movie in Casablanca.  I was rather confused by the time – I thought were were to land at 6pm but the on-board screens said 7pm.  When we landed my phone picked up the time as 6pm.  A cursory glance at someone’s watch told me 6pm so it seems the Dreamliner’s computers hadn’t updated with the clocks going back!

To get into Santiago quicker I thought I’d take a shared taxi.  At around £8 I figured it wasn’t bad and would save me the hassle of lugging my case on subways and buses.  However rush hour traffic and a screaming child in my ear made me wonder if it was such a good idea!  It took 90 minutes to get to the Crowne Plaza, my home for the next four nights.  I quickly changed and half-unpacked (a pat on the back with the idea of packing the clothes for Santiago at the top so I could leave the things I wouldn’t need in the case), then took a taxi to the Sheraton to collect my good pal Malcolm.  Indeed I impressed myself with communicating in very broken Spanish that we were collecting and then going on elsewhere!

With Malcolm in tow we headed to a pizza restaurant, joining a few other crew members.  It was good to meet some new Marillion folks – there were six of us, all different nationalities.  After pizza a drink was had back at the Sheraton before our Chilean host Christian took me and Stefan (one of the official photographers for the weekend) back to the Crowne.

Marillion Weekend – Day One (19/05/2017)

I woke pretty early and lounged in bed, falling back into the old internet habits.  Breakfast wasn’t included with my room so after getting up my original plan was to walk to a McDonald’s I had seen nearby.  However I passed an independent café and decided that was a much better idea.  Eventually I managed to get two fried eggs, some toast and some coffee, perfectly adequate and about a quarter the price of the hotel option!

When I mentioned to my friend Jen that I was coming to Santiago she was very insistent that I should contact her friend Jocelyn who she met in Barcelona.  The joys of modern contact, I had messaged Jocelyn and she agreed to meet me at my hotel at 11am.  She was a little late but that wasn’t a problem.  It was most useful to have an interpreter to help purchase a Bip! card, the transport card for Santiago’s metro and buses.  We took the subway from Baquedano to Pedro de Valdivia.

Jocelyn got a little lost but she found the way to the cable car station to take us to the top of San Cristobel.  The cable car has only just started running again after being closed for about 20 years.  It is tiny (860m) bit of the Andes in the middle of the city with a 22m high statue of Virgin de la Immaculada at the top.  From here you can really see how much the city of Santiago sprawls around, almost as far as the eye can see.  You can also see a thick brown haze of smog in the air.  It’s a peaceful area with the music of a plaintive female vocal and acoustic guitar in the air.

We took the funicular back down to the bottom of the hill and went walking.  I’m not 100% sure where we went!  Jocelyn’s first thought was to got to the Mercado Central where there are a number of restaurants specialising in fish.  We looked at the menus and felt they were overpriced so she had another idea.  Instead we had lunch of steak, chips and egg with terremotos (earthquakes) at La Piojera. The terremoto is a drink of Chilean legend.  It’s basically a large glass of pipeno (a fermented white wine) with grenadine and pineapple ice cream.  Sort of a dessert and drink in one!  The bar / restaurant itself was a spit-and-sawdust kind of place, graffiti covered the walls and there were odd metal trellises that had plastic straws tied to them.  Jocelyn loves the idea of being a tour guide in Santiago and I said it was a perfect place for tourists as it feels kinda real!

Jocelyn and I got on great and we had a good giggle (especially post-terremoto!).  She mocked my English accent – in South America I think they are much more used to hearing American English – and I introduced her to some new words and phrases.  From the bar we walked all the way to the venue so that I could collect my tickets.  If I’d have known how far it was I would have waited until later!  My original plan (this seems to be a phrase I’m using a lot on this trip) was to return to my hotel and change before the gigs but it was already approaching 5pm and there was a fan meet at Bar Nacional, back the way we had come.  Here I sadly had to say goodbye to Jocelyn as she had to work that evening (she is an English teacher).  She was terrific company and we both parted hoping to meet again before I return to the UK.

The fan meet was bustling with people from all over the world.  I had a good long catch up with Marillion’s manager Lucy – despite her being surrounded by people who wanted photos and to shake her hand it was lovely for her to spare time for me.  I also met up with Mark who I think is the only fellow British fan to make the trip.  Nicole from Chile who had organised the meet, Kathryn who had been guiding Mark around, American Matt who was at the LA gig I was scheduled to attend in October last year.  And lots of others who I have no doubt missed or forgotten in a terremoto / pisco haze.  They had a karaoke system and played the Marillion songs they had for us to sing along to.  We left just after 7pm to walk the mile back to the venue.

At Teatro Caupolican I found my seat – dead centre, right in front of the mixing desk, in a block of three rows I was in the second row.  It was all very tight and I couldn’t imagine it would be a good idea to try to get in and out through the concert!  I chatted with Malcolm during the (rather noisy) support act, then took my seat.  I have been asked to write reviews of the three shows but as I sit here I realise that I’m not sure it’s something I can do.  Certainly I think it’s something to do separately from this diary.  However a few notes (if only to give me something to work from if I do write a review piece!):

It wasn’t sold out but the downstairs area was full and enthusiastic.  Being seated was a little strange, especially in such small seats!  Not much dancing room to You’re Gone as I usually would!  I struck up a good rapport with Guillermo beside me who was Chilean but living in the US.  Unfortunately to my right was a gentleman who spent most of the gig hugging his merchandise.  The crowd very often stood to applaud but there was little standing during songs until the end (it will be interesting to see the reaction to the Saturday night set list!)  The set focussed largely on songs that don’t often get an outing.  There were a number that particularly resonate with me of late – Beyond You, The Only Unforgiveable Thing, 100 Nights.  Also a series of songs that are not so much political but let’s say social commentary, A Few Words From The Dead, A Voice From The Past and Gaza.  These all chime very closely to my own thoughts and beliefs.  I still don’t like that quiet version of Hard As Love though!

Oh, and one thing everyone at that gig will tell you is that it was FREEZING!!!

Post gig I helped Malcolm with counting the merchandise, running around behind the stage and getting lost trying to find all three selling points.  Our work done I hitched a ride (thanks Rich!) with the crew back to the Sheraton for a final drink.  Everyone’s still conserving their energy for their duties though and at about 1am I got a taxi back to my bed.

Easter Island - Days 3 & 4

Easter Island – Day Three (16/05/2017)

Another 9:15am pick up, today we were to survey the more local sites.  Tahai is actually walking distance from the hotel and I’ve seen it from across the bay but I knew we were visiting on tour so hadn’t walked this far yet.  Tahai has a single moai complete with eyes and pukao.  The pukao was an additional red stone carved and put on top of some moai’s heads to represent topknots (they look like hats but in fact they are hair).  The eyes are not of the original coral but painted on to demonstrate to visitors how the moai would have looked in their prime.  There is another single moai and a separate ahu containing five moai (and an empty platform) in varying degrees of destruction.  This was one of the first ahus, restored by American William Mulloy who dedicated his life and work to Easter Island.  The primitive methods of the 1960s are evident in the concrete band around their necks where they were “glued” back together.  A sixth moai from the empty spot lies just a few dozen metres away, face down and broken into four pieces, too difficult to resurrect.  Although he died in the US, Mulloy’s remains were returned to Easter Island and there is a memorial to him near this site which we visited.  He did a huge amount to promote the island and it’s mysteries and, for the most part, the Rapa Nui are grateful.

We moved on to Huri A Urenga which is in quite a compact area.  Quite a change to the vast expanses laid out before most of the moai but I think that is as much due to the changing environment that original design.  An Italian team is currently working on cleaning the lichen from the moai and this is the second one to be completed (each takes around six months).  Next up was Puna Pau.  This is the quarry from which the red stone of the pukao was mined.  It’s not overly interesting – and there’s no amazing view from the top – but there are a few pukao dotted about giving a sense of the size of them.  Although the rock is significantly lighter they would still have been a few tonnes in weight and quite a feat to get on a moai head!

This was just a half day trip so we had one more stop, Ahu Akivi.  Another Mulloy restoration of seven moai, they are unique in being the only moai erected inland and seemingly facing the sea.  It has been discovered that they are orientated to face the rise of the summer solstice, indicating that the position of the sun was important to the ancient Rapa Nui.  Further excavations have also found the remains of a village between the ahu and the sea.  This was a detailed set of moai with differing features again.  My English companions and I had started to analyse the moai we saw to try to determine their moods and personalities!

As I got off the coach my guide said I was on that afternoon tour for Orongo but I insisted I wasn't on until the following day.  I decided to relax by the pool for a few hours and nip out for a little souvenir shopping before changing for an evening at Kari Kari, a meal and traditional dance performance.  The concierge (maybe that word is a little strong, receptionist might be better) was supposed to book me a place – he hadn’t but there was a table and a seat available in any case.  The meal was lovely.  I chose the seafood soup, steak with rice and dessert was a crème caramel.  It was a good, hunk of steak, nicely cooked!  I also had a pisco sour included (I had to pay for the second one!)

My seat for the show was second row, dead centre.  The music was all enveloping – the sound in the small theatre incredible.  The dancing was beautiful.  The women moved so fluidly, undulating like the ocean.  The men, strong, aggressive and spiky in contrast.  On a few occasions members of the audience were invited to join the performers and many went fully into it!  One boy in particular was impressive in his commitment and a middle aged man found himself shirtless but gave it as much fire and bravado as he possibly could!  There were changes of costume and mood.  Unfortunately the slower moments coincided with the seven hour time difference catching up on me and I found myself dozing for parts of the performance.  At the end one dancer pointed to me as he spoke in Rapa Nui.  The English translation didn’t mention anything about audience members falling asleep but just invited us onto the stage for photographs.  I had to speak to the guy who had found me out and apologise!  He invited me for a drink after he had changed which I politely declined, siting that I clearly needed my bed…

When I returned I took a cursory glance at the schedule passed to me on my first day by the tour company and found that my guide was right and I was wrong.  My tour of Orongo HAD been that afternoon!  No lie in for me then, I’d better be up to sort this out…

Easter Island – Day Four (17/05/2017)

I figured the easiest way to fix my little screw up was to go straight to the Rapa Nui Travel offices.  I got there around 9am as planned and my guide was there, full of apologies.  They had tried to get hold of me (I was only by the pool as well!) so I could join the previous afternoon’s tour as they weren’t running the half day to Orongo today.  BUT (and this had already crossed my mind and I was sort of ready for it), I could hike it myself.  I was assured it would be around a 3 hour round trip.  They furnished me with a map and off I went.  I probably didn’t have enough water with me (annoyingly I didn’t think of this until after I passed the last shop).  I walked around the airport (nipping in to use the facilities)

It was an easy walk to Ana Kai Tangata, a sea cave with some ancient paintings inside.  They were hard to make out and this is where a guide is extremely useful as they can point out exactly what you are looking for!  It was a lovely place for watching and listening to the crash of the waves though.

Back up to the road and a ranger pointed me to the trail for Orongo.  Today’s history lesson concerns the birdman cult.  It is not known exactly when the birdman ceremony began but some think it may have taken over from the moai traditions when it became clear they were unsustainable.  However we know about it in quite some detail as it was still practiced late into the 19th century.  Every year each chief would choose a representative (hopu) from his tribe to compete.  They would gather at Orongo in August and wait for the first of the migratory sooty terns to appear.  When it did, the competitors would scale the cliffs to the water, swim out to the largest of three islets, Motu Nui around 2 km away.  Each hopu would stake his place and wait for the first egg to be laid.  Whoever found the first egg would shout to the mainland – the other hopu would verify it was indeed an egg from the sooty tern and bow down in reverence.  It was a very respectful competition.

The winner would return to the shore with the egg and either he or his chief would become the birdman – or tangata manu - for the next year.  He would have all of his hair shaved off and live in strict seclusion where the only human contact he would have would be with a priest who would bathe and feed him.  Meanwhile the tribe would rule the rest of the island until the following year.  Doesn’t sound much like a prize to me…

Orongo itself is the far side of Rano Kau, the crater of an extinct volcano.  Obviously, uphill.  And today happened to be the hottest day of my trip.  It was a hard slog up for about an hour.  There was a lovely shaded section of trees for a time but for the most part the landscape was open and the crater was shielding any cooling breeze.  It was one of those hikes when you keep stopping and thinking, “surely not much further?” – I knew nowhere on the island was particularly high and this wasn’t the highest place but the ascent just seemed to go on and on.

Eventually the top was reached and the view across the crater to the sea was absolutely spectacular.  This really felt like the “navel of the universe”, this deep crater of wetlands which is now a protected eco system.  It was like I’d come back to the beginning of the world. So many thoughts ran through my head as a caught my breath.  Everything in my life that had brought me to that point – marriage, separation, the love of a band, falling out with friends, misreading an itinerary.  All of these things in my life that had lead me to this place on the other side of the world, on my own.  The accomplishment of finding my own way, in so many aspects made this a rather emotional moment for me.

Gathering my thoughts together, I embarked on the footpath around the crater to Orongo.  I say footpath.  A great deal of it was overgrown and I was glad of the company of a couple who helped guide the way.  Fortunately the foliage were soft yellow flowers (I think they are lupins) and at least it was relatively flat!  At the visitors centre I read the displays regarding the birdman ceremony, then ventured out to see the islets and the village.  You could feel the wind whipping around and realise how sheltered from the elements it must be inside the crater.  Indeed at one point the path moves inside the crater and you feel the temperature rise instantly.  I hovered with an English tour guide for a while but felt a bit dodgy listening to his entire tour for free.  So I continued to walk around the village – this would have been largely ceremonial and not used for tribal living.  However I couldn’t see any of the famed petroglyphs, again I missed having a guide to point them out.

An interesting point of note is that the moai currently residing in the British Museum is from Orongo.  Hoa Hakananai’a – “lost / stolen friend” is unusual as he was made from basalt, a much harder rock than the traditional moai.  The carvings on his back date to the era of the birdman cult.  It is likely that the moai itself is older and was thrown down, then repurposed.  I find it rather sad that he’s not here.

I returned to the footpath down the road rather than the overgrown way.  I had another moment taking in the view over the crater before embarking on the much easier descent.  I think it took about a third of the time down!  I passed an American girl at about the halfway point and assured her it was worth the sweat – by this time it was gone midday and I was glad I’d gone up when it was a little cooler.  As I reached the end of the path and reconnected to a road I seemed to acquire a dog.  There are dogs everywhere here.  They don’t look like strays, I think people treat them like cats and let them roam free and come home when they are hungry.  The dog accompanied me past the airport where I decided to follow the coast around into Hanga Roa.  I visited my last “new” moai at Hanga Piko and continued along the road.

The English gentlemen had recommended a restaurant around here which I hadn’t expected to go to but as I was passing, it was lunchtime and I had just burned a significant quantity of calories I duly went to Mahia.  There was no-one else there and I took a table right at the open window.  The recommendation was that this had the best fish in town so I ordered the local fish (which always seems to be tuna!).  It was a huge slab, about 4cm thick and cooked perfectly for me - ,  raw but just warm on the inside.  The seasoning was sublime.  It was served with green sweet potatoes – much nicer and slightly less overpowering than the orange ones we get in the UK.  I had another emotional moment – again, if I had visited Orongo on yesterday’s trip I would never find myself eating this amazing piece of fish watching the waves crashing in front of me.  Fortune has a funny way of presenting itself sometimes.

I finished with some baked bananas.  There was a little hassle with paying – the connection with the credit card machine went down and they had to scrabble together the change for the 20,000CLP notes the cash machine kindly dispensed yesterday.

My previous plan for the day had been to visit the museum before the afternoon trip.  I believed it closed around 4pm and only took an hour to visit so I continued along the coast road, stopping for some souvenirs on the way.  Past Tahai that we had visited yesterday morning and I again clocked some stalls and a wooden moai that I had taken a fancy to.  Shopping can wait, museum first.  The museum was ok but didn’t explain much I hadn’t already heard or read about.  It did however have a rare female moai, the only remaining coral eye and the remains of a moai head with good detail that you can get really close to.

From the museum I returned the way I had come.  I did shop.  I have spent a lot more on souvenirs and gifts than I normally would but I think I’ll allow myself just this once!  I stopped by the five moai and sat down, took the boots off my aching feet and wrote the diary for a while.  I considered staying out until the sunset but that was still two hours off.  I was hot, sweaty and dirty from my travels.  I needed to be clean again.

So now I’m sat in the hotel reception writing up my last adventures on Easter Island.  Having eaten at lunch I’m not really hungry for dinner so I think all that remains is for me to pack.  I could happily spend a few more days here.  It’s a wonderful combination of a place where life slows down but it’s still a source of endless fascination.

(PS – I will upload more pics when I have better internet!)

Easter Island - Days 1 & 2

Easter Island – Day One (14/05/2017)

The flight at 6 hours was long but fine.  I was rather disappointed to be served (late) breakfast rather than (early) lunch!  Another two films watched – Hidden Figures (AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE!) and Music and Lyrics (as I fancied something easy to watch and Hugh Grant is incredibly easy to watch).  I think I watch more films in the air than I do on the ground!  Sadly I didn’t get a window seat but in the event it didn’t matter too much as it was rather overcast when we landed.  Hanga Roa airport is absolutely perfect – it looks like a thatched hut and nothing more!  It took ages for the bags to come through (I’m not sure the airport was ever built to cope with a Dreamliner full of people).  I’m sure the staff had their lunch break between the first batch of cases and the second…

I found my transfer without any problems and met a couple of English gentlemen on the bus.  They were dropped off at their hotel first, then I came to mine.  Once I got to my room I did a proper happy dance!  It's a very pretty little hotel.  Not plush (there’s not even a TV in the room!) but absolutely what you would want and expect (I’m sat out on the terrace in the sunshine writing this).  There’s only wifi in the reception area but that’s probably a good thing for me!

Freshened up and changed I went for a wander around Hanga Roa, the main (only!) town on the island.  I headed towards the coast where I saw my first moai then stopped for some food; my first empanadas in South America (shrimp, pineapple and cheese) and a juice made from a local fruit (no idea what!).  I got chatting to a guy who is a ranger for the national parks that make up most of the archaelogical sites on the island.  He offered to show me around some of the sites I wouldn’t get on my tour – it’s a shame but I thought I’d best be sensible and decline.

I walked along the coast for quite a while,  then came across a host of black flag, skull and crossbones, graffiti on corrugated iron.  Then I saw some flags bearing the name Hotel Pirata.  I’m still not 100% sure it’s actually a hotel.  It was rather intimidating.  So I turned around and came back.  I might venture that way again some other time!  So back the way I came, then into the town on my way back to the hotel via a shop for some water and snacks.  I also stopped at a wifi point to upload some photos and check what time sunset would be.

A quick change and out for the sunset, but sadly it was rather cloudy and nothing spectacular.  Hopefully a better one tomorrow.  I stopped on the way back to watch some of a local football match.  The pitch is just over the road from the sea, it was a rather evocative place to watch sport.  Having eaten quite late I didn’t feel the need for any dinner so, despite it only being 7:30pm I returned to the hotel.  I guess it’s the one thing I’m already missing from travel company – someone to go for a drink with – but I was actually more than happy to sit outside with a book (current reading is Little Women).

Easter Island – Day Two (15/05/2017)

Today was a full day excursion so I took a full backpack – swimsuit and towel, fleece, waterproof jacket!  The bus collected me around 9:20am and Julia was the guide.  The two English gentlemen I met on the airport transfer joined us along with a lady from Brazil and a family from Peru.  Julia did a great job of conducting the tour in both Spanish and English!

A little moai / Rapa Nui history.  Some believe that Easter Island was the last place on Earth that humans started to inhabit.  The first Polynesians came to the island around 9th century but it would have been the second wave who started to make moai around the 14th century.  Moai were raised on ahu (ceremonial platforms) and they marked the burial spots of the great tribal chiefs of the Rapa Nui (the native people of Easter Island).  They were almost all erected to face inland and were said to contain great protective power for their village.

However, by the time the Europeans discovered the island in the early 18th century the population was already depleted.  No-one really knows why.  It almost certainly was due to a lack of resources; the extinction of an indiginous palm tree depleted the fertility of the soil and also meant there was no wood to build canoes and fish.  A common theory is that the environmental change was caused by the obsession of building moai; others think it must have been a sudden but natural climatic change.  Either way, lack of food lead to warfare between the clans and the arrival of Europeans and their diseases (coupled with many Rapa Nui being traded as slaves in the 19th century) meant the Rapa Nui people almost completely died out – only around 100 native people remained in the mid 19th century – and with it died much of the knowledge and history of Easter Island and it’s people.  Eventually in 1888 the island was annexed by the Chilean government, although the Rapa Nui were not allowed out of Hanga Roa (much less off the island) until 1964 when they were given full citizenship

We were to travel along the south coast of Easter Island and then turn towards the north east corner before returning.  Our first two stops were Vaihu and Akahenga.  These are two sites of fallen moai.  By the mid 19th century every moai had been toppled, practically all of them face down.  There are a number of theories as to why.  The theory Julia explained is the common one; that rival tribes would throw down the moai to weaken their enemies.  I’ve seen another which hypothesises that the Rapa Nui were so ashamed of the destruction of their land and depletion of the people that they laid the moai down so they couldn’t see.  These figures were rather eerie in their submissive pose.  At Akahenga we could see the remains of the village, one of the largest.  The houses only had covered areas for sleeping and there was also a cave which would have been used overnight.  Julia told us some people today still feel the need to get out of the town and sleep in caves! She also explained that because they had so many people here they didn’t have the resources to build bigger or more moai.

Tongariki however was a small village with the largest ahu containing 15 moai.  These were all washed ashore by a tsunami in 1960 but a Japanese businessman sent two cranes to assist with restoring them to their correct positions.  Not only are there a lot assembled in one place, these are HUGE!  They are incredibly impressive and rather imposing.  They are also surprisingly expressive – they all stand proud and serene but the more you look the more you see differences between them, especially having so many lined up together.  Moai were carved in the likeness of the chief they were commemorating so they have different sizes of nose, chin, ears etc.  They no longer have eyes (which would have been made of coral and obsidian and were said to contain the moai’s power) but they still feel like they are surveying the area before them.  We were afforded plenty of time here but I really could have stayed for hours.  It suddenly occurred to me that I will most likely never be in this place again and I just wanted to enjoy it as much as possible despite a little rain.  Julia also showed us some petroglyphs – these would have been carved later, around the 19th century when the cult of the Birdman ceremony was practiced (more about this another day!)

Of course we had to move on and our next stop was Rano Raraku.  This was the quarry from which all moai were produced.  There were lots of finished but abandoned moai here – once they had been made it was the villages’ responsibility to then move the moai from the quarry to the village.  The common myth of them being transport in logs has been replaced by them by pulled to and fro by ropes and “walked” into place.  Indeed there are numerous other moai that have been abandoned as they fell over and the Rapa Nui had no way of returning them to an upright position.  There are also many unfinished moai, some out of the rock awaiting the back to be completed, some part carved and some just etched onto the rock surface.  The decline in the Rapa Nui people was so sudden it meant the quarrymen downed tools practically overnight and left hundreds of moai in varying stages of completion.  It’s like those hidden item puzzles where there are different images of moai all over the place – if you can spot them!  This includes the largest of all the moai which was never dug away from the ground – it took a while for me to work out the outline in the rock!

We had our lunch at Rano Raruku and continued to our final two stops.  First was Te Pito Kura.  This is the site of the last standing moai but it was brought down even after the Europeans had invaded.  There is also the “navel of the world”, a magnetic stone that legend stated had been brought with the original Polynesian settlers and was the only proof the Rapa Nui had of life in the outside world (it has since been proved to actually be from Easter Island!).  The final stop, Anakena, is believed to be where Hotu Matu’a, a Polynesian tribal chief first landed after embarking on a voyage inspired by a dream of the island.  It also has a beach and 8 moai.  I had a brief dip in the crystal blue Pacific waters with my English friends, then walked around snapping photos of the moai (7 on one platform and a lone one).  It was quite a view from the sea!

As the bus returned us to Hanga Roa and our hotels, I reflected on how the moai stand looking inland and how it makes me feel about the political situation in my increasingly insular homeland.  The large ahus of moai with their backs to the sea don't feel like they are guarding their people from the outside world.  They are not keeping people out.  They are keeping people in.  Their imposing nature almost feels like you shouldn’t pass them to the sea and whatever lies beyond.  The remoteness must have made many of the later generations feel like this was the only inhabited place in the universe.  I wonder if the politics of our future will be about trying to keep us where we are and not to strive for anything further than our own four walls.  Or maybe we are already there.

Back at the hotel I rested, changed and headed out to see a much better sunset.  I got chatting with an Argentinian lady about all sorts of random stuff (should I still have an opinion of Princess Diana?!  Interestingly there is a perception in Argentina that she was a poor school teacher before she married Prince Charles.)  I then saw the bar / restaurant next to my sunset spot had a fire going so it looked like a nice place for dinner.  We are out of season here so the town seems quiet but this is when it occurred to me that yesterday was Sunday and that would be why everywhere was closed!

I treated myself to my first pisco sour (lovely!) and some seared tuna (very nice although maybe a little tough).  Then a second cocktail, a kiwi caiparinha (delicious) and the recommended dessert, a chocolate volcano (yummy!).  Given how far things have to be imported Easter Island isn’t cheap though, I’m already dreading the credit card bill!

Back to the hotel for diary writing but I’m still out of the timezone and fell asleep at 9:30pm (ok, two cocktails probably didn't help!).  Woke again at 5:30am.  I hope the two hour time difference puts my body clock in the right place when I return to Santiago..

Chile #2 - Working It Out On My Own

Well, I narrowly avoided getting scammed while getting to my hotel!  The hotel provides a free transfer but someone with an official looking card for the provider TransVIP collared me, took me halfway round the airport to a cab that was gonna charge me £30!  Common sense kicked in and I walked away and back to where I needed to go for my free transfer.

Luckily there was a room available when I got to the hotel despite it only being 10:30 which meant I could shower and changed properly.  This was when I found out that Chile doesn’t have European chargers (TV had a USB port for a temporary fix) and also that I should have reset my unused Uber account while still in the UK.

The nerves kicked in just around them.  Can I do this?  In a foreign country on my own where I really don't speak the language?  I had to push myself out of the hotel and into Santiago.  I was sure I could get the hotel to get me a taxi in but I had no idea how to get back as the hotel was in an industrial estate with no public transport.  I’m sure I’ll find a way…

This was where I was starting to realise how little English is spoken here.  You would expect a reception for an airport hotel to have pretty good English but this one is minimal.  Taxi drivers, restaurants, museums, Metro – as I was to discover there really is very little English and my attempts at learning Spanish had definitely not succeeded!

I did manage to communicate that I wanted the taxi driver to take me to Plaza de Armas which seemed to be the centre of everything.  I think he was (very kindly) trying to arrange a time to pick me up and take me back but we just couldn’t communicate.  I’ll pay for a black and yellow cab – I’m sure it will be more expensive but if it’s the only way back I’ll have to go with that.

Anyway, Plaza de Armas. It IS the centre of everything!  Quite a large square with lots of trees and benches.  A real hubbub of activity, especially on a Saturday.  Kind of Santiago’s Covent Garden or Las Ramblas.  Street performers – a traditional band, a man dressed as a giant rock, a Michael Jackson impersonator, a puppeteer.  Despite the misty morning when I landed a few hours earlier and the forecasts of rain (it’s been raining all week apparently) it was a gloriously sunny day.  I wondered round, sat for a bit in the centre and then decided I was hungry.  Yo soy una turista, so I chose the tourist trap restaurant on the square.  It wasn’t bad actually.  Had an Italiano sandwich – thin sliced beef with tomatoes, a huge amount of mayonnaise and what seemed like a whole avocado!  Also a very full, rather large single glass of red wine.  I sat on the terrace absorbing the square.  No Wifi – there was something lovely about being cut from the strings of the internet.  I’ve never been much of a people watcher but I indulged a little.  I noticed lots of people carrying their babies (and it occurred to me how rare this is in England where we would automatically take them in a pram).  I noticed lots of slogan T-shirts, almost all in English.  I noticed that the men’s bodies seem disproportionately long legged with short, stocky chests.  I giggled at some of the locals wearing thick coats and gloves while I sat in a t-shirt!  I listened to the band and watched the rock-man fist bumping passing kids (in exchange for a few pesos).

I seriously considered taking the open-top bus tour but decided to venture for a while on foot instead.  I bought an ice cream (chocolate and lucuma, an Andean fruit which tasted rather like caramel) and wandered south down Paseo Ahumeda.  It was full of market stalls – well, people had laid out their wares on the pedestrianised street.  I had thought about finding an electrical store to by an adaptor but I managed to find one for about £1.20 (which surprisingly works and hasn’t blown anything up yet!)  This brought me out at Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, the main route through Santiago. I turned left / east along the road, nipping into Iglesias San Francisco before crossing back over and going north again.  I zig-zagged back to Plaza de Armas, passing Teatro Municipal, Palacio de la Moneda and then going into Iglesias San Agustin.

San Agustin houses the Cristo de Mayo.  Legend has it that in the 1647 earthquake this figure of Christ’s crown of thorns slipped around his neck.  When someone tried to move the crown back onto his head, the carved face began to bleed.  The crown has been left around his neck ever since and it is celebrated every year on 13th May – today!  I had tried to research when the statue was to be paraded and, assuming it was in the morning I assumed I had missed it.  It actually starts at 7pm – however that was 4 hours away and I was already sleepy (the wine probably didn’t help on that front!).  I did see the statue on his carriage waiting for the evening.  It’s possibly one of the ugliest effigies of Christ I’ve ever seen…

I was still pondering this for the next hour.  I visited the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbino but I had to resist the temptation to lie on the viewing bench and have a kip!  I returned to Plaza de Armas – I’m presuming it was a particular hive of activity because of the imminent celebrations.  Women had baked cakes to sell outside the cathedral.  I had a walk around the cathedral – although I don’t believe in god I love the peace of churches and cathedrals, especially in countries where people are actually using them for worship.  There was a service occurring in the nearest chapel to the open door – a real contrast of the peace inside against to noise outside.

I considered again doing the tourist bus just to stay for the parade but tiredness and worrying about getting back to my hotel forced me to choose not to.  It was a hard decision to make – if I was staying in the city I would definitely have made an effort to see it.  I had two choices back.  I figured I’d try to get a price on a taxi all the way – it was 13,000 pesos in so I presumed on double that for a city cab.  I spoke to one taxi driver who basically said he wouldn’t drive to the airport.  So plan B – get the metro to San Pablo (which at 4 miles away was the nearest metro stop to the hotel) and try to get a cab from there.  If all else failed I’d walk back (although without internet and maps that would prove very tricky!)

And this is where the language barrier really frustrated me – my lack of understanding more than anything else.  I should be able to understand but my aural comprehension is terrible.  Eventually I decided just to get a single ticket - I could have got a Bip card, like a London Oyster card given that I was returning to Santiago next weekend but I decided to sort that out next weekend.  Got to San Pablo, lots of taxis here – yay!  First one had no idea about the hotel – I did at least work out he wanted to take me to the airport and said no.  Then I realised I had the address on the calendar on my phone – second taxi driver seemed to understand and I was on my way.  I was very glad I didn’t have to walk through here – there was a sense that this is “real” Santiago.  Not quite shanty towns but lots of small, temporary looking buildings.  Interesting to see from a car, I’m glad I wasn’t walking through it.

Safely back at the hotel at about 6pm!  Cheap adapter works!  And – AND – I found Eurovision on the TV!  I missed all the performances but relaxed with the results on a Portuguese station where they sounded rather bemused as the votes rolled in for their song.  I love having a tiny bit of home when I’m away.

All that was left was to pack (again) for my early departure.  A mixture of not much sleep on the plane, the time difference and living on adrenaline for the day has taken it’s toll and I was asleep by 8:30pm.  Given the alarm was set for 3:30am I didn’t mind too much and the clocks going back gave me another hour.  I’ve not had 8 hours solid sleep for weeks!

So now I’m checked in and waiting for the flight to Easter Island.  I’m very glad to have five days where someone is holding my hand on a tour!  I’m also looking forward to four nights in the same bed…

Chile #1 - The Journey

Madrid Airport

Three flights today and two have been delayed.  Manchester to Heathrow ended up 35 minutes late which made for a pretty frantic connection.  The Madrid plane was on time but now I’m sat at Madrid airport facing a 1 hour delay.  At least I’m not feeling panicked for a connection this time but I just want to get on a plane and SLEEP!  A G&T (at Manchester) and a beer (at Madrid) has made me ready for zzzzz…..

Landing in Madrid and I felt incredibly emotional.  The difference of being in a place where you don’t speak the language.  I really did feel very alone in that moment.  I suspect I’ll feel something similar on landing in Santiago.

I had to pick up a boarding pass here which involved someone at the information desk calling someone from LAN airlines to bring it up to me.  The lovely assistant is here at the gate too and made sure I knew what was going on with the delay.

There’s an announcement and movement.  Looks like the problem has been fixed sooner than I expected…

Thoughts In The Air
We’ve been flying away from the dawn but it’s gradually catching us up.  If I look backwards from the window I can just see the sky starting to tinge with orange.  13 hours of night and only intermittent light sleep.  When you’re sat in economy for this long you realise why people pay thousands extra for business…

I watched Moonlight on the flight.  A bit disappointing.  It’s very dialogue driven which is not ideal with the background hum of an aircraft.  But nothing seemed to happen!  I also watched Fantastic Beasts And How To Find Them (mostly from Heathrow to Madrid) which was much more enjoyable.

The Andes are very beautiful to fly over, especially just as the dawn is breaking.  White with snow like peaks of newly sifted icing sugar.  There’s a perfect line of pink and an almost full moon in the sky.  Although we left an hour late we appear to have made up the time and will land a few minutes early.  Once over the mountains we will start our descent and I will start to get nervous.  I think I’ve worked out how to get to hotel #1.  And I hope my luggage made it through the changes with me. How I get into Santiago from there I’m not 100% sure…

The Wise Women

The Wise Women

We are the wise women,
We know more than we think,
Perceive more than realise,
Are capable of more than we expect,

We are the wise women,
We can change the world
If we support each other,
Encourage each other,
Allow ourselves to be used as stepping stones,
Provide a foothold for other wise women
Or reach out a helping hand,

We are the wise women,
We set the world to rights,
No more content with just “pretty”,
No more content with comfortable,
No more comfortable with content,

We are the wise women
And we feel no need to trample,
To dumb down other women
Who are wise in their own way,
Or have the potential
To join us in our wisdom,

We are the wise women
And there is always room for more,
No-one needs replacing,
Join us on our platform,
The platform is broad and plentiful,
There’s always room for more,
More inspiration, more motivation, more ideas,
When we work together our platform grows
For more of the wise women to climb
And find their place alongside

We are the wise women,
Together we can work quietly,
Build, create, progress, sustain

We are the wise women,
We don’t need to shout and scream,
We don’t need to fight,
We don’t need to smash the glass ceiling,
We just need to turn the world upside down

January 2017

Week 52 - Cuerden Valley Park Trust

I'm finishing my £5 for 52 we is challenge with a charity that is very close to home.  Indeed, it's about 5 minutes walk away and it's a place me and husband Darren enjoy a lot.  Cuerden Valley Park is a beautiful bit of green space that runs between the M6 and M61 here in Lancashire.  The park is maintained by Cuerden Valley Park Trust almost entirely aided by volunteers and funded through donations, car parking and the cafe and by various fundraising events through the year (our particular favourite is the Beer and Cider Festival!)

The trust are currently constructing a new visitor centre and cafe.  The centre is being built to very highly ecological specifications, using recycled tyres, straw bales and sheep's wool.  Much of the wood used in construction has come from fallen trees in the park itself.  Once built, they are expecting to become the first building in the UK to obtain certification from the Living Building Challenge, and internationally recognised environmental programme.

Darren and I are hoping to donate some of our time to the park as well over the next few months (and maybe even years!)

Link
Cuerden Valley Park.

Week 51 - Greenpeace

It's been a busy few weeks and I'm a bit behind.  I should have finished this by now so but there's only two left to do!

Glastonbury Festival is approaching so I've chosen the third charity that are heavily involved (Oxfam and WaterAid being the other two).  Greenpeace were formed in 1971 and has grown to be one of the biggest environmental organisations in the world with offices in over 40 countries.  They use direct action and campaigns for many environmental issues including:

• Stopping climate change.
• Protecting forests.
• Defending the oceans.
• Saving the Arctic.

In the UK they also support campaigns to halt fracking, reduce air pollution and work towards nuclear disarmament.

Link

Greenpeace