Our taxi from the airport (let’s call him Captain Kirk!) had a cute little robot projecting a glowing starry night sky to the car ceiling which made it look like we were traveling in space !
Saigon has about a gazillion scooters on its streets. Of course it’s a rough approximation but it gives an idea. It is a true Asian city in the sense that crossing the street and staying alive seems like a miracle. Something like walking across a bee hive without touching any.
Of course we tried the street food market with its hatched quail eggs, barbecued seafood and snails… they even have street lobster!
Besides street food, we also ate Indian food. Mary was so happy to finally find decent India restaurants that she couldn’t resist.
In Saigon I found only two types of people who wear the traditional « Chinese hat » : the poorest street vendors and the tourists coming out of the famous post office designed by Gustave Eiffel.
Vietnamese is pretty much impossible to pronounce for the average mortal. It’s a tonal language which make everything sound like a cute little song. But some words a lot easier than others. I’ll let you guess the meaning of these: « cà phê », « cà rốt », « bia », « xa-lát »… Even « Ga », the word for « train station » is actually the french word « Gare »!
It’s extremely hot here. And unlike the Philippines, we can’t just go jump in the nearest waterfall. Eventually we used “the Indian technique” : we went to the cinema to sit in an AC room for a couple of hours! And we went to see the craziest movie I’ve seen in a long time: “Everything, everywhere and all at once”. The movie takes the most far fetched route to tell you that kindness is all that matters. It’s so nuts that it’s not allowed for kids, so Leo was alone, watching Shazam in the next room.
Our taxi ride from the airport!Barbecued sea urchinSnailsLobsters on the street!Crossing streets!Parking (a) lot!In communist Vietnam, kids drink Coca Cola and ride skateboards in front of the post office, so peace out everyone, no need to kill anyone !Dancing classes in a public parkStudents playing video games as soon as they come out of school Leo in the « Japan friendship tunnel » made of fake cherry tree flowers The sun setting on the city
We reached Hô Chi Minh city, in Vietnam, only to find out that here, it was still called Saigon by everyone! Strange how Saigon sounds so old world and colonial in my ears.
Pretty much the first thing we did is head to the museum of the Vietnam war. This war did not only deeply wound Vietnam, it also influenced my own childhood, as it ended just a couple of years after my birth and the Americans produced so many post traumatic movies on the subject.
Still I only had American produced clichés about it in my head, so the museum was very valuable.
First I learned that the French, barely liberated from the German occupation, still thought it was a good idea to go and re-conquer their old colony of Indochina!
Of course this was heavily sponsored by American money, weapons and military advice, since the Americans always manage to get someone else to fight for them. They only move in last resort.
After 10 years of failing to reconquer anything, the French loose the battle of Dien Bien Phu and finally give up, signing the Geneva treaty which (once again) acknowledges the independence of Vietnam.
The next day, the Americans violate the treaty and put in place a pro-American government in Saigon to force the Vietnamese people to fight themselves against their communist brothers. Again they stay behind and provide plenty of money and weapons.
10 more years of this mess leads to nothing but piles of corpses, so they finally decide to move in person! They progressively bring in hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, and billions of dollars of the most modern military equipment. Nothing works and they’re still defeated by the Vietnamese peasants!
As they grow more and more frustrated, the conflict turns into absolute butchery, accumulating crimes of war, mass bombing, mass massacres, chemical warfare with dioxine and napalm causing damage for many generations to come, and land mines that still kill farmers to this day !
In 1975 when they finally gave up and signed the Paris treaty, they again violated it the next day and resumed funding their pro-American government to continue the war for them!
As I was reading about these atrocities committed by the self appointed leaders of the « free world” in which equality of rights and freedom of thought is a most natural and inalienable right, I kept wondering: what are they fighting for?
The soldiers certainly had no idea why they were fighting, except for some bullshit freedom propaganda. And that alone was enough to deprive them of their humanity. But the rulers who ordered all of this, why were they so afraid of communism so far away from their country? Are these millions of deaths really only to enable selling Coca Cola to the free world?
Since then, America profusely apologised for their wrongdoings in Vietnam. “We owe it to future generations to let them know our mistakes so it never happens again” they would say. Yet, they’ve been doing this over and over again around the world; placing dictators and murderers, or creating wars to ensure their economical interests.
At the dawn of a potential third world war it’s worth pondering why we’re again supporting and funding and arming a pro-American government in Ukraine and pushing people into a terrible conflict in which they have nothing to gain and everything to loose.
With so many beautiful islands to visit, we completely skipped visiting Manila. We’ll just be there for our flight to Vietnam, and get the complimentary potato chips 🤡
Ok, I confess, I’d prepared this post in advance just so I could place this most hilarious pun. It turned out slightly different.
So after two days in lovely and quiet Port Barton, we headed back to Puerto Princessa, one day ahead of our flight to Manila, because Mary had heard of an underground river that could be visited there. But after further investigation, the underground river seemed very much an expensive tourist trap where we’d be spending the whole day in transfers and sitting in a boat. So we ditched this and went back to what we do best: waterfalls and beach sunset, on a scooter!
In Puerto, the waterfall was farther away from the beach than usual so it was still quite a bit of driving, but at least we could bathe.
We went to the Talaudyong beach, on the west coast, a fantastic white sand beach and barely anyone there.
The only problem with sunsets is that after them, it gets very dark! And this time it started to rain, and we had two hours drive back to town, in the night and with the rain slapping our faces.
We drove carefully and arrived completely drenched at a restaurant where we each ordered a hot tea to warm us up.
This morning we woke up at 4am to catch our flight to Manila. We reached at 9am and -like in LA- we had most of the day to kill before our evening flight to Saigon. So we left our luggage in storage and headed to the old town for a little cultural stop.
We learned about the Spanish rule in the 16th century, who are praised for bringing the smallpox vaccine to the country. We learned about the Americans replacing the Spaniards after 1850’ish, and their failure to protect the country from the Japanese invasion during the second world war. The Japanese then occupied the country for 3 years and massacred over a 100,000 Filipinos before the liberation by the Americans at the end of the war. Only in 1946 did the Philippines become independent, when most of the decolonisation started.
So much culture after 3 weeks of waterfalls and sunsets! 😅
Once, in Dubai, Rita had introduced us to Dampa: a Filipino restaurant chain serving delicious seafood, and Leo fell in love with it. Mary kept it a surprise to the last moment that we were going to Dampa for lunch today. When we reached the restaurant, Leo was jumping in joy! We had a feast of crab and prawns and mussels.. then it was time to get back to the airport.
And that’s it. 3 weeks in the Philippines flew by so fast! We’ll have to come back here, it’s lovely, it’s clean, it’s safe, the nature is fantastic, the people are polite and friendly, and, well, for us indeed, it’s cheap!
Good bye Philippines, we had a blast! We’re now off to Vietnam!
Hiking to waterfalls Manila cathedral In memory of the violent japanese occupation Moat of Fort Santiago
Leo and I couldn’t wait to begin our Asia leg. Although Latin America was absolutely lovely, we were tired of the food there and were missing our vegetables.
After 3 stopovers we reached the Philippines! Arjun’s guitar had to be checked in when we stopped over in LA. China airlines refused to listen to us, citing some stupid policy and promising us that fragile goods are treated with TLC. In Cebu, we were shocked to find the guitar completely cracked open. TLC for China airlines meant “totally lacking care”! We were in Cebu city and super tired after almost 2 days in airports. The food in the malls were frankly disappointing and so I had a mango milk shake to feel better. Big mistake! I now know that the Philippines does not have fresh milk and imports mostly from the USA. The mango milk shake was mixed with milk powder and filtered water. It tasted odd and I wondered if we’d ever get to eat well. Luckily, the street food was cheap and delicious. We tried some barbecued meat and fish. Several stalls sell Balut which is a fertilized developing egg embryo that is boiled or steamed and eaten from the shell with a sauce. We weren’t adventurous enough to try that!
Moalboal is a scuba diving and snorkeling destination. On our 1st day there, we started enquiring about initiations in scuba diving. Arjun quickly reserved the session for the 3 of us. As you probably know, I have a phobia of deep waters. Still groggy in the morning, I didn’t have time to think and just went along. Before I could say hell no, I found myself in a wetsuit with an oxygen cylinder and a guide gently tugging me on the sea shore. When realisation struck, I politely told the guide that I had changed my mind. However, he wasn’t in the mood to listen and kept telling me that it’d be fine. We can come up to breath and relax whenever I’m scared. Arjun’s been pestering me to do this and I thought that he’d be off my back if I do this just once. If I die, he’ll regret this and not pester anyone else. My life would have a purpose. So I went ahead in spite of being sh.. scared. Once in the water, it was magical. I saw stunning coral reefs, a school of sardines and other brightly coloured fish 🐟 🐠 The next hour, I was switching between extreme fear and awe. I probably made the guide take me to the surface thrice to breathe. It was a frightening yet fascinating experience. I wouldn’t do this again in spite of it being so so gorgeous. I was very close to a panic attack 😳 The next day we went canyoning at the kawasan waterfalls and this meant diving in the turquoise blue water. It looked spectacular! I had a lifejacket and Arjun held my hand 💓 So I just jumped because I knew that I’d come up with the lifejacket. The next hour we’d wade through narrow passages, jump in the water, glide backwards while admiring the beautiful rock formations and the waterfalls. I had such a great time. We then went to Osloab to swim with whale sharks. By now, I felt comfortable in deep waters as long as I had a lifejacket. So we booked the trip and left to see the whales. We were given tokens and I saw hundreds of people seated to wait their turn. There were almost 50 small boats close to the shore. We were told not to touch the sharks and not wear any sunscreen. Our guide told us that we’d be given snorkeling gear. Once in the boat, we were given masks and no snorkeling gear. There wasn’t any choice now and we found ourselves with several boats and hundreds of people in the sea. A lot of fish feed was being tossed in the sea so the sharks could come and get it. We then saw the magnificent shark. It looked amazing! After a while I felt something stinging me and it was all over my body. I jumped into the boat with Leo. On the shore, we showered and learnt that we were stung by tiny jellyfish or had a reaction to plankton. We applied vinegar but it wasn’t placating the itchy sensation. The next week was a nightmare! I had a rash on my legs and they were sooooooo itchy. I had to put on the stinky Mexican cream to soothe myself. I hate these mass tours! We then went to Bohol, hired a bike and just went around. The chocolate hills are a strange formation and shelter the smallest primates in the world – the tarsiers. We didn’t see any and the tour was rather lame. We had to climb a few steps and have a look at the chocolate hills. While it looked amazing, it just felt like something for lazy tourists who don’t like to walk. While having lunch we had a chat with a drunk South African farmer who has been living on the island for years now. He encouraged us to take the bike around the chocolate hills. He also told us that he got a lot of snakes to bring down the rat population. Apparently the local Filipinos weren’t very pleased with the snake population. We rode around following his advice and then we decided not to listen to drunk people anymore. The road was really bad and Leo & I had to keep walking or wading through muck while Arjun struggled to move forward with the bike. We were tossed around in the bike like eggs being flipped on a pan. Also, isn’t there any government control on foreigners living in the Philippines? Are they allowed to experiment like the Australians did? From Bohol, we went to Siquijor and I fell ill from switching between the warm weather and the icy cold AC rooms. The next 2 days were spent in bed with Leo and Arjun exploring the island. It was then Leo’s turn to fall ill and Arjun went out alone. We loved Siquijor and its beautiful waterfalls. Mind-blowing! The beaches were equally fab with white soft sand. It’s a quiet, lazy island full of friendly people – a true paradise. Sadly, it was time to leave plus Arjun’s turn to fall ill 🤒🤧
We went to El Nido in Palawan because everyone kept recommending it, only to be in the midst of a town buzzing with tourists. Once there, we wanted to go back to Siquijor. We still went ahead with the classic boat tours that take you snorkeling around various islands and beaches. Despite being crowded, we thoroughly enjoyed them. We were mesmerized by the marine life. We were supposed to go to Coron but by now wanted to avoid crowds, so we went down south to a quieter place called Port Barton. We did a similar boat tour here and the experience was very different. It wasn’t rushed, the groups were waaaaay smaller and we felt much better. We also went to a waterfall close to our guest house and a really peaceful beach 🏖️ with literally noone! It was time to go to Puerto Princessa and stay there for a day before flying to Manila. Initially we wanted to take a subterranean boat tour which was recommended by many and we almost booked. When we learnt that it was a whole day trip of sitting in a van and then a boat for a half hour ride in caves, we changed our mind. Instead, we hired a bike and went to a waterfall and then our last sunset in the Philippines which was soooooooo breathtakingly beautiful. On our way back to the guesthouse there was a rainstorm and were soaking wet. I was worried about Arjun who had to put up the helmet visor to be able to see the road in the dark but had rain water literally pelting his eyes 👀 Leo was shivering on the bike and I couldn’t wait to shower and hop into bed.
Walking around the different islands in the Philippines, we felt super safe and secure. We walked around late at night, travel anywhere, leave our helmets on the bike, not worry about our phones, purses, camera etc. This was a welcome change from Latin America. The Filipinos are extremely friendly, kind and protective. The islands are not polluted or noisy. Filipinos love soft romantic numbers. 80s and 90s English pop songs are played everywhere! One of the strange thing I noticed in Philippines were young and pretty girls who were invariably with much older and not very good looking Caucasian men. All kinds of people can be attracted to all kinds of people but these men really looked like sugar daddies!
Our last day was in Manila. We had a day to spend at the airport and it was my turn to pester Arjun so we could have a quick look at the city. We left our bags at a locker within the airport and left to see the historical centre. Philippines has a bloody history with the Spaniards, Americans and the Japanese fighting for their land and wealth since the 16th century. The intramuros dungeons had a dark story and literally left me in tears. The Filipinos were finally independent in 1946 – a year before India. Most Filipinos complain about the corruption in their country. I don’t know what they have to say, now that the Americans are coming back to have their military base here 🤷🏾. Before we left, we stopped at the Dampa seafood grill to have some Boodle food – Leo’s favourite!
I love you Philippines and the lovely Filipinos. I’ll be back!
Pork lechon – a Filipino delicacy Chocolate hills Leo and Arjun climb up to dive into the water Luxury residence for the hensThe bumpy ride Sunset in Siquijor The kids near the waterfall asked Leo if he wanted a ride on their buffalo BalutSiesta time It was jelly fish season The star and the starfish Last sunset before leaving the Philippines 😔
First thing first, after landing at the Cebu airport, I collected my guitar that the stupid staff in LA forced me to check in.. I had objected of course but they assured me that the many “fragile” stickers would ensure careful handling, and anyways I didn’t have a choice! Well, what was bound to happen .. I got my guitar back with the body cracked open!
Anyways, more on this later.
Here we are in Asia, where the food has vegetables in it!!
It’s like a new beginning and barely 2 days here, Mary suddenly no ik j CV c overcomes her greatest fear of all! And twice in a row!!
Mary loves to be in the water. In shallow water only. As soon as there’s no floor beneath her feet, she panics.
First morning in Moalboal, we book a scuba diving initiation! Mary follows, somewhat reluctantly, and she manages!! I never thought she would ever try this, but she did!
Moalboal is famous for its schools of sardines just near the shore, and indeed it’s quite magical to swim in the swirl of sardines glittering all around you.
The next day -we’re on a roll!- we book a canyoneering excursion in the Kawasan falls. And again Mary manages to come along and jump in the water from 4 metres high! And this time she even enjoys the experience! (Ok, maybe not the jumps as such, but overall)
Knowing her fear for so long, I was very impressed that she managed to do this with us!
The next thing we did was to rent a scooter to explore a bit on our own. Indian style: the whole family on one scooter! Again, Mary was initially not reassured. But it went well, and we’ve been doing this ever since.
We found the Inambakan falls very beautiful. And the local kids showed me the scary slippery spot where you can jump from 10m high, so that was fun 🙂
On why waterfalls are so much better than the sea:
– it’s fresh water and not yucky sea water that makes you sticky
– there’s always shade, whereas beaches just let you burn to death
– no sticky sand all over you
– there’s always a jump spot or a cave to explore, or you can walk up the stream
Anyways, in the Philippines, you don’t have to choose, there’s always both within a few kilometres !
So that’s mostly what we’ve been up to: exploring waterfalls, then back on the beach for the sunset. Not a lot to write about though, which is why I’ve been running late on the blog!
Every other day, I still had to call Air China to fight and try to get a compensation for my broken guitar. They initially offered me 60usd in compensation for a guitar worth 600usd! After much arguing they raised it to 100usd. I said it was still unacceptable, they told me to check with LA to see if I can get more from them, I argued it was not my job to manage their internal communication and chase every agent in the company… etc etc… eventually I know the poor agent on which I yelled so much did everything she could. She managed to get the blame on the agent in LA who wrongfully forced me to check in a guitar in a soft case, the agent now had to pay 150usd from his own pocket!
So in the end, I get 250usd -not half the price of the guitar- the LA agent gets fined for trying to apply unclear rules, and Air China breaks luggage and gets away clean for a cheap 100 bucks!
After a few days in Moalboal, on the Cebu island, we took a ferry to Bohol, an island close by.
Bohol is most famous for its « chocolate hills », a strange geological formation with hundreds of round hillocks. The hills are very nice indeed, but they charge you to climb a few stairs up to a concrete platform overlooking the panorama, which we found a bit boring Here again we liked waterfalls better and we visited some by the Loboc river.
I had a hard time remembering the name of the main port town, Tagbilaran, so I kept calling it Tagliatelle !
From Bohol, we took another boat to Siquijor, a smaller island on the western side.
And we loooved Siquijor! Very quiet, friendly and with the most beautiful waterfalls ❤️ Unfortunately, Mary and Leo didn’t feel well for a couple of days so I went exploring on my own, and then I took them back to the spots I had found. One of the waterfalls had big swing ropes to jump in the water and that’s pretty much all we did. I even learned to do a backflip from the smaller one. It only took me 500 failed attempts where I would constantly land flat on my face! But perseverance had it eventually !
From there, we returned to Cebu city to catch a flight to Puerto Princessa, on the Palawan island, further to the east. Everyone kept telling us about the lagoons in El Nido, so we headed there. 5 hours in a van, directly after landing.
El Nido is a very touristic place, with an armada of boats leaving every morning to take hordes of tourists to the famous lagoons. We were rather put off by the crowd and felt caught in a tourist trap. But we took the tour anyway, because that’s the thing to do here, and indeed, the lagoons are mind blowing! Sharp black rocky spikes emerging straight up from clear turquoise waters. It’s very hard to render in photo (especially since i couldn’t wet my camera), none of my attempts give justice to the place. That’s typically where you need a drone.
We also went exploring some waterfalls of course. Nothing comparable to what we had in Siquijor here, but very refreshing nonetheless when it’s so hot in the day.
Last but not least, I climbed the Taraw cliff this morning. I did this alone since I had to wake up at 4am to reach the top by sunrise and neither Mary or Leo wanted to do it. It’s a very steep climb in complete darkness on razor sharp rock blades: not really a walk in the park. Of course the early morning view from the 1745m peak over the bay is stunning !
Most of the tourist crowd continues to Coron island, which is supposed to be a paradise for divers and snorkelers. But we decided to get away from the crowd this time, so we’re headed in the opposite direction : Port Barton will be more quiet.
First sunset on the Philippines Scuba diving for the first time!Canyoneering in KawasanThe Inambakan waterfall in CebuKids under the waterfallOn the stairs to see the chocolate hillsPosing in front of the chocolate hillsChess game in Tagbilaran (pronounce Tagliatelle!)Countryside of Bohol, while looking for waterfalls Pahangog falls in BoholLeo playing with the sun in SiquijorLeo jumping in Lugnason falls, SiquijorGiant swing on the beach in SiquijorMagical sunset in SiquijorBoats at sunsetTourist pose at our favorite spot: Cambugahay falls in Siquijor Swimming in the underground river in Siquijor The big lagoon in El Nido, PalawanClimbing Taraw cliff at 4amSunrise over El Nido from Taraw cliff
On our loooong jump from Chile to the Philippines, we landed in the morning in Los Angeles and had our next flight at 11 in the evening. We originally thought of just hanging out at the airport, but after all, it was a good opportunity to take a stroll on the Walk of Fame!
We just needed to find a luggage locker -conveniently located at an unwalkable distance from the airport- and shell out a hundred bucks just to Uber out of the airport and back in. All that just to walk over the names of Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, or Mickey Mouse. Mary didn’t think much of the idea, but we went anyway. We didn’t have anything better to do.
We also walked down the famous Sunset boulevard strip, which turned out to be extremely boring. There’s nothing there.
Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name for Easter Island and it’s accessible only by air. There are cruise ships coming every now and then and that’s about it. It was a strange feeling when we landed on this remote island. It truly felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Our Airbnb host Patricia came to pick us up at the airport with garlands of flowers. We soon figured out that the Moai monuments can only be visited with a guide or a local Rapa Nui resident. There were very few places we could visit alone. We began by visiting the parts of the island which didn’t require a chaperon. We ventured to the other parts with French guides! There are many French people living on Easter Island. It’s not very surprising considering the fact that there were regular flights from Tahiti before the pandemic. One of our French guides came here in the 80s and never left the place. He told us that the island was very wild back then. There weren’t any roads, no television. The islanders favourite hobby was to go to the airport once a week and watch people visiting the island. This was the only way for them to know what’s happening in the world. Women on the island knew of the latest fashion in this way. The French men we met here had fallen in love with the vahines. They can’t be blamed. The Polynesians are good looking… especially the men 🤪😍 One of the places we loved to go was the pea swimming pool which was a rocky beach with gigantic sea turtles. The turtles weren’t shy and they’d constantly come and swim close to us. The other one was the Poko Poko natural pool which was along the shore and enclosed with huge rocks. The waves constantly lash on the rocks, bringing seawater in and pulling the water out. We also went trekking on various volcanic mountains and walked around craters. One of the craters has freshwater inside and supplies drinking water to the island. A lot of fruit trees are grown there by the islanders. We rented a car for a day and came here after nightfall to see the stars. As we lay on our backs trying to identify stars 🤩 it felt wonderful.
There aren’t any predatory animals on the island except for hawks. In a few days we were waving out to the baker, the grocery store owner, the bus driver who gave us a lift. It’s a tiny island with friendly people and everyone knows everyone!
Time flies and it was time to get on our planes to Santiago. We nervously smuggled some guavas and mangoes which one of the guides gifted us from her backyard. From Santiago we headed to Valparaiso a lazy coastal town. I had booked an Airbnb but the host sent me a message saying that it wasn’t suitable for families. This was the cheapest listing and the rooms looked big, so I insisted. Once we reached the place, I figured why he’d have said that. It really looked like a squat. Except, there was electricity and water supply in the building. Most of the apartments were abandoned and the common area weren’t maintained. There was another bedroom with members of a rock band. Arjun had a jam session with them and we were invited to a charity concert. Valparaiso looks like a town that has run out of funds. The areas near the coast were particularly run down. The conception and allegria areas were full of graffiti art and looked charming. We had the best empanadas here in Valparaiso. On our last day in Latin America we went to see the dunes near vina del mar. They looked amazing. A large part of the dunes have apparently been destroyed to make way for hig rises. Leo and I were super excited about going to Asia. We couldn’t wait to try the food in South East Asia! We flew from Santiago via Mexico to LA. Our flight from LA to the Philippines was at night and we had the whole day to kill at the airport. Arjun absolutely wanted to go to the Hollywood walk of fame. Why would anyone want to see names of people written on the floor. I reluctantly agreed and we took two buses to get to a locker. After leaving our bags we took a cab to the Hollywood walk of fame. Then we walked around sunset Blvd before taking a cab to the locker and heading to the airport. Goodbye Americas! Farewell!
Land ahoy!Arjun and Leo with the turtles This cat was literally standing all the time My favourite craterThis is where the birdman competition took place The majestic moaisThis was my favourite siteThe only know female MoaiArjun jamming with our roommates Inside the squat like building Cola de Zorro concert Good bye Valparaiso Dr Seuss Michael Jackson
Reaching Easter Island was supposed to be the final step of our exploration of Latin America. We had booked a one way flight to Easter Island and from there we would continue to Tahiti and somehow to Indonesia.
But things didn’t quite go as planned.
Since the pandemic, there is no more flight or boat from Easter Island to Tahiti. We had no choice but to return to Santiago (for a small fortune!) and find another route to Asia. We spent a whole day in a travel agency in Colombia to find a solution to get out of Easter Island. And then Mary spent many more hours finding an affordable route from Santiago to Asia. In the end we would go all the way back to where we came from! Santiago to Mexico to Los Angeles, and from there to the Philipines via Tapei!
Anyways, first thing first: we now had a few extra days before our flight so we decided to go visit the hometown of my friend Rudyar: the famous and colourful port of Valparaiso.
I didn’t know what to expect from Valparaiso, but in my imagination, it was a cute little port town hanging on a cliff facing the ocean.
My imagination is often quite far from reality! Valparaiso is actually quite a big city, forming a wide agglomeration with its neighbour Viña del Mar. And although quite steep, we can’t describe it as hanging on a cliff! It’s also rather dirty and noisy.
With this I was pretty confused with Valparaiso at first. Still we followed my friend’s advice and went exploring the neighbourhoods of Concepcion and Allegre, and we were charmed by the colourful houses and steep winding streets overlooking the ocean, and the old elevators climbing to various neighbourhoods. Every single wall is covered with street art!
Valparaiso also has lots of musicians and concerts all over the place. In fact, our airbnb was in an apartment full of musicians and the first thing we did was jam together with roommate Mauro on the double bass and his friend on the guitar 🙂
Valparaiso has the strange beauty of an unmaintained past glory. It was once an important stop for ships crossing the Magellan strait, until the Panama canal changed the route for everyone.
Just next to Valparaiso is Viña del Mar, whose sand dunes landscape along the coast has been eaten up by large towers for apartments and hotels, transforming the city into a fancy beach resort. It reminded us of the way the Spanish have completely ruined the beauty of the southern coast.
All in all. Chili felt like the most “Spanish” country of all Latin America. Their indigenous Mapuche origins represent merely 12% of the population and its culture has been completely evicted. Not to mention the Selk’nam of patagonia who have been completely extinct.
We were now more than ready to move on to the second leg of our journey and leave Latin America behind. Although Peruvian cuisine can be very nice and Chile had the best empanadas of the continent, Leo and Mary have grown tired of eating “fried chicken with rice and fries” everywhere and can’t wait for Asian food!
One fine evening im Valparaiso Valparaiso elevatorsJazz duet. Photo by LeoConcert of Cola de Zorro, our roommates!Viña del Mar #hellbeach Sand dunes changing into buildings in Viña del MarAnachronism of Viña del MarLast sunset over Latin America!
Every trip around the world should have its “end of the world” destination! And Easter Island fits the bill perfectly: 8000 souls on a rock lost in the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, 5000km away from the nearest continent and 2000km from the nearest neighbouring island.
We landed on the island, almost like on an aircraft carrier, on a tarmac who’s length is almost the width of the island. Ground control is fairly straightforward here as there is only one flight per day, returning an hour later to Santiago. We got off the plane and passed a big sign saying IORANA. It means hello in Rapa Nui. Conveniently, it also means good bye, so the same sign can be used for arrivals and departures.
Patricia, our host was awaiting us and, following the Polynesian tradition, passed a flower necklace around our necks. We were happy to be picked up, for our heavy bags, but we simply walked with her, for 20mins to the hostel.
Everything is about the same price as in Paris. And much like in Paris, you can easily pay any small amount by card. In the end, the most notable difference with Paris is the total absence of Eiffel tower. And, yes, the fact that Paris is not a 150km2 volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific. Anyways.
The first Polynesians would have reached the island somewhere between 800ad and 1200ad. The name Rapa Nui, meaning « Big Paddle », would be derived from another another smaller island near Tahiti, called Rapa, which also has the triangular shape of an paddle.
Rapa Nui is most famous for its Moais; massive sculptures of men torso and head, varying in size from 2 to 20 meters, often aligned on a Ohu, the platform on which they stand.
Each Moai stands on the tomb of an ancient member of the ruling class and is meant to keep his soul alive, to protect the island.
Much has been devised about how the Moais were transported from their place of manufacture to their Ohu. Turns out they just came “walking and dancing”! This is how the elders described the Moais pivoting on their base, like you do when you move your fridge!
The Moais protection story worked well for the ruling class for as long as the population was small and the land generous enough. After a while, somewhere around 1700, resources became scarce and people realised that the Moais weren’t protecting them much, so the ruling class was overthrown and the Moais pushed to the ground and abandoned.
After that a new system was adopted, sightly more democratic -or meritocratic- where each year,, selected members of each clan (some 20 to 30 on the island) would compete to become Tangata Manu, the Birdman. The one capable of bringing the first egg of a migratory bird from a nearby islet, was turned into a deity. The ceremony, held in Orongo, in the south of the island, turned into a council of the elders.
Oh by the way, don’t take anything I write here for solid truth! I merely report -and interpret- whatever I understood from what some guide told me – which he himself reported and interpreted! .. You know, it’s like that moment where oral tradition is finally written down and makes the history books 😛
Besides listening to Moais stories, we also climbed the 3 main volcanoes that for the skeleton of the island, and visited gigantic underground galleries formed by flowing lava. And of course we bathed in the warm waters of the pacific, while big beautiful turtles came swimming right next to us ❤️
First look at the island from the plane (photo Mary). We see the southern volcano, Rano Kau, where the Birdman ceremony was held.Hello / GoodbyeLeo in flowers 🌺 Rano Kau, the most beautiful crater 😍Mary on the edge of Rano Kau, facing the Birdman isletLeo near the crater of Rano KauLeo and turtles 🐢 First sunset on the islandOur first Moais, by the beach AnakenaThe “traveler” and the 15 MoaisBuried Moais at the quarry of Raro RanakuThe tiny dot on the path is Mary walking amongst the buried MoaisLeo and “big nose”, his favourite Moai!Sitting in front of a traditional hutStarting our climb of the Poike (northeast volcano)View of the northern coastAlmost thereAround the crater Picnic under the Eucalyptus in the craterToo happy to get back down!View of the eastern coast from the PoikeView of the Milky Way from the Rano KauTop of the Terevaka at 511 meters, highest point on the island – the lion king Mouth of a lava tube open on the sea, Ana Kai Tangata, where the men where preselected for the Tangata Manu contest Exploring lava tubesExploring Ana Te PehuLeo collecting rain water in Ana Te PehuMary looking at the only supposedly female Moai on the island – not much explanation given!Kids playing in the harbour of Hanga RoaKids jumping in the PokoLast sunset, in the Poko, the natural pools of Hanga RoaNight shot of the PokoOne last sunrise behind Hanga Roa
Here again we liked waterfalls better and we visited some by the Loboc river.
Raahi - A traveling family 