The Speed of Time by rongo rongo
October 17th, 2008 10:05 PM / Location: -27.12119,-109.3664
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Mr Everyday
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Morte
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.thatskarobot
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zer0gee
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praximity
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1
Kid A
4
Augustus deCorbeau
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Hee hee. I have nearly 1000 pictures, so luckily I didn't post them all :) I've just been obsessed with the topic for years, and after doing the Desires task, realized that I should just go ahead and visit.
Anyhow, October is the off season, so the weather is nice but the island doesn't have that many visitors. I believe that February is their big crush. But, there was something odd that happened. A high-priced tour was visiting a site, under the guidance of a professional archaeologist. One of the tourists was observed to be climbing up on the ahu (sacred platform) to get closer to the moai (statue). This is totally prohibited, both because it damages the site and because it is disrespectful. Well, when a resident who was there pointed out the transgression to a park ranger, and the park ranger spoke to the tour guide, they responded that they thought it was OK because this was one of the sites where the moai have not be re-erected and the ahu is not restored. The horror, the horror...
That was so interesting to read and see!
And I learnt a new word too; petroglyphs. I wonder how I'm going to ever drop that one into a conversation, but it's such a great word! Thank you :-)
The "Though it was awfully tempting to lick the statues, I carefully kept my distance." made me laugh. Great photo too.
Excellent story, well told.
Is it true that there are brightly colored yet perpetually fresh hard boiled eggs hidden all over the island?
The context is incredible, and probably unbeatable. Do you have any other pictures? Could recount an anecdote about silly tourists, or share some of how you got into archeological preservation of this culture?