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Easter Island has many mysteries. And first one is how people reach this island in spite of its remote location: 2200 miles from the mainland and 1,290 miles (2,075 km) from closest inhabited Pitcairn Island. Even more mysterious are monolithic human figures carved from rock by the early Rapanui inhabitants. There are 887 statues, called moai. The tallest moai, called Paro, is almost 33 feet (10 meters) high and weighs 75 tons. The heaviest moai was erected at Ahu Tongariki, weighing 86 tons. Another one, if completed, would have been close to 69 feet (21 meters) weighting 270 tons. Hundreds of moai were transported by ancient Rapanui people from the main quarry and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter Nearly half of moai were left at moai quarry of Rano Raraku. Why the work was so abruptly abandoned, what was the cause? That's the third mystery of the Easter Island.

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Due to its extreme geographic isolation, many people think that Easter Island is not for regular tourists. On the contrary, it is accessible by regular commercial air service, and tourism is the main industry of the island. Still, it is not easy to reach the island. It takes at minimum 5.5 hours in the air from the nearest airport, and flights to get there are limited. The only regular flights are via LAN Airlines making several flights to the Easter Island per week. Fares range between $300-$1200 for round trip from Santiago. You can get to the Island by sea. Once a year the ship Soren Larsen sails to Easter Island from New Zealand. The voyage takes 35 days.

As a means of transportation on the island, you can use a bike - the island is very small. You can also rent a car from a few rental agencies in Hanga Roa, (the main town and capital of the Chilean province of Easter Island). With car, it's possible to see most of the sites on the island in a few hours. Prices:
- Bicycle (24 hours):10000CLP - $20, (8 hrs) 800CLP - $1.6;
- Motor Scooter (8 hrs): 23000CLP - $47;
- Small Jeep or car (8hrs): 20000CLP - $40;
- Larger cars (8 hrs): 25000-40000CLP - $50-$80;
- Gasoline 500 CLP per liter -$1 as of 2010.

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You can visit the island any time of the year. The climate of Easter Island is subtropical maritime. The lowest average temperatures are in July and August 64°F(18°C) and the highest in February 82°F (28°C) Winters are relatively mild.

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- Explora's Posada de Mike Rapu Hotel, located on a hill in the Te Miro Oone sector, on 9.6 hectares of land that faces the ocean, 2 miles from Hanga Roa city. The prices start from $3,400 for 3 nights for a single and $2,280 for 4 days/3nights and tours for double room.
- Inaki Uhi, Atamu Tekena located on the main street in the centre of Hanga Roa town, close to restaurants, supermarkets, pubs and services. Prices from $45 per person with breakfast.
- Tekarera Kainga Ora is close to the center of Hanga Roa, but not on the main street. It is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath cabin house with a fully equipped kitchen, TV, and other amenities. Prices are $100 per night for two.
- Hanga Roa is located 5 minutes from the airport overlooking the ocean. Prices from: superior single - $379; superior double - $500 per night. Research and book hotels in or near Hanga Roa, Chile

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The biggest tourist attractions on Easter Island are the moai, quarry at Rano Paraku, rock-carvings of men with birds head. Most of Island territory protected within the Rapa Nui National Park.

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Tags: ahu; Chile; Easter Island; freshwater crater lakes; Jacob Roggeveen; moai; Pacific Ocean; Poike; Polynesian; Polynesian Triangle; Rano Aroi; Rano Kau; Rano Raraku; Rapanui; Rapa Nui; Santiago; Terevaka; volcanic; volcanoes

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