The moai row
The largest platform.
Rivi — CC BY-SA 3.0 · TravelingOtter — CC BY 2.0 · The original uploader was Hhooper1 at English Wikipedia. — CC BY 2.5 · Bjørn Christian Tørrissen — CC BY-SA 4.0
Easter Island's largest ceremonial platform, carrying fifteen moai in a single row, their backs to the ocean and faces inland, varying in height and features, one crowned with a pukao, a red stone topknot. The platform's story is the island's own: the statues fell during old conflicts between island clans, then the 1960 tsunami that followed the great Valdivia earthquake swept them inland. They were restored and raised again in the 1990s in a Chilean project in which a Japanese company supplied the cranes. The classic time is sunrise, when the statues stand as dark silhouettes against a coloured sky and photographers gather before dawn. By the entrance stands the «travelling moai», once sent to an exhibition in Japan. It is minutes from Rano Raraku, so combine them in one morning. Never touch the statues or step on the platforms, which islanders hold sacred and the law protects.
The largest platform.
Dark silhouettes.
At the entrance.
Hotuiti Bay, east coast of Easter Island
At sunrise, when the fifteen statues stand in silhouette against the coloured sky, so arrive before dawn.
