Visiting Easter Island (Land-Based)

Ahu at Vinapu (continued)

A couple leading two rambunctious dogs past a herd of free-range cattle grazing at Vinapu; the cattle just stared stupidly. You can see the ruined ahu in the upper right corner.

I took some pictures of the ruined ahu and toppled moai, then hopped on the bike and huffed and puffed back uphill. When I got to the main road, instead of heading back to Hanga Roa I turned right and headed towards Maunga Orito. I had been thinking about hiking up this volcano, which supposedly has major deposits of obsidian. The other day with the car, I had trouble finding where the trail came out to the road, so I was going to carefully check it out with the bicycle.

Unfortunately, I still had trouble finding the trail. There were some possible candidates, but nothing with easy access or that looked well used. The most likely path had a gate that was chained shut, which usually means "keep out". So Maunga Orito will be one place I don't get to visit.

I headed back to the gas station (downhill, thankfully) and got a Coke and some cookies. Then I rode through town and was going to drop off the bike, but the store was closed and padlocked. I rode back to Vai Kapua for a rest, then went back to the store but it was still locked up tight. I saw that someone else had dropped off a bike and just locked it to the bike rack out front (they give you a lock and chain). So I just locked the bike to the rack and walked back to the hotel.

Tonight I didn't go out for dinner. I was too tired and sweaty after a long day of pedaling. After the usual chores (you know what they are), I hit the sack.