South American Adventure - IPC-SCL

1. Booking
2. DEN-IAD-ATL-MIA
3. Miami
4. MIA-SCL
5. SCL-IPC
6. Easter Island
7. IPC-SCL
8. Santiago
9. SCL-MVD
10. Montevideo
11. MVD-SCL-MIA-IAD-DEN

I’m starting to get the LAN experience down.  This Easter Island to Santiago flight will be my third consecutive LAN business class flight on a 767 and have a good idea for the drill.  The flight doesn’t board until after 2, but LAN wants you checked in around 12:30; this still gives you a fair amount of time to see something in the morning, it is a small island.  They do run a Southwest style fast turn on the jet once it lands.  There is very little to do at the airport.  There is no business lounge, a small bar, and about a dozen souvenir stands.  Most of the action comes from watching the plane land and the ground crew spring into action.  There is also free Wi-Fi in the terminal.

LAN 767 arriving at Easter Island

Boarding started abruptly and haphazardly.  There was no announcement or boarding order; just a large mash of people formed around the gate agent and started walking to the plane.  IPC has no jet bridge, so it was a hop across the tarmac and up the stairs.  I had seat 4A, not realizing that row 4 is missing a window.  There isn’t much to see, but it does make for a little claustrophobic feeling.  The business class cabin was full and the flight attendants were trying to facilitate some seat switching.  I won seatmate lottery by getting an Antarctic research vessel crew member to talk with for 5 hours.  Very interesting stuff and now I really want to go and explore the southern limits of the earth (she worked as a liaison on a US flagged ship and made bank why playing with penguins and motor boats, sound like a great job).

Boarding my flight to SCL

The plane boarded fast and we were quickly away.  The meal service was what I expected from LAN, three courses and decent quality, again with a wide wine selection.  I did try one of the domestic beers, Chrystal, and it was awful; I used a Heineken to get the taste out.  I understand now why Corona and Tecate are imported to Easter Island.  After the meal service, the flight attendants were scarce (standard procedure I guess).  Ring the call button to get a refill because they don’t check very often.

LAN Business Class Meal

I watched two movies on the flight.  LAN’s inflight entertainment is very good and they have quite a few selections.  The time went very quickly.  Halfway through my flight though my seat broke and a flight attendant was able to fix it, but it looked like she had to take it apart.  The flight attendant was able to take care of it in less than 5 minutes; I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time she saw this problem. 

LAN 767 Business Class Seat

LAN 767 Business Class Seat

LAN 767 Business Class Seat

Landing was smooth and then I had a quick taxi to the gate.  I wished my seat mate safe travel back to Alaska and made my way to the Trans VIP counter to get a ride to my hotel in Santiago.  Trans VIP charges about $12 to go into Santiago.  They run new vans (4,000 kms on mine) and depart very frequently; an overall great experience and recommended highly.  It’s good to have your hotel’s address handy just in case they don’t recognize it.  It took less than an hour from landing to arriving at my hotel, the Intercontinental Santiago.

LAN 767-300

South American Adventure - Easter Island

1. Booking
2. DEN-IAD-ATL-MIA
3. Miami
4. MIA-SCL
5. SCL-IPC
6. Easter Island
7. IPC-SCL
8. Santiago
9. SCL-MVD
10. Montevideo
11. MVD-SCL-MIA-IAD-DEN

I had a few expectations for Easter Island.  First, since their economy is based on tourism, I expected a well-developed tourist infrastructure; secondly, I expected the moai statues to be impressive; and thirdly, I expected a beach.  Two of the three expectations were met. 

The neon blue waters around Easter Island

The Explorer Hotel looks like the only place at a Holiday Inn Express level or better.  Unfortunately it was booked.  I wound up at a place that had 3.5 stars on Expedia that turned out to be a decrepit dump at $80 a night.  Just be careful when booking as these hotels change their names to get a clean slate of reviews.  My hotel was very old, but just changed names, so there were no customer reviews.

Main Street in Easter Island

Easter Island is about as far west as Phoenix, but is in New York’s time zone, so it stays very bright very late.  I had plenty of time to see the park at the southern end of the island.  It’s a 3-4 hour round trip hike from town and uphill, so try to bum a ride if you can.  A nice foreign exchange student from Seattle offered me a ride up the hill.  The park has some rock carvings, old stone huts, and great views.  The hike down the hill is nice and brings you to the airport and town.  The weather was perfect and the water was an amazing shade of blue.

Easter Island National Park

Once in town I arranged for a 24 hour ATV rental so I could get around the island the next day.  There are a few rental places on the main street in town and it costs about $60 for a day.  There are a few restaurants in town too, but none seemed very popular.

LAN oneworld plane from Polynesia

The next day I woke up to find it raining, seriously heavy rain.  Like raining so hard I left my digital camera in the hotel and just took my underwater disposable.  I only had one full day on the island, so I went out in the downpour to see what there was to see.  I drove along the eastern coast to get to the other national park and see the sights along the way.  The roads are in generally poor shape outside of town and the ground is covered with volcanic rock or poop.  It’s hard to tell the difference usually.

Easter Island is a very empty place

There are some status and rock carvings along the way, but the island is very barren and desolate.  It is almost creepy.  I arrived at the national park that was the quarry for the moai statues.  This park is up to a medium level of difficulty for hiking around.  There was also no signage explaining what you were looking at.  The park is very impressive with dozens of status dotting the side of the hill and great views of the island and sea.  This is the one place you have to go to on your visit.

Moai on Easter Island

A short drive down the road is the most impressive restored moai collection.  All the signage there explains how the Japanese helped restore it, with nothing explaining what it is. 

I found the very small beach at the top of the island.  The sand was almost pink and it looked amazing.

More moai statues on Easter Island

The one nice road goes from the beach to the airport; it was the only route that didn’t kill my back.  The infrastructure is lacking all around the island.  No signage, generally bad roads, crappy hotels, stray or wild animals everywhere, but it doesn't phase to locals and the tourist weren't likely to return anyway, so why invest?

Beach on Easter Island

At night, the island seems over run with cockroaches.  During the day, stray dogs take over.  You can see what you need to with only 24 hours on the island.  I took 48 because I thought the island was much larger than it is.  It also let me see it again when the rain stopped so I could use my digital camera.  I’m glad to have seen it, but don’t feel a need to return.

Not much there

South American Adventure - SCL-IPC

1. Booking
2. DEN-IAD-ATL-MIA
3. Miami
4. MIA-SCL
5. SCL-IPC
6. Easter Island
7. IPC-SCL
8. Santiago
9. SCL-MVD
10. Montevideo
11. MVD-SCL-MIA-IAD-DEN

I made it into Chile without having to pay the $140 reciprocity fee and was excited for my trip to Easter Island.  I had about ninety minutes to kill before boarding, so I decided to wander the terminal and then hang out in the lounge.   The ground side of Santiago’s airport is pretty small and there isn’t much to see.  I went through the domestic security and did not have to take off my shoes, remove my laptop, worry about liquid restrictions, or have a naked image of me taken.  Accordingly, the line moved fast.  There isn’t much on the domestic side of the airport, with good reason, someone can show up 30 minutes before their departure and should catch their flight.

I went looking for the LAN lounge only to find that both locations are on the international side of the airport.  There was a pay lounge (or Platinum Amex/ Priority Pass) available, but I didn’t bother.  Instead I found a nice window and pulled out a magazine I had packed.  The time went by quickly.

Santiago Chile Airport

Boarding started a little behind schedule, but went quickly.  LAN boards flights by row number and lines up everyone at the start.  Business class boarded first and I was jumping my way down the jet bridge with excitement.  I was stopped at the aircraft door because the crew was still preparing the plane.  After about 5 minutes, I took my seat and quickly settled in.  The 767 Business class to Easter Island is the same as the long haul international business class on LAN. 

LAN Business Class Meal to Easter Island

The flight boarded quickly and we were underway early.  A quick breakfast service was served soon after we crossed the coast line.  It was a simple (bland) omelet with veggies.  I wasn’t that hungry as I just had a similarly bland breakfast three hours prior on my last flight.

It is five hours over the ocean to Easter Island and I tried to sleep for most of them.  The flight attendant gave me a comforter and I quickly fell asleep.  I can sleep in United’s coach if I’m tried enough, so even though LAN’s business class seats aren't the most comfortable, I was out like a light.

Entrance to IPC terminal

I woke up about 45 minutes before landing and watched part of a movie.  I had a great view of the island as we came in to land.  Easter Island is a very small dot in a very large ocean.  We taxied to the terminal and the whole island seemed to come and meet the flight.  They use stairs at the front and back of the plane, then its a quick walk across the tarmac to the terminal.  There was a band playing and people with leis.  Before you enter the terminal building, purchase a national park pass from the small desk on the left.  It is $50 there, but $60 at the parks.  They also load you up with maps.  I quickly walked through the building and tried to find my name among the scores of drivers picking up passengers.