Stand face to face with moai at Easter Islander’s Ahu Tongariki

CHILE // This is the reason you came all the way to Easter Island, flying hours over open ocean to land on this bare triangle of earth. To gaze upon the moai - the mammoth, chiselled stone heads, set on platforms called ahu. Ahu Tongariki is the largest, with 15 moai, including the island's largest, weighing in at 86 tonnes. They were all toppled during the 18th and 19th centuries, with some 50 re-erected and restored. Stand before them as they stare inscrutably into the distance and marvel at the enigma of history.

 

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