First I was super excited and looking forward to my flight from Santiago to Hanga Roa as it would mean that I will visit the best rated WHS of this community and one of the most popular travel dream destinations of my social environment that is not easily reachable from Europe.  
 
However everything changed on the day before the flight as our contact in the hostel of Hanga Roa explained to my girlfriend and me via chat that we can not visit almost any of the main archeological sites without a guide. We were the whole afternoon super angry of this new law starting from the post-pandemic re-opening of the island in August 2022 especially when we saw that prices for a personal guide could easily reach 100 USD per person for a day (so 200 USD for two. We also didn't really understand why it's a per person price for a guide). Being on a long backpackers trip and having booked my flights that I couldn't cancel anymore one day before I felt like I had trapped in a tourist trap. Angrily we decided to make the best of our stay on this special island however and spend 500 USD more rather than being there and not make the best of these 5 special days.  
 
We were really tired when we reached the island as we woke up at 5 a.m. Santiago time or 3 a.m. Hanga Roa time. By 2 p.m. we had reached the hostel and our initial idea was to hike up to Orongo (without visiting it though as not possible with a guide) to get a first view of the island. However we were too tired to make it up the hill do we only visited the cave Ana Kai Tanata in which the participants probably have prepared for the birdman challenge until the mid- 19th century that took place in Orongo and there is a painting reference in the cave to the bird from which the eggs needed to be ytolen in the challenge (hard to interpret without knowing this drawing). 
Also the Pacific is hitting the rocks of the island next to the cave which is beautiful to watch. Additionally I enjoyed wandering around Hanga Roa with many flowers and tropical fruits growing there which I hadn´t seen in a long time after travelling Patagonia for months before.  
 
The first of 4 full days we had was dominated by rain. We had heavy rain almost 24/7 on this day which was impressive but nothing was possible to do. Even the National Park was closed so our tour got cancelled. It was also fine because our fully waterproof clothes already lost their purpose after 30 minutes of wandering the streets of Hanga Roa doing some shopping as the rain was too heavy.  
 
Therefore the next three days were really packed with tours. On the second full day we booked a full day tour with Rapa Nui Travel in German language. Malena who comes originally from Baden- Würtemberg but got stuck after an internship on Rapa Nui for 14 years now showed three Germans including me during 7 hours big parts of the island with the main sights. The cost were at 55k CLP per person so around 65 USD per person which was a good price for such a private guiding. However the English group paid the same and they were 15 people and even split into half spanish and half english which made it much less individual for an English friend of us participating in this tour. Additionally to the guide you need to National Park entrance ticket which we bought online. Apparently this costs about 8 USD more compared to buying it in Hanga Roa right now which we didn´t know before.We heard rumours that it should be abandoned again as it was too bureaucratic. At every site the NP guards checked our names and (scanned) passports and wrote the names, passport number etc. Manually in a visitor book. With the physical tickets they didn´t do that.  
 
First we visited a re-built village of the Rapa Nui culture on the south coast of the island in which we could see how stones were used to build houses, grow crops and "safe" valuable chicken. Afterwards in Ahu Akahanga we could see how an archeological site of the village is looking with again fireplaces and house ruins which I would not have understood as such without a guide and visiting the interpretation center before. Additionally in this site we could see some falles and broken moais (the stone statues that the island is famous for) on and next to the remains of the ahu (stone platform belonging to every moai). Malena tried to explain only the facts about the Rapa Nui culture and not the legends of which many exists. The problem is that in the 19th century after the South Americans and Europeans had brought many diseases and took even locals away as slaves the Rapa Nui culture was reduced only to a few hundred people and not necessarily the most important figures of the culture. Therefore many truths about what happened on the island before this time are gone and can hardly be reconstructed. What Rapa Nui people tell today are part of the truth surely however can not be taken as pure historical evidence but rather transmissions mixed with personal opinions and ideas of the ancestors. However also with the given gaps in the explaination of what happened it´s really interesting to trace what happened on this island. The next stop was Ahu Tongariki which is one of the most famous spots not only because the sunrise can be nicely viewed from here on clear days. It has 15 standing moais, reerected from Japanese people in the 1990s (originally all moais had fallen caused by the Rapa Nui themselves by 1850 roughly). It´s impressive to stand in front of these huge stones with human structures carved into them. Some bigger than others and some having the hair or hat on top of them and others not. Additionally the setting at the shoreline next to big cliffs of Poike extincted volcano is beautiful. Even more impressive I find is Rano Raraku the quarry for all moais that are made of light tuff stone. My lonely planets writes it looks like to moais here were on their way down to the pacific and got frozen on their way. I like this picture as you will find many moais here in different stages of their construction and it seems like the whole construction process has suddenly been stopped. However if you divide the amount of all found moais by the amount of years that they have been constrcuted for then almost only one moai has been finalized per year which rather speaks for the theory that they have been stopped working upon in different years. When we were there we had beautiful blue sky with some white clouds and great views with moais down to the pacific. Really beautiful. You may only visit Rano Raraku (and Orongo) once in your 10 day validity period of the NP ticket however with the online ticket I wonder how they will check that without remembering your face. With the physical ticket the guards are ripping off a part of the ticket to proof it. After Rano Raraku we visited the Ahu Te Pito Kura which is according to the Rapa Nui culture the centre of the world symbolized by a stone with "Mana" so the power which can be explained by it´s magnetism. It´s interesting however not really spectacular. More spectacular are the sites Ahu Nau Nau and Ahu Ature Huki next to Anakena beach which can be visited also without a guide and were the last stop of our tour. We checked the 4 moais plus 2 broken moais in Ahu Nau Nau out and the 1 reerected moai next to it in Ahu Ature Huki out which is special because the reerection was down with local material by a group lead by Thor Heyerdahl in the 1950s. Additionally the beach in Anakena is simply great so we had a nice swim there. It´s the only place which proofs this island can also be a tropical holiday island with coco palmtrees and sand beach plus bright blue water.  
 
In the evening we walked down to the meadow at Ahu Tahai and watched the sunset. Really recommandable and also possible without guide luckily.  
 
The next morning I had another tour with Rapa Nui Travel and Malena visiting first Ahu Vinapu which includes one of the rare female moais made out of the same, red material from Puna Pau that normally only the hats/ hair of the male moais are made of. After Ahu Vinapu we drove up to Ranu Kao, the extinct volcano which crater is now hosting a lake with a lot of reed. From up here you get beautiful views over Hanga Roa on the one side and the crater and behind the Pacific on the other side. Also it´s only a short drive around the crater to the ceremonial village of Orongo which is highly related to the birdman cult as it was mainly built for all the clans of the island to stay here for a longer period of time normally during September when the competition of the birdman was taking place. It´s containing some interesting petroglyphs like the one with the hand of which the interpretations vary. Also from here there are views on the small islands on which the birds were nesting in the past from which the eggs needed to be stolen during the competition. It´s a must see site of the island however not as impressive as the quarry of the moai. Also it´s relating to a completely different time as the birdman challenge is completely unrelated to the moai cult as the last moai was produced before the birdman challenge started. Being on the island I of course also watched the Kevin Costner movie "Rapa Nui" from the 1990s that for people not knowing a lot would look like an action loaded documentary but in reality it is only a mixture of facts with fantasy all squeezed into a Hollywood movie.  
 
In the afternoon of this day we engaged a very young guide, Bruno, who was with 60k CLP comparibly cheap to other guides and was just 3 months into his first job. As he was raised on the island and a curious guy we enjoyed the trip a lot with him. We hiked to Ana Kakenga which honestly we might not have found without him. It´s a cave at the west coast of the island that was hidden by the Rapa Nui by putting many stones next to its entrance. It has two "windows" to the Pacific within steep cliffs falling down the shoreline. It´s exciting to walk through it and imagine that people lived in here. Also interesting was the next cave more in the inland on our way back from Ana Kakenga to Ahu Akivi. Ana Te Pahu is a bit like an oasis in a meadow landscape as you walk down to a place with many fruits growing between the stoney entrance of the cave. Even a bee population is living here. We couldn´t walk through parts of the cave as it was still flooded from the rain two days before, but still there are long tunnels under earth in which people have lived in the past that can be explored. In the natural "windows" letting sunlight in plants are growing that were planted by the inhabitants. Finally we visited Ahu Akivi the first fully restored site on the island and an interesting ahu as the moai that normally look on the village with the back to the sea are looking here in the other direction. Apparently they might display the first seven settlers that watch the sea and look in the direction of their origin but to my understanding that is speculation.  
 
In the evening I took part in a cultural show and dinner called Taraai which I enjoyed. They made Curanto (not to be confused with the Chiloé version) meaning cooking meat and fish in an earth oven and during dinner presented dances and costumes of the Rapa Nui culture. I enjoyed myself for around 85 USD.   
 
On our final full day on the island we rented a car for a day which was really interesting processwise. A guide had told us that in an art shop a woman is renting a car. As she was not there the neighbouring shop woman gave us her number and when we wrote her she would give us another contact that we arranged a rental car for 1,5 days for 40k CLP with. In the end we met, she gave us the car and without having any money and only my first name we took over the car. There are no insurances available for the island and many potholes so it´s a bit of a risky thing with the car. But everything went fine in the end. The day was dominated by the fact that I proposed to my girlfriend next Ahu Nau Nau on the day of our 100 month anniversary and she said yes 😊. I think we both will remember the special place and time of our engagment for a long time. Also no one was there with us so it was really intimate as we both wanted to have it. Afterwards we snorkled a bit in close-by Anakena beach and my girlfriend swam with a turtle below her. We also checked out Ovahe beach shortly but Anakena is a different story with its tropical flair, bars and palm trees plus moais.  
 
All in all Easter Island or Rapa Nui is a great experience. As the rating is subjective and I connect very positive memories with the WHS from now on I will rate it with a five stars. However one could argue to give less as the forced system that allows you only to go to any of the main sites except Ana Kena and Ahu Tahai in Hanga Roa is a downgrade to the overall experience of your visit. It definitely costs you much more than it might have cost for budget travellers in the past. We spend a bit less than 2000€ for the flights (1200€ from Santiago and back) and on the island for guides, hostel and food. We brought some food from Santiago and cooked in the hostel which is cheaper than going to the restaurant or buying food on site. For example water costs for 1,6 liters in the minimercados almost 3 USD. So really a cost point over 5 days for 2 people. We couldn´t drink the tap water. Too salty from our point of view. The main thingson the island can be seen in 2 days with guides I would say. Also I must say the guides really help if you´re not already an expert on Rapa Nui culture to understand what you actually see. There is not much information on site and the people on the island (around 10k) do not really have any other job opportunities. So it´s kind of win-win even though it´s of course expensive and more inflexible than if you could visit on your own. Even though I said 2 days for the main sites are enough I would recommand to stay a week as a couple. In 5 days we felt rushed. 2 days were tours. One day snorkling. One day was pure rain. And on the departure and landing days we were quite exhausted or busy. Another beach day and another day with a special excursion to less popular places or a hike or horseride up the highest hill would have been interesting activities we found. But budget wise it was surely smart to only stay 5 days.  
 
I´ve never seen Rapa Nui as archeological WHS which it is and so I´m even more astonished I could enjoy it so much as normally I struggle a bit with such sites. However the Rapa Nui culture and their remains are just too interesting to find it boring. And the moai are of course super cool.  
 
Another fun fact I found was that the island doesn´t seem to care a lot about UNESCO. Especially showing to the visitors it´s a WHS is not in the focus at all. I found a sign though at the Ahu Tahai viewpoint for anyone who wants to take a pic of or with it. That´s the only time I read WHS on the whole island in 5 days ^^.