New 7Wonders - The Easter Island Statues

This is my fifth post listing the twenty one finalists that went to vote to become one of the New 7Wonders.

First was the Acropolis which I have not visited.

Second was the ALHAMBRA Spain which I have blogged about:

ANGKOR WAT in Cambodia was third on the list and my post about this is on my blog  too

Fourth is the COLOSSEUM in Italy which again I have yet to see. My husband went to Rome for his first Honeymoon so it isn't high on his list at the present time.

The fifth on the list which is done alphabetically is the CORCOVADO (CHRIST THE REDEEMER) in Rio, Brazil.

 No 6 which is the Eiffel tower in Paris, France.

So now we come to the Easter Island Statues as number 7

We visited Easter Island only last year 2013 and they are as splendid as you imagine them to be from the photos.

And now we have reached No7 but post number five for me and that is the statues on Easter Island.

We spent four days on Easter Island visiting the various sites with these fabulous heads .Until our visit I hadn't realised that no heads were left standing and that those now standing had been restored to that position in this last century. 

The heads are called Moai while the platform they stand on is known as the Ahu and the hats or hair on some of the Moai are the Pakao. These particular Moai were restored and replaced on their Ahu specifically for the Rapa Nui film and of course for encouraging tourists to visit the island.

Ahu Tongariki is the largest restored Ahu with fifteen Moai and one of them is the largest Moai ever erected on the island. In the quarry behind this Ahu there is an even larger Moai half buried and unfinished. The largest Moai on the Ahu at Tongariki weighs 86 tonnes. 

I struggle to picture how the islanders with their limited lifting equipment moved and erected even the smaller Moai and some were taken quite some distance across the island.

No one is really certain why the islanders began to build the Moai but it began when the resources on the island began to become scarce. The statues are sometimes thought to be representing gods or deceased chiefs. It is thought that when a chief died they carved and erected the Moai and once it was erected the eyes were carved and the coral put in. Once the eyes were in place the Rapa Nui people believed that power and prosperity was sent through the moai’s eyes to the villagers still living there.

These are in the final 21 but didn't make it to the last seven so far only the Colosseum in Rome and the Christ the Redeemer in Rio have made it to the last seven of the list alphabetically. 

Eiffel tower in Paris, France.

This is my fourth post listing the twenty one finalists that went to vote to become one of the New 7Wonders.

First was the Acropolis which I have not visited

Second was the ALHAMBRA Spain which I wrote a post about.

ANGKOR WAT in Cambodia was third on the list and my post about this is on here too.

Fourth is the COLOSSEUM in Italy which again I have yet to see. My husband went to Rome for his first Honeymoon so it isn't high on his list at the present time.

The fifth on the list which is done alphabetically is the CORCOVADO (CHRIST THE REDEEMER) in Rio, Brazil.

Now we come to No 6 which is the Eiffel tower in Paris, France.

I first visited this famous tower when on A french exchange when I was about 14 years old. I remember we took the lift up and walked down. Even then when I was young and a lot fitter my legs had gone to jelly by the time we got to the bottom.

The tower is named after the man Gustave Eiffel whose company designed and built the iron tower.

The tower was built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution in the 1889 Exposition Universell.

These days over 7 million visitors, pay to go up the tower every year. 75% of the visitors are foreigners. The tower is apparently the most visited attraction in the world that you have to pay to visit.

There are 1665 steps to the top of the tower which is 324 metres tall.

It was originally only a temporary building but after twenty years there was a petition to keep it standing. It has become a symbol of Paris recognised the world over and has been seen by over 250 million people since it was first opened.

Famous world wide and one of the twenty one finalists but NOT one of the New 7Wonders.

CORCOVADO - Christ the Redeemer Statue, Rio de Janeiro

This is my third post listing the twenty one finalists that went to vote to become one of the New 7Wonders.

First was the Acropolis which I have not visited

Second was the ALHAMBRA Spain which I wrote a post about

ANGKOR WAT in Cambodia was third on the list and my post about this is on here too.

Fourth is the COLOSSEUM in Italy which again I have yet to see. My husband went to Rome for his first Honeymoon so it isn't high on his list at the present time.

The post here is about no 5 which is as alphabetically listed the CORCOVADO (CHRIST THE REDEEMER)in Rio, Brazil.

The Corcovado is actually the hill the statue stands on. It is one of many in and around Rio, the Sugarloaf mountain is another famous landmark in the city. Corcovado means hunchback in Portuguese.

On top of this 710-metre high hill stands the famous statue of Christ the redeemer. The statue stands a huge 38 metres high and is impressive from both near to and from a distance as well.

We went up to the statue on the railway which takes you through the Tijuca Forest which is a rainforest which is a huge 32 sq km National Park within the city of Rio. This railway was first built in 1884 but was refurbished in 1980 and it is a pretty good ride through the forest upwards.

It was planted in the mid 19th Century as it was believed that the deforestation was affecting the water supply in Rio and the soil erosion as well.

once at the top platform you still have 223 steps to climb or you can if you don't mind queuing wait for the lift. There is also an escalator which is how we went up but we did walk down again using the steps.

The size of the statue can only really be appreciated close up but aside from exploring the statue from this hill top the views you get over Rio are pretty impressive.

This huge statue gets over 300,000 visitors per year and at times it is pretty crowded up around the statue. Luckily we went up early one morning not on a week end so the crowds were minimal.

THIS STATUE IS THE FIRST OF MY TWENTY ONE TO BE A NEW 7 WONDER - This is the first of the final New 7Wonders.

Angkor Wat Cambodia

Continuing my series based on the website The New 7Wonders where I am looking at those of the twenty one shortlisted finalists that I have visited .

The next on the list is Angkor Wat. This is not one Wat or temple but rather a series of temples in

 one area some of which have been partially destroyed by human invaders while others are being taken over by the jungle that surrounds the temple area.

We had the sweetest guide who spent the few days we were here telling us all about his family. As you walk around the temples small children come up to you with bits they are trying to sell and chat to you. they have cleverly learned a few sentences and facts about each country which has tourists coming to Cambodia which they say to you as an opening line. they are so very sweet and I would happily have bought all they had but I knew that would only bring more running to tear at my heart strings.

Angkor Wat was originally a Hindu temple complex then became a Buddhist temple complex and there is evidence of some deliberate scrubbing out of Hindu images in some temples.Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world.

Some temples have tall steps that you can climb up. they are steep and very narrow, some of those climbing with us were not happy and were clinging on to the ropes and edges for assistance. 

You could spend days around the temples, some like to get up before dawn to watch sunrise and again watch the sun setting over the temples. It can get quite crowded at times and it is VERY hot so take lots of bottled water, a hat and sunscreen.

My favourite temple was Ta Prohm which was used in the film 'Tomb Raider. This temple has been left pretty much as it was discovered in recent times. Trees have grown through the temple walls and arches and it looks like a scene from Indiana Jones. It was such fun taking photos and even though there were quite a few other people there we did manage to get some photos with extras in them.

I cannot really do justice to a site like this in a short post but this gives a taste of the magnificence that is Angkor Wat. To me this site richly deserves its place in the 21 finalists but despite getting my vote it was NOT one of the New 7Wonders.

The New 7Wonders

Not sure if anyone has heard of the site which has voted over several years for the New 7 Wonders.
http://www.new7wonders.com/

Image from New 7Wonders site

It started because there was always controversy over what the Seven Wonders of the World actually were.

Some talked of Ancient wonders, natural wonders and so on.

Some talked of Ancient wonders, natural wonders and so on.

This site allowed people to nominate their 'Wonder. These were collated and voted on.

They then reduced the list to the top 21 and once again anyone was invited to vote.

You could have a vote for every email address. We visited the Alhambra at the time of the voting and they had banks of computers where you could make your vote there and then.

The final New7Wonders were announced on 07. 07 2007


The final twenty one on the list were:

ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS Greece

Courtesy of wikipedia

ALHAMBRA Spain

ANGKOR Cambodia

COLOSSEUM Italy

CORCOVADO (CHRIST THE REDEEMER) Brazil

EIFFEL TOWER France

EASTER ISLAND STATUES Chile

GREAT WALL OF CHINA China

HAGIA SOPHIA Turkey

KIYOMIZU TEMPLE Japan

Courtesy of Wikipedia

KREMLIN and RED SQUARE Russia

MACHU PICCHU Peru

NEUSCHWANSTEIN Germany

PETRA Jordan

                                                                          PYRAMID AT CHICHEN ITZA Mexico

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA Egypt

STATUE OF LIBERTY USA

STONEHENGE UK

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Australia

TAJ MAHAL India

TIMBUCTOO Mali

Image courtesy of wikidedia

My husband and I decided that we needed to make a bucket list and try and see all twenty one.

I fear we may not be able to see some . In my next post I will enlighten you as to which we have seen.