Chile (Lakes Region)
Chillan
A sleepy, dusty agricultural town about 280 miles south of Santiago on the Panamericana like everything else. It's claim to fame is Las Termas, a mineral bath and ski resort about 40 miles away. It is the birthplace of Bernardo O'Higgins, liberator of Chile and good buddy of San Martin, of course they're both dead but there is a very nice park there in his honor.  wpe6A.jpg (14342 bytes)
Chillan has one of Chile's largest tourist flea markets where you can buy all manner of tourist stuff at not so bad prices. The ski area deserves special comment. It is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Chillan and it features hot mineral baths, saunas and other ways to relax of ways to relax.

They are great to have handy because it's ski slopes can certainly give you a workout. There is a large hotel there with all the ski type stuff, bar, restaurants and of course beds.