Top Ten Chile Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

Okay, it's the area where Alive! takes place, but that doesn't mean you'll be wandering around aimlessly in the snow. In the Andes east of the city of Rancagua, and south of the enormous El Teniente copper mine, the Reserva Natural Rio de los Cipreses is one of the least visited of Chilean national parks, despite its proximity to a major metropolitan area. It's a great place to come for hiking and solitude, since few people venture beyond the swimming and picnic areas. And it's at the upper drainage of the Cipreses River, where, in the winter of 1972, that infamous plane crash involving the Uruguayan national rugby team resulted in some, ah, TV dinners with a twist.