Drug Laws -- Possession and use of drugs and narcotics are subject to heavy fines and jail terms.

Electricity -- Chile's electricity standard is 220 volts/50Hz. Electrical sockets have two openings for tubular pins, not flat prongs; adapters are available from most travel stores.

Embassies/Consulates -- The only U.S. representative in Chile is the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, located at Av. Andrés Bello 2800 (tel. 2/232-2600; www.usembassy.cl). The Canadian Embassy is at Nuevo Tajamar 481, 12th floor (tel. 2/362-9660; www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/chile). The British Embassy can be found at El Bosque Norte 0125 (tel. 2/370-4100; www.britemb.cl). The Australian Embassy is at Isidora Goyenechea 3621 (tel. 2/550-3500; www.chile.embassy.gov.au). The New Zealand Embassy is at Av. Golf 99, no. 703 (tel. 2/290-9800; www.nzembassy.com/chile).

Emergencies -- You'll want to contact the staff if something happens to you in your hotel. Otherwise, for a police emergency, call tel. 133. For fire, call tel. 132. To call an ambulance, dial tel. 131.

Language -- Spanish is the official language of Chile. Many Chileans in the tourism industry and in major cities speak basic English, but don't count on it. Try to learn even a dozen basic Spanish phrases before arriving; Frommer's Spanish Phrasefinder & Dictionary will facilitate your trip tremendously.

Liquor Laws -- The legal drinking age in Chile is 18. Alcohol is sold every day of the year, except during elections.

Lost & Found -- Be sure to tell all of your credit card companies the minute you discover your wallet has been lost or stolen and file a report at the nearest police precinct. Your credit card company or insurer may require a police report number or record of the loss. Most credit card companies have an emergency toll-free number to call if your card is lost or stolen; they may be able to wire you a cash advance immediately or deliver an emergency credit card in a day or two.

If you need emergency cash over the weekend when all banks and American Express offices are closed, you can have money wired to you via Western Union (tel. 800/325-6000; www.westernunion.com).

Mail -- The postal service, called Correos de Chile (tel. 800/267736 or 2/956-0200; www.correosdechile.cl), is very reliable and offers regular and certified mail. Prices for a letter under 20 grams are, respectively, 400 pesos and 925 pesos (75¢ and $1.75/40p and 90p). For express mail services, try Fed Ex (www.fedex.cl) or DHL (www.dhl.cl), both of which have several locations in Santiago and around Chile.

Newspapers & Magazines -- The major dailies are the conservative El Mercurio and the more moderate La Tercera, and the left-leaning La Nación. The newspaper La Segunda is an afternoon paper with scant news and screaming headlines, La Cuarta is a sensationalistic rag but a lot of fun to read if you know anything about Chilean politics or celebrities. Another fun read is The Clinic, a satirical weekly named for the London hospital where Pinochet was arrested. You'll find the 2-day old editions of the New York Times and North American and European magazines at one of two kiosks in downtown. Both are located on the pedestrian walkway Ahumada (Metro: Univ. de Chile) on the right-hand side when heading up from Avenida Alameda: One is a half-block from Avenida Alameda (this kiosk has cheaper prices), and the other is at Húerfanos. Most kiosks around Santiago sell English editions of Time and Newsweek, and The Economist.

Passports -- Allow plenty of time before your trip to apply for a passport; processing normally takes 3 weeks but can take longer during busy periods (especially spring). And keep in mind that if you need a passport in a hurry, you'll pay a higher processing fee.

For Residents of Australia: You can pick up an application from your local post office or any branch of Passports Australia, but you must schedule an interview at the passport office to present your application materials. Call the Australian Passport Information Service at tel. 131-232, or visit the government website at www.passports.gov.au.

For Residents of Canada: Passport applications are available at travel agencies throughout Canada or from the central Passport Office, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G3 (tel. 800/567-6868; www.ppt.gc.ca).

For Residents of Ireland: You can apply for a 10-year passport at the Passport Office, Setanta Centre, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 (tel. 01/671-1633; www.irlgov.ie/iveagh). Those under age 18 and over 65 must apply for a 3-year passport. You can also apply at 1A South Mall, Cork (tel. 021/272-525), or at most main post offices.

For Residents of New Zealand: You can pick up a passport application at any New Zealand Passports Office or download it from their website. Contact the Passports Office at tel. 0800/225-050 in New Zealand or 04/474-8100, or log on to www.passports.govt.nz.

For Residents of the United Kingdom: To pick up an application for a standard 10-year passport (5-yr. passport for children under 16), visit your nearest passport office, major post office, or travel agency or contact the United Kingdom Passport Service at tel. 0870/521-0410 or search its website at www.ukpa.gov.uk.

For Residents of the United States: Whether you're applying in person or by mail, you can download passport applications from the U.S. State Department website at http://travel.state.gov. To find your regional passport office, either check the U.S. State Department website or call the National Passport Information Center toll-free number (tel. 877/487-2778) for automated information.

Smoking -- Chile enacted a new smoking law in 2006 that prohibits smoking in schools, hospitals, government offices, stadiums, buses, and other public places. Restaurants must provide fully partitioned smoking and nonsmoking sections, and any restaurant or bar that does not provide a nonsmoking section is not open to children under 18 years of age -- but this is more the case with bars than restaurants.

Telephone -- The country code for Chile is 56. A local phone call requires 100 pesos; phone cards sold in kiosks offer better rates. The phone cards have individual instructions on long-distance dialing, and phone booths at telephone centers will provide instructions on dialing according to the carrier they use. Otherwise, long-distance calls must be prefixed by a carrier's 3-digit number -- Telefónica (188), Entel (123), Movistar (181), and Telmex (171) being the most widely used.

To place a call from your home country to Chile, dial the international access code (011 in the U.S. and Canada, 0011 in Australia, 0170 in New Zealand, 00 in the U.K.) plus the country code (56), plus the Chilean area code, followed by the number. For example, a call from the United States to Santiago would be 011+56+2+000+0000.

To place a local call within Chile, dial the number; for long-distance national calls, dial a carrier prefix, then the area code, and then the number. (To place a collect call, dial a prefix and then 182 for an operator.)

To place a direct international call from Chile, dial a carrier prefix followed by 0, then the country code of the destination you are calling, plus the area code and the local number.

Cellular numbers are seven digits with a prefix of 9, 8, or 7. Here's the tricky part. When dialing from a local landline to a cellphone, you must dial an additional prefix of 09 (i.e., 099+000+0000); but this is not the case when dialing from cellphone to cellphone (i.e., 9+000+0000) or from outside Chile (011+56+9+000+0000). To dial a landline from a cellphone, you must first dial 02 (i.e., 02+2+000+0000 for a number in Santiago), but landline to landline you simply dial the number (i.e., 2+000+0000). Got that?

Time Zone -- Chile is 4 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from the first Sunday in October until the second Sunday in March; the country is 6 hours behind during the rest of the year. An easy way to think of it is from mid-March to mid-October Chile is in the same time zone as New York; from mid-October to mid-March, Chile is 2 hours ahead of New York.

Tipping -- The customary tip in restaurants is 10%. Taxi drivers do not receive tips, nor do hair stylists. Bellhops should be tipped $2 to $3 (£1-£1.50). Gas stations are full-serve, and attendants are tipped 200 to 400 pesos.