Tourism and other Offices

Sernatur has much information and maps about attractions, lodging and other tourist services in the Araucanía region (Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-2 p.m., 3-5:30 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-2 p.m., 3-4:30 p.m. Bulnes 586, Tel.: 21-1969, Fax: 21-5509, E-mail: infoaraucania@sernatur.cl, URL: www.sernatur.cl). The city maintains a tourism kiosk at the Mercado Municipal, inside the Calle Aldunate entrance (Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 3-7 p.m., Tel.: 97-3628, URL: www.temucochile.com). Conaf (national park office) has excellent topographical maps of trails for all the national parks in IX Region (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Bulnes 931, Tel.: 29-8100). Other useful organizations are: Carabineros (police) (Claro Solar 1284, Tel.: 21-1604); Automóvil Club de Chile (San Martín 0278, Tel.: 24-8903).

Money

Many money institutions are near Plaza Pinto. Banks are usually open Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and have ATMs that accept MasterCard, Cirrus, Visa and Plus cards.
• Banco de Chile (Varas 818)
• Banco de Estado (Claro Solar 931) — exchanges US dollars and Euros; ATM: only MasterCard and Cirrus
• BBVA (Bello 890)
• Santander (Prat 620; other ATMs at Prat 724) — exchanges US dollars and Euros; ATM: also American Express
• Scotiabank (Varas 880)
Afex casa de cambio exchanges US dollars, Euros, Sterling Pounds and other currencies, as well as American Express travelers checks (slightly lower rate), and is a MoneyGram agent (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. VAras 914, Tel.: 23-1075). Other exchange houses surround the main plaza. Chilexpress, the major Western Union agent, is next to the post office (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Portales 801).

Communications

Correo Chile, the post office, has its main office downtown (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Portales 801) and a substation at the Mall Portal Temuco. Internet cafés are located throughout the centro district, with prices ranging $0.80-1.60 per hour; many have Skype. Most open at 10 a.m. and are closed Sunday. A reliable café is PC Montt (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturday, Sunday 3-9 p.m. Montt 428. $0.80 per hour). Phone centers likewise are common. Prices vary widely, so shop around. One of the cheapest is Centro de Llamadas tecno.cl, where local and national calls cost $0.10 per minute and international from $0.20 per minute (daily 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Montt 965).
Medical

Temuco’s public health facility is Hospital Regional (Montt 115, Tel.: 29-6100). There are several pharmacies on Montt near Prat. Farmacia Ahumada is open 24 hours (Bulnes and Montt). As well as Western medicine, traditional Mapuche healing is accessible in Temuco: Küme Akuleimy-Farmacia Herbolaria Mapuche (Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-7:45 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Aldunate 245, Tel.: 52-0102, E-mail: fmapuche@gmail.com). It also operates a clinic, Makewelawen (Bulnes 352, Tel.: 52-0888).

Laundry

Lavandería Center charges $5 to wash and dry up to four kilograms (nine pounds) of clothes. It has same days service (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Montt 250, Tel.: 23-4436).