It just doesn't cut it to call Chile a land of contrasts - this is a land of extremes. It's a preposterously skinny tendril of a country creeping 4300km around the foot of South America , while Arica basks in tropical heat at its tip,  Punta Arenas shivers at its icy tail just short of  Antarctica. Nowhere else can you stand in the world's driest desert ,gaze at snowcapped peaks then turn your head to see cool Pacific rollers creaming inland. Follow Chile's jagged Andean backbone of towering mountains south and you'll pass through the ancient forests of  Parque National Chiloe, the rich vineyards of Talca, past shimmering lakes and immense plains, to stumble upon the exquisite labyrinth of fjords, islands and milky-blue glaciers that make up Southern Patagonia.at the end of the Americas.