Mercado Persa Bío Bío
Placer 880
About
On Saturdays and Sundays, the yellow line metro fills up with hopeful friends and families to go poking through the goods to be found at Santiago's middle and lower-middle class answer to mall shopping. The doors open at the Franklin metro stop, and everyone spills up the metro escalator towards the exit that says "Salida a Placer", to see what they can find in this many blocks-long and wide fleamarket, called Persa (flea market) Bio Bio. And nearly anything can be found. There are antiques dealers, junk dealers, people selling clothes (and food) on the street. There is furniture, books, electronic gear, tools, old brass fittings, old telephones, pirated movies and video games and much, much more. It should go without saying that in a place as warren-like and not entirely on the up-and-up, oh, and did I mention crowded, you need to keep your wits about you both wandering hrough the market and should you decide to make any purchases. You'll probably want to avoid taking pictures here, and the earlier you arrive, the beter for crowd-control purposes. Still, it's a don't miss spot for people who really want to get to know Santiago the way Santiaguinos know it. Plus you'll shock your hotela nd hostel staff when you bring back your lovely finds and they ask you where they came from.
