Chile’s Región de Los Lagos , about one thousand kilometres south of Santiago, is Region X of Chile’s fifteen administrative regions and sits just to the north of mythic Patagonia. Landing at El Tepual International Airport near Puerto Montt, a large port with access to the Pacific, I headed up twenty kilometers to Puerto Varas, its smaller (41,000 population instead of 175,000) and more charming little sister. I would later spend a couple of days in Puerto Montt and discover that it is a nicer place than the guide-books make it out to be – but still nowhere near as chilled out as Puerto Varas!