The last ten days have taken us to the one of the five largest metropolitan areas in the world as well as one of the most isolated fishing villages anywhere.We flew into Buenos Aires and were dropped to our hostel about a block away from the Argentine equivalent of Times Square known as Obelisco whose centerpiece is a large phallic look-alike of the Washington monument.With five days in the city we opted for the tango package offered by the hotel.The first night has us taking tango lessons after a wine testing at the nearby dance hall.Group tango lessons lasting about an hour are quite insufficient for wowing anyone with your skills, especially the local die-hard tango community.These were the very people we were asked to dance in front of at the tango club we were taken to later in the evening.Now I´m not exaggerating when I tell you these people would get rave reviews from the "So you think you can dance" judges.Not a single one of us gringos dared enter the lion´s den known as the dance floor before completing our own 2 hour wine tasting session.All in all good fun though.The next few days were spent discovering the many diverse neighborhoods here.There´s everything from an upscale area filled with beautiful parks and statues and monuments surrounded by Armani and Gucci shops to an area similar to NYC´s Soho to the rough streets of Boca where the Boca Juniors are king.Unfortunately two backpackers roaming around such shopping areas is not the best idea for two reasons: we can´t afford to buy anything and we have no room in our packs to carry anything - double whammy.Our final night in BA and the last of our tango package outings was a tango show.Now I´m not saying this is a black tie affair but pretty darn close.We put our best apparel - jeans and a wrinkled shirt - and headed out.We were greated with champagne and appetizers before we were seated and then went onto enjoy our three course meals and wine before the show began.The show was quite good but I think we were spoiled by our visit to the local club.Choreagraphed leaps and lunges just doesn´t compare to the pure passion displayedby the locals.Having had enough of the ten million people and just about as many taxis, we headed north for a bit of a vacation.Uruguaywasn´t on our original agenda but we thought it´d be a sin to miss it being so close.An 8 am ferry ride to Colonia followed by a 5 hour bus ride to Punta del Este, which the Lonely Planet describes as an international jetsetter´s resort, and we were there.Our actual target destination was still three hours north, to the tiny isolated village of Punta del Diablo.When we were finally dropped off there at 2 pm thew following day we figured we´d hit the beach a half hour later.Cots bus company had a different agenda for us as they dropped us at the "entrance" to the tiny village on the main road which is a short 5 km walk to the actual town center.No problem, we´ll hike it.Two kms later we had our thumbs out at every passer byer and eventually jumped in the back of a pickup headed towards town.We got dropped still about 1 km outside but were soon picked up by a second pickup, this one already full of dirt which we had to share space with.Now this really is a tiny village with no street names or anyone who has ever heard of the hostel we were booked into, so we followed the hostel´s website´s directions and followed the the path closest to the ocean past the fishing boats on the beach and up towards the town disco.El Diablo Tranquillo has only been open three weeks and is owned by a 24 year old couple from Minnesota.Hmmm, I hate these people, where´d they get the scratch to start up a hostel?Ah well, let´s hit the beach.Endless hours spent lounging and at least three shades darker on the skin and it was dinner time.Not a huge selection of restaurants in fishing villages but we found a guy who converted his two room house into a restaurant and offers a delightful menu."Quieres pescada?" Si.I think we´re getting fish.Delicious meal though.After dinner we hit the local disco with two English girls and five Aussie guys from the hostel.Upon entering, we doubled the size of the clientele and increased the number of gringos to half.Interesting little place, but with an early bus the following morning we couldn´t stay.A full day on the bus/ferry as well as a brief stopover on the sandy, windy beach in Punta del Este for one final tanning session later and we were back in our hostel in Buenos Aires.Our bags are all packed and we head to the airport in less than an hour.We´ll miss South America.Such a diversity of landscapes, climates and best of all, people make this a great continent to explore.We´ll be back to see the many things we missed out on - Patagonia, Ecuador, Colombia among other things.It will be a nice change to be able to speak English again, and not have to carry toilet paper with us everywhere we go.So it is off to New Zealand now for the holidays…