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We landed in Dubai around 06:30 on Tuesday, 16 June. My watch told me it was only 04:30 in S.A so it was a tad early to be given breakfast and shoved off the plane. We had a three hour layover which was manageable. We found some seats in a quiet corner and took turns stretching our legs. Soon it was time to board our flight to L.A. It was still morning so we had a whole day flight ahead of us. We were fortunate enough to have a spares sat inbetween us again and as we were now quite tired, I fell straight to sleep. Kevin slammed a movie and then took a turn to catch some zzzz's. The meal schedule on the plane was quite odd which a few snack items every now and then. Fortunately we had some cereal bars and a bunch of biltong which we munched on (thanks for the gift, Kristi)
Finally we arrived in L.A. Customs and Security were quite intense but soon we were through and went to grab our bags off the carousel. Oh my goodness, why is there so much stuff? What were we thinking? LAX is insanely busy... people everywhere, taxis everyone, busses everywhere.
We had booked a car hire online and had to catch a complementary shuttle bus to the car port. Our sunglasses quickly came out and we started taking in all that is the USA - the shuttle bus driver's accent, driving on the right side of the road, roadside dinners, cabs etc.
After a bit of paperwork, we got our car - an automatic. We plugged in our trusty SatNav, said a prayer for a safe journey, and we headed off to Burbank to drop our bags. Very quickly we realized people in L.A are hardcore drivers. Changing lanes whenever, wherever and speed limits.... say what? Kevin and I were both checking his blind spot and I was giving me the all clear ("If you're going to go, go NOW,") We finally turned off the highway and headed into suburbia. Shayne and Christi very kindly offered to store 3 of our 4 bags while we were in Mexico. After a bit of a chat, glass of water or two and some directions to In N Out, we said our goodbyes. We were hoping to sort out some banking but missed the hours so we just drew some cash and headed for some food. In N Out, a joint shared with us by Sunali and Vlad, was everything as we remembered it to me. Soon we had full tummies and it was time to brave the highway again, head back to LAX, and board our flight down to Cancun, Meico.
After paying a surprise $25 to check in our bag, we went through another security check. It seems like Laptops are scrutinized but tablets just cruise through. Grabbed all our stuff and then went to find somewhere to sit. An hour before we were due to fly, we went to the boarding gate. We were towards the front of the line and it filled up pretty fast. After a bit of waiting, an announcement was made over the intercom: the flight is overbooked, can anyone fly tomorrow? It seemed like a group of girls at the counter had missed their flights and needed to get on this one, so someone else needed to give up their seat. Quite confusing. Ok, so the flight was overbooked but why wasn't this picked up at Check In? What are you going to do at the Boarding Gate? Everyone's luggage was already checked in. Odd. We quickly found out actually quite normal for these sorts of airlines. We stood our ground.
Another half an hour passed. More appeals. Shouting from the crowd to offer more money. Another half an hour. More money offered. More shouting. Quite bizarre! Clearly leaving on time was not a priority.
Finally we got to board. For some reason we managed to book seats by the Emergency Exit.... hello leg room! Then again, announcements for someone to fly the following day. More money offered. Finally someone in first class stood up and left the plane. Lots of clapping. We just sat confused.
Then, more announcements - families hadn't been seated together. Would anyone mind switching seats? Free snack boxes were offered. We weren't given up our leg room so we sat tight. No seriously, the whole thing was a show. We decided there and then that we would certainly give up our seats one time and take their cash, free hotels and free snack box. Just not this time, we had to get to Mexico!
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