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I had originally wanted to drive down the coast to LA. I'd heard some great things about highway 1 and it was defiantly tempting, however a $500 quote for a hire car soon put a stop to my plans. As much as I tried everyone seemed to be going away from LA so I couldn't get anyone to split the costs. In the end I got a bus organised from the hostel down to LA. I've never been one for public transport and I have to say that 7 hours on a bus is not something I'd generally recommend but I got chatting to a few people who made things go a bit quicker and the iPod had some heavy duty usage. Sadly it wasn't as picturesque as the drive would have been (just lots of desert) but I guess it gives me an excuse to head back to California some time.I arrived in LA around 6pm just before sunset. The hostel was in a fantastic location, one block from Santa Monica Boulevard and beach. I took the opportunity to get some great sunset shoots before watching a movie and heading off to bed.On day two I decided to explore the area, I headed off to Venice beach which I can officially say is one of the oddest places I've been. Some of the acts were pretty cool like the break dancers and the guy who could juggle a million and one things but others were just bizarre, I didn't think it was possible to smoke out of your ears. Anyway I decided to spend the rest of the day kicking around on Santa Monica beach (Where they filmed Baywatch). It's a fantastic beach with clear water and an ideal place to spend a quiet day.After speaking to a number off people in San Francisco it seems that the top recommendation for activities is to do the City and Star tour. The next morning I was up early to take the tour. The first stop was Venice beach; it wasn't as lively as the previous day as we turned up pretty early. I took a wonder around and got some shoots of the murals before heading back to the bus. Next on the tour were Beverly Hills and the stars homes. It seems that Arnie has been using his powers as the "governator" to protect his friends. There is now a $6000 fine if tour goes through certain areas with stars homes so the tour was more limited than I expected. We did get to see the fresh prince of Bel air house as well as Ashton Kutcher's, Bill Cosby and Nancy Regan's complete with FBI agents.> We then Headed off to Rodeo Drive. The place just oozes money, even the water was expensive. After an hour here we headed out past The viper Rooms and Whiskey a go-go up to Universal Studios for Lunch. I made the fatal mistake of having a burger from probably the worst fast food place ever. It tastes pretty ropey. After lunch we headed up Mulholland drive to the top where we got a fantastic photo opportunity for the Hollywood sign. We then headed into Hollywood itself. It seems than tinsel town has lost it's sparkly. The place was pretty dirty and full of homeless people begging. It was good to see the Chinese & Kodak Theatres and all the stars but not sure I'd ever want to go back. After an hour we headed off to see the birthplace of LA. We were slightly delayed when the buses brakes failed outside ofCapitol records but within about 15 minutes we were on another buss andon our way again. Old LA was just like a classic Mexican town and probably one of the more interesting parts of the tour. We then had the opportunity to sit in the famous LA traffic and spent about an hour trying to get back to Santa Monica.Universal studios had always been on my list. I booked with the same tour company which did the City and stars tour. I had my own personal photographer in the shape of a Chinese/Australian call Tong who spoke broken English relatively well. The only problem is that none of these pictures ever surfaced as she broke her camera the next day. And I've not been able to recharge my small camera since. Universal studios was actually pretty good. The queue for the studio tour was pretty long but it was worthwhile to see some of the sets from Jaws, Psycho and Indiana Jones. We also got to see them filming Desperate house Wives which was pretty cool. After that we spent the rest of the day on all the rides. I was pretty glad to get soaked on the Jurassic park ride as the temperature was up in the late 30's.The best ride had to be the Simpsons experience and we nearly missed the bus trying to see the Terminator 3D showWith all the expense of the last couple of days I decided to have a couple of cheap day away. On the first day I tried to hire a bike and cycle to Malibu but it seems that there are a number of very expensive beach clubs in the way. So the next day I decided to try again on the bus.Malibu beach is only a $1.25 bus trip so I headed of to improve my photography skills at the beach. It's an amazing beach with impressive waves. I ran of a load of shots and hopefully got some decent pictures. It's never a bad thing to spend a few days at the beach.The next morning was an early one as I had to head down to LAX to catch a flight to Las Vegas. It was it this point I almost lost my laptop. Security is tight at US airports at the moment. I had put my bag through with the laptop in it and was promptly told to take it out and put it through separately. I then sent my bag through on a separate tray. At the other side of the machine I took my bag and went through the departure lounge. It was only about 10 minutes later that I realised that I had left the laptop in the other tray. I rushed back and luckily on of the customs guys was just handing it into his supervisor. About and hour later we were taking off and 45 minutes and a large desert later I was I Las Vegas. It's a very strange place to fly into. You see nothing but desert till the last 5 mites and then you land at an airport with the backdrop of some of the most iconic hotels in the world The Luxor's pyramid Excalibur's Castle and the MGM grand. Hotels in Vegas are so cheap to encourage the gamblers that it made sense to stay in one of them rather than a hostel in the dodgy part of downtown. I need up staying at the Las Vegas Hilton which is just off the stip. This worked out well as my Hilton honours card entitled me to free breakfast and a room upgraded which was an added bonus. Vegas is a crazy place on any night. The first night I decided to stick to the hotel as I'd had an early start. I had the pleasure of trying out one of the famous Las Vegas buffets $19 for all you can eat and drink. There was every conceivable type of food available Indian, Mexican, Italian, Japanese, the list goes on. It's fair to say I got my monies worth. After stuffing my face I headed to the casino. After scanning the tables I decided that the $25 per hand was a little rich for my pocket but obviously not for a lot of people. I spent a few hours on the slot machines enjoying the complementary drinks and losing money. Towards the end of the night I headed to the roulette table and despite a win I end up down at the end of the night. On the way back to the room I saw the sleazier end of Vegas when I was proposition by a couple of hookers in the lobby. Needless to say I turned them down. The next morning I enjoyed my free breakfast buffet and used the monorail to get out to the main strip. You realise quickly that the strip is really spread out and it's so hot when your outside you can barely walk for 20 minutes without having to get back into an air-conditioned hotel. It's true to say you never know what time it is in Vegas. There are no clocks and no windows so any time your in the casino you lose track of time. I spent the day going round the various hotels and seeing some pretty impressive sights like the Bellagio's colorbreed glass ceiling the Luxor's pyramid and sphinx and The Golden MGM lion. The next night I ventured out to a few casinos to mix things up but yet aging my famous luck eluded me. After two days of losses I made a conscious decision that I would do something different so night tree was taken up by watching the blueman show at the Venetian. It's difficult to describe how good the show was. Lots of drums, rock music, florescent lights, paint, jelly and tissue paper. I think it has to be seen to be believed. I had an early start the next morning as I'd decide to head out to the Grand Canyon. After reviewing all the tour options I decided I'd rather hire a car as it way no more expensive and meant I could stop off when I wanted. It turned out to be a great decision. After spending an hour trying to negotiate my way out of Vegas I finally got on state highway 5. About 60 miles of straight road later arrived at the Hoover dam. It is an impressive sight and almost more impressive was the workman building a new road bridge across the river. 10 of them and a lard section were dangling from large crane. Not a job for someone with a fear of heights. The map told me that the west rim of the Grand Canyon was about another 80 miles on but the sat nav told me it would take 2.5 hours to get there. At an average speed of 60mph this didn't seem right but 21 miles from the canyon the reason became clear. The directions had said an unpaved road. It seems this meant a desert track for 21 miles. It was at this point I wished I'd hired a 4x4 rather than a compact. It's fair to say that both I and the car were suitably rattled by the time we got to the other side. Windy mountain roads with no barriers.Pot holes almost constantly sand traps that let the back of the car slide out and random rocks in the middle of the road. I have to say its one of the best driving experiences of my life; I couldn't stop laughing (not sure the hire company would agree)
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