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A Travel Diary from a 4 month road trip around America and Canada (incl. Alaska).

North America, part 1

Si_lad
2004-03-26 22:17:48

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6th June 1996 Los Angeles, California

The Air New Zealand flight from Honolulu took about five hours. We passed through the airport quickly and took a shuttle bus – as recommended by the hostel – to Hollywood. We waited ages for the shuttle to arrive (and watched tons of others pass), but we eventually got going with a group of young backpackers. Five minutes into the journey a car shot out in front of us, causing the van to swerve voilently and blow a tyre! The driver did well to avoid a crash, but we were stranded in a fairly dodgy area – Inglewood – for a while until another van appeared. The driver told us "not to stray from the main road" and on the radio he classed the situation as "urgent"! It didn’t seem too bad on the main road, but a glimpse down the side streets was enough to let me know that I would be wise to take his advice. Another van turned up and we made it to the Student Inn, on Hollywood Boulevard without any more incidents.

The hostel is pretty good, and cost us US$30 for a double. The owner is a Greek guy and the hostel is run by a chirpy Mancunian lad and two Irish girls. The atmosphere was really good. There were lots of people in the hostel for a long-stay, most of them British or Irish.

7th June 1996

We spent most of the day walking. Funny thing was, most people had advised us that L.A. was no place for walking, but we enjoyed it. In fact the pavements were pretty empty! The smog was a bit bad, but not as bad as I expected. We walked along Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. Lots of cars, lots of wierdos hanging around.

At one part of the walk I crossed halfway across the road and waited in the middle for the other lane to clear. To my amazement the cars coming the other way slammed their brakes on, flashed their lights and shouted abuse at me! I couldn’t understand how what ...