Alright folks, well after a quick stop over in Tahiti we have finally made it to country number 10 and the last stop on my trip - America! We flew into LA and have been staying in Hollywood! Man, its a crazy place! I only had a few days here in LA so we got on the case straight away. When I say 'we' I mean, myself and Claire, Rob and Jaime who I met in the Cooks. The first afternoon we took a stroll along Melrose Av and got our first taste of the big 'ol US and it was....erm...interesting to say the least! Its really surreal walking around as so far it is the only place which is exactly how I imagined it to be. It really is just like TV and films so most of the time you feel like you are permenantly walking around a film set. On Thursday we set off early and started out with Beverley Hills and the famous Rodeo drive. I have never seen anything so posh and snazzy in all my time, it just oozes not class but money, money, money!! It really is another world in these sorts of places! Even a sandwich around here will cost about $15 and thats on the cheap!! Next up was a slight detour north to Hollywood and the famous walk of fame. Ive got to admit that this was a major let down im afraid. Its just a long street with hundreds of stars on every foot of pavement and thats it really. You just get hassled all the time from touts and bible bashers and pass countless souvenir shops selling glamorous stuff like plastic oscars!! The only other cool thing was the funky second hand shops which I could have spent loads in and the Chinese and Kodak theatres where they hold the Oscars and Academy awards. On the walk back we strolled along sun-set bvd and popped into the (musically) world famous Guitar Centre where I have never seen so many guitars under one roof, literally thousands! The Rock walk of fame outside is quality aswell. That evening we met up with some more of the Cooks crew and hit the town for what planned to be a big night but fizzled out pretty quickly and was pretty s*** in the end unfortunately. Friday was another early start as we gladely headed back to the beach. First up was the seaside plaza of Santa Monica. This was a pretty nice area with shops and cafes at every corner. Just on the other side of the palm lined road is a pretty stunning stretch of beach going for miles and miles! Ahh, home at last. We spent a few hours chilling on the Baywatch stylee beach, utilising the English accent to as many people (i.e. girls!!) as possible then took the walk down the promenade to Venice beach which was ok but nothing special. It was cool to watch the locals playing some real impressive basketball and the steroided freaks pumping iron at Muscle Beach (an outdoor gym!) but apart from that theres wasnt much going for it execpt hippies still lost in 70s mode and drunks passed out everywhere! So after a couple of days, I was content in what I had seen of LA, im sure that there is loads more to see and do but it didnt really interest me too much and I wasnt massively impressed Ive gotta say. It such a huge place that getting around is a right pain in the rear and apart from a couple of nice areas most of it is pretty run down and full of losers, wannabies and hangers-on. There are alot of weirdos too and if 'talking to yourself is the first sign of madness' then there are enough crazy people here to keep Jerry Springer going well into the next century!!!! I had met a girl in the Cooks who wanted to hook me up with her friends in Newport beach so i had to decide whether to stay on and see them or head north with the guys on a road trip to San Fran. After a much deliberation, I chose the latter and we set off on Saturday. More on that on the next update, Laters y'all, Dan