We'd gone back in time on the flight and gained ourselves a flight and a few hours which sounded handy but wasn't good on the jet lag front.

The world famous LAX was our port of call and heavy security greeted us with the rigmarole for photos and finger prints. We were welcomed back into winter for the first time in twelve months with rain in LA.

Opting for the cheapest route into town we caught the bus with the locals to Santa Monica, the beach side of town. The bus ride was fairly eventful and soon opened our eyes to Los Angeles. Poverty, mental illness and crime we ll around as we passed through in the city, needless to say we tried to keep our head down!

The bus driver was helpful and we managed to get dropped in the nice area of Santa Monica only a block from our hostel.

McDonald's was soon on the menu and Tom was screaming for his fist burger in the US of A. In the evening the hostel offered a good deal, typically all you can eat pasta and lemonade all for $3, bargain and just what we needed considering we'd no food and were starving.

We did little other than plan tomorrow, the only day we have in LA, which will include a site seeing tour of the city.