Travel Biography - Week 106.

The Day after Disneyland.

During my final stop in Santa Monica on the 1997 Round-the-World backpacking trip, starting and finishing in the UK, and having already spent a day with two colleagues in Disneyland, there were two more outings before heading to LAX International Airport. They were to Downtown Los Angeles and a 24-mile round trip cycle ride to Malibu.

But neither were before the next morning after arriving back from Disneyland. That was when Mike joined me for breakfast. He explained that Chris had gone to return the hired car to its owners before heading to the airport. That left Mike on his own with me. After breakfast, Mike wanted me to accompany him outside, and I soon realised why. He needed to make a phone call but wasn't sure how to go about it here in the States, and so he wanted me to make the call for him. And I did, having used the American payphone a couple of times already.

Mike talked over the phone to someone about a purchase transaction, I believe, for an electronic part of a hi-fi music unit. After the call was completed, we went into a cafe and as a reward, he bought me a coffee. We then returned to the hostel, and as we parted, he asked me to wait for him in the dining room while he returned to his dormitory. I waited...and waited...but he failed to make a return to the dining room. I eventually rose from the table and stepped outside.

The Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles

Pershing Square, Downtown Los Angeles.

On the cycleway to Malibu.

Mr Hammerhead guards the Malibu precinct.

I made my way along the coast west of the pier. My thoughts were troubled. Did I let Mike down? How did he feel when he saw an unoccupied table where he left me earlier? And sooner or later he would have to pass that way to get to the exit. And so, as I walked along, my emotions remained in flux. A moment of weakness on my part, perhaps? Or was he engaged in a deliberate plan to rid himself of me by staying in his dorm, perhaps even for a late morning nap? Did he perceive me as a clinger, someone in a desperate search for friendship? If the latter was true, then I would have been happier had he said clearly that he had to go now, but was happy to have me as company for the last 24 hours. Was I trying to cling to him? Unlikely, as lone travel usually called for stoicism. However, after that morning, I never saw him again, and I still had a few more days here. I assumed that he checked out on the same day.

As I kept on walking, I crossed the boundary of Santa Monica into the Malibu district. What I wasn't aware of was that Malibu lies outside the Los Angeles Administration area, hence leaving L.A. altogether. Yet, I just kept on walking along the coast until I arrived at a point level with Villa de Leon, 5.6 miles (9 km) west of Santa Monica Pier. The walk turned out to be an unplanned hike over 11 miles (18 km) long, and taking up a good chunk of the day. A site on the beach just west of the Villa was an ideal turnaround point. By the time I reached the hostel, it was already evening.

Downtown.

On one of the days at Santa Monica, I thought about visiting  Downtown Los Angeles, especially when considering that nobody at the hostel placed such a visit high on their priorities. For the majority of backpackers, Downtown L.A. held little or no interest. To them, it was just a huddle of tall office blocks interspersed with busy highways. In many ways, they were right. All the tourist spots lay outside of the Downtown area. Hollywood Studios lies to the northwest of the city, Santa Monica to the west, Long Beach to the southwest, and Disneyland in Anaheim, to the southeast. In 1995, I walked the length of East 7th Street from the city to the Greyhound Bus Terminal, some 1.6 miles (2.6 km) through uninteresting commercial sprawl. Yet that same sprawl was recognisable. It was featured in the 1970s cop drama series Starsky & Hutch.

My bike is seen here at the precinct.

The Lagoon at Malibu

Looking across the Lagoon from a sandbank.

Malibu Creek Estuary and Lagoon.

A non-stop bus links Santa Monica to the Downtown, making the journey rapid. Within thirty minutes, I was near Pershing Square, the central hub of the city. I recall Pershing Square as far back as 1977, my first visit to Los Angeles (inspired by the cop drama) - and again a year later in 1978. Back then, Pershing Square was an English-type garden with a circular pond with a fountain. When I revisited the same site in 1995, I was appalled at the monstrosity the fountain had become. It was a solid block of concrete forming a pillar from which the water tumbled.

I also walked through Broadway with its markets. Since I was already familiar with the street, I could see that no major changes had taken place there since my first visit in the seventies. I just wished that they kept Pershing Square to the original layout, a green, breathing lung in the heart of a bustling city.

The skyline remained unchanged from the 1995 visit, although very different from the seventies. I recognised many of the original buildings from that era, including the Bank of America Financial Center, a tower with alternating black and white vertical stripes, instantly recognisable in Starsky & Hutch and my own memories of the seventies. The taller, more modern-looking skyscrapers went up during the eighties, I believe. Among the cluster of tall office blocks were hotels, I assume, for visiting businessmen attending their conferences rather than catering to the tourists. One brand new hotel, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel consists of five cylindrical towers with the larger one in the middle and the four others at each of the four corners. It boasts several outdoor elevators, each with glass walls which gives a clear view of the city as it rises.

Anyone could use these elevators as they were open to the street. So I stepped into one and chose an upper floor. I didn't expect what happened next. As the lift rose along its shaft, the view of the receding ground gave me a sickening feeling of vertigo. I had to shut my eyes and block out the sensation. I have just discovered a weakness not felt by the majority who use these elevators. At last, the lift halted at the chosen floor, and I found myself in the corridor lined with room doors. From one, a businessman emerged and gave me a suspicious look as he walked by. But he took no action.

After reaching the ground, I didn't have far to go before arriving at the city library. It was a larger building than the one at San Luis Obispo, hence holding far more books. This time, I didn't browse like I did before. Instead, I did a thorough tour before boarding the bus back to the hostel.

Malibu.

It was the last but one day before flying back to London, and there was just one night to come to spend at the hostel. The following night I'll be flying some 35,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. That morning, which was Monday, my energy levels were high, prompted by nervousness about the coming journey. So what was better than hiring a bicycle and draining some of my energy on a pair of pedals?

I hired a bike from the same shop as I did in 1995. Back then, I rode from the pier to Little Venice and then back under the pier to Will Rogers State Beach, a 4.7-mile (7.6 km) stretch of the Ocean Front Walk. But this time, I wasn't as interested in Little Venice as I was in Malibu. After all, having completed an unplanned hike a couple of days previously, I wanted to explore further, perhaps as far as Malibu town itself. And what better way than by bicycle.

The 12-mile (19.3 km) ride was flat and smooth but not necessarily fast. Little wonder that the most devoted in cycling say that two wheels offer far better scenery than four wheels. Not only the absence of refuelling and polluting the air, but riding a bike offers fitness as well as a greater enjoyment of the scenery, the fresh air, and if riding off-road, greater safety as well.

Nearby residency, Malibu.

The Lagoon, Malibu

Backcountry seen from Malibu Creek.

Returning to Santa Monica.

I rode past Will Rogers State Beach along the Pacific Highway that would eventually lead to San Francisco. The urbanisation then petered out as I exited the L.A. administration area to enter the Malibu district. But I still had a few miles to cover before arriving at what I thought was the coastal town on the other side of the Malibu Creek and Lagoon. Here, there was a large shopping precinct, busy with people, and I naturally assumed that this was Malibu town, despite its small size for a town. In fact, Central Malibu, a larger settlement, is another seven miles further down the road and easily doable on a bicycle. If only I was better informed! I would have had no hesitation to cover the 19 miles from Santa Monica Pier to Central Malibu and back, totalling 38 miles (61 km) in a day. 

But as I checked Google Maps on Malibu to fill in memory gaps, I wondered whether Central Malibu would have been worthy of the extra seven miles of riding. It's a town like any other, and its coastline looked to be less spectacular than the lagoon area where I was. Furthermore, Central Malibu looked to be a vast residential area built on a hilly terrain, and as lifeless as any wealthy estate. As a consequence, it was no accident where Malibu Pier was located. It's on the east side of the lagoon, hence I had to ride past it to get to the shopping precinct. Unfortunately, the pier was closed for maintenance on the day I arrived, missing out on some spectacular photos of the lagoon as seen from the sea.

The shopping precinct was dominated by a pipe sculpture of a human hammerhead. That is the head of a hammer instead of a human looking out to sea as if guarding the precinct from a pirate or enemy invasion. Whether the sculpture is still there to this day is another matter. The precinct was alive and beating with people out on their errands. The lagoon gave extra character to what would have been a "boring" strip of sand lining the Californian coastline. In turn, the hilly backcountry of Malibu gives the area that extra dynamism that has made the whole day out a worthwhile experience.

Yet, this was my last full day in California with one more night to come at the AYH Santa Monica. This was different to 1995 when my visit to Santa Monica was followed by a week in San Francisco. Knowing that within a couple of days, I'll be back home in my apartment in Bracknell, the Round-the-World finished for good. Therefore, during my visit to Malibu, waves of sadness swept through my soul as I looked around under the balmy sunshine. I try to comfort myself. As I saw it, I couldn't see myself as a married man in any way soon. Therefore, another Round-the-World experience was in gestation within the womb of my mind. But that won't be at least in the year 2000 if not later. It's all to do with the budget.

By the evening, I was cycling back to Santa Monica. Near the Pier, I returned the bicycle safely and in good condition to the owners and made my way to the hostel to prepare dinner.

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Next Week: The flight home and time spent contemplating.