Highway 1. cut into the cliffside. rises and falls to great effect. We stop regularly to admire the scenery. pop into rustic galleries and nautically-themed diners. and
go on short walks to view waterfalls falling from coastal cliffs or take in the preserved frontier wilderness of Los Padres national forest. There are less than 3()() hotel rooms in the whole of Big Sur. so we camp — beside a group of all- American teenage goths on the first night: by a river under redwoods in Big Sur river valley on the second. The beachside fairground at Santa Cruz. the setting of 80s teen movie.
The Lost Boys. offers us a brief
frolic before we begin the climbs and majestic descents of hilly San Francisco. Here we stay around the corner from bustling (‘hinatown and the (‘ity Lights bookstore — the place where all that beatnik jazz talk started. Although City Lights feels just like any other independent bookstore. the prospect of Jack Kerouac leaning against the counter. rapping on some arcane matter gives me a buzz.
We return that night for a reading by Reverend Billy. Minister of the Church of Stop Shopping. Billy is an activist turned performance artist. well—read and undeniably brilliant. His comic anti-corporate gospel preaching (I now have it as fact that Mickey Mouse is the
devil) has us screaming ‘Amenl‘ and laughing hysterically.
Our time is up. After admiring the Golden (iate Bridge and stopping off in Berkeley. we scream down the speedy l-lighway 5. arriving in LA just in time to drop off the car and fly out that evening. Admittedly. there has been a lot of driving. but really. as four-wheeled adventures go. you just can‘t beat sunny California.
DRIVING THROUGH CALIFORNIA
Getting there and around Standard return flights from Glasgow or Edinburgh to LA average around $5.650. Car hire is a relatively simple affair With major companies like Thrifty. Hertz and Avis providing shuttle services from LA airport to nearby offices. Pricing/car comparisons and bookings are available online: www.comparecarreritalsco.uk is a good starting point.
Advice
Public phones rarely function in California so buying or renting a US mobile (or compatible US Sim card) is worth consideration. Bring (or rent) a tent and perhaps a small cooker, as there are very few lodgings in Big Sur and certain parts of national and state parks.
Useful websites: www.visitcalifornia.corn wwwtrii)advisor.coin/Tourieri g28996~ CaliforniaVacations.html
Bold/y going where no one else wants to I The seventh World Travel and Tourism summit, which took place in Lisbon this month, was the first such event to address the impact the travel industry is having on the environment. Chairman Jean-Claude Baumgarten said, ‘It is time to ask ourselves “Has the industry fulfilled its promises? Are we all exemplary world citizens?”’ Speakers included this column’s current hero, José Sécrates, Prime Minister of Portugal, socialist, eco-warrior and all- round good egg, and, er, billionaire Stelios of easyJet fame. EasyJet, incidentally, has just entered into a price cutting war with rivals Ryanair, with both companies promising to slash some European flights to as little as £10 including tax.
I In completely unrelated news, the list-fanatics on the Forbes Traveler website this month announced the top 50 most-visited tourist attractions in the world for 2006. Times Square in New York topped the list of attractions. of which nearly 40% were in America. Almost everything you'd expect to see represented was present and correct — Sydney Opera House, the Great Wall of China and an awful lot of Disney. Seven of the attractions were in Paris. six in London. There was not a Kelvingrove Museum nor an Edinburgh Castle in sight. though — in fact the only non-London UK location on the list was number 21, Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Just to put that in perspective, number 18 on the list was the Eiffel Tower. Blackpool Pleasure Beach attracts 5.7 million visitors a year - we're not entirely sure from where, but that's a lot of Kiss Me Quick hats. Perhaps you'd like a little more perspective? Last year, more peeple rode depressed donkeys and screamed that they wanted to go faster than visited the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids of Giza, the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal or the Vatican. Almost makes you proud to be British, doesn’t it? (Kirstin lnnes)
Sea Eagles are one of Britain’s rarest birds as well as being its largest. And there’s nowhere better to appreciate their soaring 8ft wingspan than on the coasts of Mull.
24 routes. Thousands of Caledonian MacBraynewaves
www.calmac.co.uk
Caledonian MacBrayne and CalMac are trading names of CalMac Ferries Ltd.
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