Nobody hammers the truth into your head as vividly as Hollywood. And if that truth is to be believed, The City of Angels is the most heavenly, happening, hip place on this planet. Spread between sprawling deserts to the east and the grand Pacific on the west, Los Angeles, at 4,081 square miles, is to be seen to be believed. Los Angeles County is larger in population than 42 states in the US with an annual budget of $16.2 billion.

LA has always been associated with everything glamorous. For its completely non-glamorous and socially dead sister, the San Francisco Bay Area, LA has served as a weekend getaway for quite some time. A treacherous winding one-lane CA-152 connects South-101 to Interstate-5 which cuts straight across boring California farmland to LA. The upside is that speeds of 80+ mph are quite common on this stretch except on long weekends when stop-and-go is much more commonplace.

Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

The Getty Center, located in the Santa Monica Mountains, off the San Diego Freeway (I-405), took more than 12 years and over $1 billion (excluding all the exhibits) to construct. In addition to the art masterpieces displayed here, the architecture itself is a work of art. Sitting over 110 acres of land, the Center is made of 1.2 million square feet of cleft-cut Italian travertine quarried in Bagni di Tivoli, Italy. The beige colored textured fossilized travertine looks especially stunning in the evening sun.

Beverly Hills, California

Driving west, southwest on Santa Monica Boulevard from CA-101 in West Hollywood you can't help but think what this Hollywood hype is all about. You might as well be in the filthiest part of the world and not know it. If given one guess as to which street is the divider between the cities of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, I would bet on North Doheny Drive. Try it out yourself. Driving on Santa Monica Blvd you are hit in the face by richness as soon as you cross Doheny. The roads become smoother, the parks are greener and more open, and the landscape changes entirely to palm-lined avenues sporting million-dollar houses and shamelessly expensive shopping malls.

Since you are this far into crass opulence, you might as well indulge in a bit of window shopping at the Rodeo Drive and Via Rodeo Malls. The Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau has an entire itinerary planned out for you if you want to go shopping for a celebrity home. If you aren't that organized, just head up west into the mountains from Sunset, and you are bound to come across houses that claim No Tresspassing. Armed Response.

Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California

Its as much an observatory today as a viewing parapet for the famed Hollywood sign and the haze that engulfs LA starting as early as 8 in the morning. This monument has been the center of attraction in numerous movies and really does provide uninhibited views of the city. What it doesn't provide is any astronomical viewing worthy of mention. The 12inch scope is pointed towards the heavens every evening (weather permitting) and hordes of people line up to watch the moon, mostly. After half-an-hour in the queue, I was treated to a haze-enhanced wiggly moon. I get better views from home through my 8inch SCT.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The LACMA is another example of great art within a great architectural wonder. We visited LACMA amidst a heavy downpour - a rarity in LA. The rain dashed all hopes of photographing the LACMA from the outside, while copyright laws prohibited me from taking snaps inside leaving me with scarcely anything more than elevators and chairs to capture. Though we spent most of our time in the Modern and Contemporary Art section (the museum is huge spanning several buildings), there is a substantial collection of Photography and Southeast Asian Art from India which I plan to visit later.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, California

Stepping a few notes down, the NHM is everyone's museum. Not very grand or expensive, it is located in downtown LA near the University of Southern California on Exposition Boulevard. Parking can be found on the road (if you are extremely lucky) or on Menlo Avenue. Right next door is the Los Angeles Coliseum where the 1984 Olympic Games took place.