On Saturday we arrived in Vegas. Our noses were glued to the window of the plane in excitment.
Vegas is the place where any fantasy can become a reality (if you're that way inclined)...
We walked the length of the Strip 4 times during our short stay there (it took many hours and resulted in very sore feet) and we witnessed that anything goes in Vegas! You can drink in the street and smoke inside, you can gamble with naked people dancing in front of you, you can order a prostitute (swarms of people thrust cards in your face constantly advertising that you can have any type of female delivered to your door within 20 mins!) and I even saw a cop giving his phone number to some scantly clad ladies! Not once did we get asked for ID.
It has to be the most diverse range of people I have ever seen congregated in one place. The rich with their fancy clothes, the beggars who lost everything, the beautiful, the ugly and the down right tragic and scary! The old, the young and the in between, every race you can think of, every style of dress from the trailer trash, the gangstas to the glam (there is no dress code in most casinos). The ecstatic, the curious, the loud and obnoxious, the lovers, the overwhelmed, the devastated and the inebriated without motor control... a yard glass was a common fixture in the hands of hundreds (even I succumbed to buying one!). Singles, couples, groups, family's, hen and stag dos - EVERYTHING!
We explored all the major hotels and what free entertainment they had to offer. The Bellagios fountain, the Mirages erupting Volcano, Treasures Islands sexy sirens and pirate performance, New York's village, Excalibur`s castle, Paris`s Eiffel Tower, Venice`s canals, Luxors pyramid, Circus Circus`s aerialist performances (this is also were we stayed) etc etc Each hotel was like a mall decked out with shops, activities, restaurants and bars, and of course CASINOS. Even the gas stations, the airport and 7 11 has slot machines!
Vegas is a very exciting place - if you have money. We had a great time but if you're on a budget, things can be very limiting. It is a VERY expensive place. Astronomically so. We tried out a slot machine and Andrew played Roulette, but we couldn't afford to put a dent in our wallets so early in the trip so we were cautious. Its also very very hot. In the day time its painful to venture out. During the day it seems so dull and tacky, but at night it comes alive! (Yet it still seems so seedy behind all the commercialization).
We also rented a car and drove out to the Grand Canyon. Definitely a high light!! It was too incredible for words. The vastness is just breath taking and unreal. Our photos look like its just a back drop blue screened in behind us! (Pics are on Facebook now). There are no fences and you can go right up to the edge and look down at the Colorado River. A bus load at a time is delivered to the view points so its not too over run with tourists and is very easy to get photos without other people in the background ruining it which is nice. We sat on a rock soaking in our surroundings and taking pleasure in the fact we could make our own schedule.
We also stopped at the Hoover Dam for a few typical tourist pics on our way back to Vegas. (Had to be done!)
With 3 hours sleep we got the red eye flight to Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico.
Next chapter to come......
