Day 24 - The Grand Canyon

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Another night of not much sleep. I was in time for the bus this time, however, the bus driver told me I was not able to take my luggage with me. And I had just checked out.

This got me worried. But I sorted it fast; I had no other option. I had to go back to the hostel dorm, knock on the door (luckily others were awake at the time), and I had to ask them to watch over it for me. The roommate Cyril, from London, just said to leave it here, it will be fine. I was just a little concerned because I had already checked out - but like I said, I had no other choice.

So I left my luggage behind, and headed back to the bus, getting ready to tour to the Grand Canyon. It was 5:45am. We got to the check-in point and were ready to depart by 7:30.

Our tour guide, Dwayne, was one funny black man. He called himself the most handsome tour bus driver in town. If we didn't believe him, we would have to check out all the others.

Anyway, our first stop was Hoover Dam. We passed through Boulder City, a very boring town, for the construction workers of Hoover Dam when it was being built. Gambling and drinking here was illegal, because no one wanted their construction workers to be hungover on the job, or something like that. Kind of ironic, though, since there was a casino not too far away from the dam. There are casinos everywhere here, even at 7-Eleven. No joke. Welcome to Vegas.

We checked out Hoover Dam, and it was quite chilly here, but the view from the bridge was great. We soon headed across the bridge, into the state of Arizona.

We then got to the Grand Canyon. This land belongs to the natives. And it was quite cold here. Should I also mention that I forgot to bring my jacket? Well, you can thank the fact that I wasn't allowed to bring my luggage with me. I was worked up about getting it to a safe place, and ended up forgetting to take a jacket, even though I knew it would be cold. Although, it didn't hurt too bad. I could say the windchill was around 10 degrees. That's about 34, for you Americans.

Anyway, our first viewing point for the Grand Canyon was at Eagle Point, where the skywalk is. I had that part of the tour purchased - $30 for the skywalk, but it wasn't even that great, nor was I allowed to take my camera on there, and nor were the pictures that were taken for us for free. I thought that $30 would at least get me one free picture.

I proceeded to the next viewpoint soon after. I spent a bit of time here, had a meal, then headed back to the bus terminal and it was back to Vegas from there.

I went back to my hostel, and was relieved to see my bag, unmoved, and in one piece. I thanked Cyril, and we sat down and had a chat for a bit. He has been travelling for a lot of his life, and he had quite many stories to share. We headed out together to grab some dinner at Albo's pizza. We ordered pasta, and got completely stuffed. But for the most part, we sat, chatted, shared our stories and experiences. He had good advice to offer, and actually gave me a good idea. Something for me to consider.

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