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Published: August 7th 2007
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Well, it looks like someone who works for travelblog deleted all of my previous entries. They're not completely gone as they're sort of saved on google, but I'm going to have to copy and paste them all at some point, which will take a while. Until then I'll just put up the newer ones (I got bored at LAX and wrote them by hand). By the way, I'm in New York now!
When in Hawaii, I booked a bus ticket for vegas for the day I landed in LA. I knew it was an internal flight, but had still anticipated spending at least an hour going through US customs, but I went straight through and found myself in LA with eight hours to kill before my bus. I hung around the bus station and called a few people to relieve my boredom.
Finally got on the bus (which was rammed) and sat next to me was Bernhard, a fellow traveller from Switzerland. Spent the six-hour trip getting to know him and we arranged to go and check out the obvious vegas sites when we arrived. I headed off to my hostel, the Sin City Hostel on the Strip (the
Inside the Venetian
This was on the first floor! main road) and Bernie went off to his. By the time I got myself sorted I realised it was midnight, and I assumed Bernie would have given up on the plan so I went to bed. About half an hour later there was a knock at the door and Bernie was still up for it, so we caught the bus down the strip (it is really long) and walked around the main casinos. We went to the Bellagio, the Venetian, Circus Circus, Caesars Palace and loads more. Even though it was two in the morning, looking around it could have been nine at night. The architecture and interiors were actually really impressive in most of the places, nowhere near the level of tackiness I'd expected. Inside a couple of places, Paris for example (complete with mock Eiffel Tower), the ceilings were painted like a daytime sky, and it did feel like day. I think that's one of the casino's things to make you gamble more, by disrupting your sense of time (there are no clocks anywhere either). My favourite was the Venetian, which had venetian streets and gondolas, even on the first floor! I like the fact that a lot
of the places were so big that you could walk around and find bizarre stuff everywhere, where else could you walk off an escalator at two in the morning to find Elvis and Marilyn Monroe wishing you good morning! I found that vegas is really hot, hotter than Hawaii and the air is so hot you can't even escape to the shade. The air-con in the rooms is too good so they give you a blanket though!
The next day Bernie went off to the Grand Canyon and I spent the day walking around the Franklin Street Experience and had a bit of a gamble in "Lots a Slots" (the lowest stakes place on the strip). Being on my travellers budget I was only prepared to stake $20, but I managed to turn that into $50 on the blackjack table. Didn't play for long, I got bored after about twenty minutes and found myself watching a craps nearby craps game instead! Left there happy with my win, feeling up on vegas and celebrated with a dollar hotdog that was about a foot long (food is really cheap so people can gamble more). Met up with Bernie at the Bellagio
that night for the water show which was pretty good.
The next morning I woke up to find that vegas was getting it's revenge, I was sick and blamed the hotdog. Somehow managed to check out and get on the bus back to LA despite feeling terrible. Spent the next six hours simulateously trying to: fall asleep, not be sick and ignore the screaming kids at the back of the bus. Despite the hotdog, I thought vegas was amazing, one of my favourite places I've visited, though I wouldn't have wanted to spend much longer there as I saw all I wanted. If you don't take the place seriously, there is so much going on that it can keep you entertained all day.
Back in LA I eventually made it to Santa Monica and passed out in the hostel. The next morning I decided to relocate to Hollywood (Santa Monica was expensive), so I headed for Banana Bungalow on Hollywood Boulevard where I spent the next couple of days. Hollywood Boulevard is the one with the Walk of Fame, about 100m from the hostel was Gregory Peck's star and you could see the Hollywood sign from the street.
Las Vegas in the Daytime
It's just not the same in the day! The hostel was really good but the area itself wasn't amazing, there are so many stars that they lose the novelty after you've walked around for a bit and the celebrity handprints aren't that exciting. Started to think my illness had just been heatstroke from the vegas heat, but either way I can't eat hotdogs anymore, I saw a picture of one when I was walking around and nearly barfed right there on the walk of fame (would've been on Crosby, Stills and Nash in case you were wondering!).
Have now left California and am in New York, trying to squeeze everything I want to see into the short few days I have. For some reason I thought it might not be so hot here but it's still boiling!
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Ceri
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Vinny, I'm offended. I thought you phoned me from LA because you missed me!!!! Hot dog sounds gross, i felt a bit ill just reading about it! Glad to hear you had some winnings from Vegas though! Hope you're enjoying your last few days! Ceri and Will x