Arriving at Las Vegas

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at about 8.30 at night we arrived in a sea of light at the city of las Vegas. A beautiful sight all those lights. No carbon tax here. Everything went smoothly so within half an hour we were outside a cool airport into a warm Nevada night. A cab took us quickly to our Monte Carlo hotel. The check in gave us a nice room on the 27th floor that gave a nice view over part of the city. On those small flights you do not get much food so after a nice shower we went down to find something to eat. Not very hard for everything is open 24 hours. Plenty of choice, Starbuck, Subway, Pizza, what ever you like. Biggest problem, getting passed all the poker machines. Believe it or not, we did. Main reason, we were to tired. Our only interest was our bed. We heard the temperature would be in the 40 degrees, when we left for a walk over the strip, that is the main street where all the famous imitation buildings are. Buildings like the Luxor, the Eifel tower, MGM, Venice etc. To many to mention. You can spent hours but we had not the time neither the energies. To hot to walk, most tried to find shady walkways and those were hard to find. We had to be back to book a trip to the Grand Canyon. Planned for the next day. Early morning we were picked up and brought to Henderson airfield where a small plane took us to the Canyon. There we were weight to get the right distribution over the helicopter. Four more people joined us for the flight to the bottom of the Canyon. There we had to decent a small track to the Colorado river where a boat took us onto the water. A very muddy brown stream. The Colorado river feeds the water to the Hoover dam, which supplies a large section of America with power. There are no Crocs, but the rattle snakes were thankfully asleep. After the boat ride, which allows for spectacular scenery, the helicopter flew us back to the plateau above the Canyon. A bus ride followed, which has several stops. The first Eagle point, with it's scary close to the edge photo opportunities. Nowhere a barrier or railing to be seen. There is also a well weathered left over of an Indian village. This land and area belongs to the Hualapai nation. The Indians do not call themselves tribes but nations. They are extremely well organised with hundreds of tourists taking part in all sorts of tours. The last stop for us was, at Guano point, offering breath taking panoramic canyons views. Here we had our lunch offered by the natives. Some form of beef stew, mash potatoes, corn on the cob, a piece of chocolate cake and a bottle of water. The beef was tasty but thready and we wondered if it was Bison. ( Joke). There is also a Grand Canyon sky walk. A glass bridge suspended four thousand feet above the Colorado river. No video or Camera allowed. WE were short of time anyway, because of the plane ride back. So photo opportunities were little. This of the long wait for the bus ride back to the landing strip. Tired but satisfied we returned to the hotel. We promised ourselves to see a show. The Human Nature were also on the strip, but we felt we can see them at home. We went to a show, called KA by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM ground. Well it was once in a lifetime experience. The Artists were flying through and along the walls in metal cages. The stage could be moved in all sorts of angles even up right. The movements of the Artists was acrobatic, mostly performed in the air. All in all an amazing, fabulous show. Following day it was time to say Good bye to this wonderful city. We moved to a bit colder climate, Canada. Our next stop was Calgary. Bye for now Liz & Allan.

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