Las Vegas and Washington, DC - What happens in Vegas and DC, does not stay in Vegas and DC!

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Vegas baby!! After a few too many Greyhound trips, and not fancying a 20-hour bus journey, I decided to travel in style and get a cheap flight from San Fran to Sin City. In an ideal world I would have stayed at one of the mega resorts on the strip. However, my budget had other ideas and I had to settle for a dorm bed at Sin City Hostel. It advertised itself as being ‘on the strip’; however they failed to mention that it was still around three miles to get to most of the huge hotel-casinos. It was time to get myself acquainted with ‘the Deuce’, the bus that transports people up and down the strip 24 hours a day. Sounds good? Not really, seeing as most of the drivers were arrogant idiots who need reminding that they are, in fact, only bus drivers in Vegas. And it took the bus about an hour to get all the way down the strip!!

So by the time we reached the South end of the strip I was sufficiently hungry to check out one of the buffets. Lonely Planet recommended the spread put on by Luxor, the hotel-casino shaped like a pyramid that had quite an Egyptian feel to it. And for once the Book Of Lies told the truth! It was amazing - all you could eat and drink for $20. I was blown away by the size of the starters section! It’s fair to say I was a bit bloated as I checked out a few of the other casinos, including a close encounter with tigers at the MGM-Grand.

The best way to appreciate the strip has to be at night though. That evening I headed out with two guys from the hostel, Pete from Australia and Joey, from Hull! The mission was to beat the system - get free drinks at the casinos whilst spending very little on the machines, but still winning money. In reality it was tough to make my $5 last long enough for a waitress to come over and offer a drink! And out of Ceasar’s Palace, Tropicana and Bellagio, I lost money in all of them! All this didn’t matter in the end, as, walking through the Bellagio, who did we bump into but Eddie Izzard!?!? He was in town filming for the new Ocean’s film, and proved to be a bloody nice bloke. Joey took a photo of myself with him, but I never got it. So you’ll have to trust me!

The next day I proved to be quite slow out of the blocks, but managed to get to the strip for another look around some of the casinos, when whom would I bump in to but Eddie Izzard again! Ok, not really, it was actually Mike, but he could be mistaken for Mr Izzard. Reunited after a massive fortnight apart, we decided to take a tour of the strip together. Our mission was to tick off as many of the freebies as possible, starting with witnessing the faux-volcano erupting outside the Mirage, and the ‘spectacular’ outdoor show ‘Sirens of TI’ at Treasure Island. I found it spectacularly naff, with guys and girls dancing and miming to cheesy and supposedly sexy songs. True Vegas! We went back to our respective hostels pretty early (for Vegas), as the next day I had a 6am start for a trip to the Grand Canyon.

Ouch! How am I gonna cope when I have a proper job?! I opened my eyes just about wide enough to find my way onto the bus. I was on the tour with Lukas and Anastacia from the hostel, along with a load of people from the posh hotels, leading to a mini solidarity for the day! On route to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim we took a stop at the Hoover Dam. Damn, it was big! A few token facts - It was originally called Boulder Dam, and was completed in 1935 at a cost of $175 million. Its original purpose was flood control, but now helps supply Colorado River water and hydroelectric power to Las Vegas and elsewhere. These are good facts people!

One of my favourite parts of the day was driving along what I believe is the only remaining ‘authentic’ part of Route 66, or something like that. But it meant we got to hang out in a store that, in its previous life as a restaurant, has been host to the likes of Elvis and James Dean. We also got a few token shots of us with a bunch of bikers and their Harleys, as they took a stop on route to a big biker rally.

It was afternoon by the time we reached the Canyon. We had two hours to take a reasonably short walk along the South Rim, whilst those who couldn’t do it had the option of staying on the bus, which was going to the end of the walking route. There was one old guy on the bus, bless him, who didn’t really understand the instructions and spent the 2 hours at the start point next to the toilets! And he never saw the Grand Canyon!

Those who’ve seen the Grand Canyon will hopefully know how hard it is to convey just how bloody big it is! The canyon itself is 277 miles long and nearly a mile deep; the experience of creeping to the edge and looking down at the multi-layered rocks slowly leading to the river below is something else. I’ll see if the photos can do it justice.

Returned to have a night out with Mikey, who was waiting at my hostel along with the guys I’d met before, and Anastacia and Lukas. A few Red Bulls were needed to survive a super-long day! It was in another very dazed state that myself, Anastacia and Lukas attempted to tick off all the remaining activities on the Vegas ‘to do’ list. That meant going to see Mike Tyson train - unfortunately he was no longer in town as of the previous day. I think if Lukas had seen him at that point he would have taken him on, that’s just how angry he was! Time to calm down with a trip to Circus Circus, defo my fave of the hotel-casinos. It was just like being a kid again! We watched some circus acts, and then had a go at some of the wicked fairground games. I won 3 teddy bears in total; the proudest of those wins was beating a toddler at some horse racing game. Don’t worry; I let him have the teddy bear!

It had got to the stage where I was all Vegas-ed out! Time to get on a plane and head over to the east coast. First stop was Washington, DC. I had three days to sample the delights of the capital, and unfortunately I was feeling dreadful for every single one of them! Luckily, most of DC’s most famous monuments and museums are all located together at the National Mall, a 400ft-wide green expanse stretching from Capitol Hill to the Potomac River. This is also the sight for many a historical mass gathering, such as Martin Luther King Junior’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

The best bit about all these monuments and museums was that they were all free! That suits my current budget! Had to get out there early doors, however, to guarantee myself a ticket to get in to the Capitol building. Alongside the White House, this is probably Washington’s most prominent landmark, the cornerstone of which was laid by George Washington in 1793. I also had to be quick off the draw to get a ticket to enter the Washington monument, a 555ft-tall white obelisk offering killer views of the city. Other free highlights included the Washington Zoo, which had pandas and everything! Finally there was the National Archives Museum, where I got to check out the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Washington DC truly is paradise for those travelling on a budget; I don’t think the same applies to New York! Although I am really looking forward to it - my next, and final, stop!! x

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