Week 59 Las Vegas and the end of the road (maybe)

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I would love to just have this entry read “Sorry, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” but to be honest I didn’t do enough that was exciting, naughty or outrageous enough to keep it secret. What I did have was a nice final week to my 13-month Round the World Tour in a mad town, made crazier with the addition of Halloween. I am seriously hoping that was why I got chatted up by a Hotdog, a Smurf and a naturally portly Fred Flintstone.

From San Francisco I had to fly via Los Angeles to reach Vegas and American Airlines made it very difficult as their ticketing system still had my flight dated in June. They blamed BA for not updating the AA information, despite the fact that several other airlines I had flown since I changed my ticket dates had all managed to work quite happily with BA. Anyhow, I eventually managed to get on the two flights and happily both me and my luggage arrived in the gambling and party capital of Nevada.

A regular item on the daily News programs since I have been in the USA is the Homeland Security Alert Level, which currently stands at High or Orange. I am not sure that I like been told each day of how scared I should be and I am not sure what exactly I have been told - what is the difference between Orange and some other colour ? How do I adapt my alertness ? Anyhow, the security checks and procedures varied considerably between US airports, from almost nothing apart from weighing your hand luggage and taking away any bottles of water, through to full body scans, sniffer dogs and bag rummages. Go figure.

I knew that I could get great bargain hotel stays in Las Vegas if I booked ahead and searched the web enough, managing to sign up a couple of months ago for 3 very sweet deals that would give me a variety of experiences with a stay at either end of the famous Strip and one right in the middle. My first 4 nights were in a studio apartment at the Signature MGM just a block or two back from the south end. The apartment was lovely, well equipped and luxurious and was a wonderful calm oasis away from the madness that you find as soon as you get onto the Strip or enter any of the casinos. It had a walkway to the huge MGM hotel where I could use all of the facilities, including their famous swimming pools, but I was disappointed to find that their Lazy River was closed (where you float around in a big rubber ring) as that’s what I had been particularly looking forward to.

Never mind, I got enough exercise by the miles of walking you have to do in Vegas - they even have installed moving walkways in some of the longer corridors and escalators out on the streets to carry you up to the bridges that cross the main streets. I found one curving escalator in the Venetian Hotel that winds you down several floors in a graceful arc. Everywhere I went there were people moaning long and loud about having to walk. I didn’t have any issues as the weather was perfect with mid-70’s during the day and a chilly 54 at night for all but the last 2 days when we had a warm 80 degrees.

One of the things you see everywhere (including on the streets, in the shops and even in the toilets) are people walking around clutching massive drinking vessels. Most of them are the half-yard long drink cups that look like a thin dumbbell but some go for the full yard-long versions and some sport huge buckets worn on a strap over one or both shoulders in all shapes and colours - guitars, barrels, footballs, etc. Many of the hotels do special deals for “endless cups” where you get top ups for the day that work out at about $50, but the choice of cocktails are very limited. I watched as a drunk guy by the pool tipped one to his lips while lying down, resulting in double embarrassment - firstly because it was a daft thing to do and he got covered in the contents and secondly it revealed that he had a bright pink girly cocktail in his cup.

On my second night I went to see the comedian Carrot Top at the Luxor Hotel just down the road. He uses hundreds of different props during the show and was quite funny but his most amusing moments were when he lost the plot of what he was meant to be doing and ad-libed as he is very good at improvisation and witty one liners. It was interesting to see inside the pyramid shaped hotel with its bright laser light on the top that can be seen for miles.

Taking advantage of being by the MGM, I booked a consultation at their branch of the famous Christophe of Beverly Hills hairdressers, then decided to go mad and agreed to an expensive new hair colour and restyle It was worth it and I love my new look thanks to Paul (colour) and Eric (cut) and various unnamed ladies and gentlemen that washed my hair, poured me champagne, topped up my drink and took photos of my finished hairstyle. It was a lovely experience and I felt thoroughly spoiled. The champagne was a lovely touch and I floated out of the salon.

I am aware of how easy it is to lose a lot of money when you gamble, so allowed myself just $20 per day to spend on the slots, blackjack or craps on my middle 5 nights, plus $20 that Joy had anted up to try to win big for her - nope, her dosh was eaten by the dreaded slot machines too. I played the penny slots as they gave me hours of fun for my dollars rather than the one-buck per play machines that felt as if you were just pouring away a fist full of notes, only played blackjack during the day when they had cheap minimum bet tables open and never built up the courage to play on the crap tables as they always seemed to be in full swing with rowdy people and I was a complete novice. I know most of the common craps plays in theory but with the Halloween party people in town it was a bit too boisterous for a beginner. Anyhow, I won a little, lost a little, won a bit more then lost my limit each day, so wont be funding my next trip from this stop.

The next show I went to was the colourful and splendid “Love”, the Cirque du Soleil production at the Mirage Hotel featuring Beatles music. I had great views from about half way up the steeply raked seats that circled the stage, but to be honest as there is action to watch in all directions and at all heights there are no bad seats at this show. There was not really any discernible story but the sets and performances were imaginative and slightly weird which is the typical Cirque style, with amazing costumes and of course great music. I loved it.

I moved to the centre of the strip to the famous Caesars Palace hotel and was really disappointed. It was heaving with people, the public areas were smelly as their ventilation system doesn’t appear to be as effective as other casinos in getting rid of the invasive cigarette smells (you can smoke indoors in this town), you had to queue for absolutely everything for hours and they tapped you for extra money for everything too. The room was very ordinary and didn’t have a coffee maker or kettle which was a drag. The only good thing was the location right in the middle of the action and a walk away from dozens of other large hotels and a couple of big shopping areas, all of which sold top end labels that were nice to window shop.

Several weeks ago I had booked tickets to see Cher on 31st, not because I am a particular fan although I do like her music, but it looked like a good place to enjoy an evening away from the mayhem that would descend on Halloween Night. The show was at the Colosseum in Caesars so I didn’t have far to get home either. It was an enjoyable evening, although she spent a lot of time off stage changing into yet another outfit while the audience watched film clips covering various periods of her life such as the old Sonny & Cher shows, so I felt a bit cheated as the tickets were very expensive. However when she was performing her voice was rich and powerful and she still looks amazing. Her dance troop were OK but not terribly coordinated and I came away feeling a bit flat, thinking that the cheaper and longer Cirque du Soleil show was much better.

So I headed for a bar right next to one of the main walkways and managed to get a seat at the bar that was quite high up, giving an uninterrupted view of hundreds of passing people all dressed in their costumes. There was a fun crowd of gay guys at the bar and we had an amusing couple of hours watching and commenting on the huge variety of outfits that passed beneath us, some of which were truly amazing and very clever and some were so bad that the wearers should have been locked up. It turned out to be a really good evening, even though I sat next to a Mexican Taco for most of it.

My final move was yesterday to the Trump Hotel at the Northern end of the Strip where I got a room for my final night on the 46th floor with a panoramic view over the city to the mountains. Its just what I expected, luxurious but very over the top with a good deal of bling. Luckily its over the road from the Fashion Show shopping mall where there are lots of places to eat, so its been quite a cheap stay for me as I got an amazing internet offer that includes a late check out at 4pm which is just right as I leave for the airport at 6pm for my 9pm flight home to the UK.

For those interested in statistics, here is the final count of trip elements for a tour that lasted 414 nights, carrying all my belongings in one case and one daysack, staying in :
64 hotels
41 Hostels./motels
14 B&B/guesthouses
3 Family/Friends
8 Condo/apartments
1 Farm
Whilst travelling and sightseeing via the following transport:
196 Buses
31 Flights
32 Trains
29 Boats
3 Helicopters
plus countless taxis, pedelos/rickshaws and lifts by car.

Thank you to all my loyal readers and to those who have sent kind and encouraging messages. Its very sad to be writing this last entry, but I think I may need to do a bit more travelling or have a few more adventures before I settle down in old Blighty. That is unless somebody makes me an offer I cant refuse - I am open to offers if somebody wants to commission me to travel the World reviewing high end hotels, spas or restaurants or if a magazine or paper wants to pay me to write some insightful articles about travelling alone. But whatever I do next, watch this space....................................

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