Las Vegas

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Flew to Las Vegas and found the Cat Hostel ok. Was going to go to the downtown (historical district and oldest part of Vegas) with the hostel crowd but they were taking too long so I started off walking by myself. Bad idea and too many nutters and weirdos and even some people you wouldn't want to meet.. Downtown (Freeman St) was ok. There was a covered pedestrian mall which had a light show and a flyng fox running the whole way across.

Next day walked the strip (Las Vegas Boulevard). Stopped at the Stratasphere Casino and saw the view of Vegas from the top. They also have a bungy jump and other crazy rides which shoot you up into the air or hang and flip you around off the edge of the building. At least one the only has a lap bar to stop you splatting on the ground - no harness! I'm sure mum would have been itching to have a go!?

Hopped from one crazy casino to another in the blistering heat. Most casinos have a theme or some major attraction to hook people in. They are all like mini cities within cities with hotel suites (of course), casinos, bars, restaurants, shopping , conference rooms, ball rooms, pools, night clubs and entertainment venues. Some of the main casinos and attractions:
Bellagio - has a very spectacular dancing fountain display in the lake ouside
MGM - has a lion habitat. Yes lions living in a casino - who do I complain to?
Mirage - volcano erupts on the hour in the evening and spews fake lava
New York - New York - reproduces famous New York landmarks and has a massive roller coaster part of which runs through the hotel
The Venetion - reproduces famous Venetian landmarks, including gondola rides on canals running through the hotel Caesar's Palace - Greece-Roman fantasyland complete with Roman statues which come alive on the hour and a massive Roman inspired pool
Eiffel Tower - reproduces famous French landmarks including a lookout from the Eiffel Tower
Flamingo - Yes has a habitat with little pink birdies

All the casinos/hotels seem to be trying to fulfill somekind of fantasy. None have windows or clocks to encourage gamblers to lose track of time. Waitresses will come around with drinks (free ones if you're losing enough at the tables) to keep you firmly locked to your seat at the table. I'm sure they'd pee for you too if you could! Maybe just get the punters to wear nappies!

There are some very good deals to be had. There is a lot of entertainment on every night from circus shows, comedy, magic shows, cabaret etc and you can same day tickets at big discounts. Lots of places have extended happy hours and some have cheap drinks all day. I found a place which had $1 marguaritas nd $1.99 foot long hot dogs.

Went on a day trip to the Grand Canyon (South Rim). This is crazy as the South Rim is about 5 hours drive from Vegas. Left at 6am and took about an hour to do the pickups from the other hotels. Breakfast was a sweet fruit danish thingy and a sickly sweet peanut butter flavoured 'musli bar'. I'm a big fan of sugar but so much for breakfast? How can they eat this stuff?

Stopped at Hoover Dam on the way which is a very impressive man-made architectural structure but not what I was really interested in. Also stopped at Williams which as the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the interstate. This was crap as we only stopped for 10 minutes which didn't leave time to look in all the kitchy gift shops to get the obligatory tacky Route 66 souvenir, go into the old diners and take loads of photos. I did manage to run out and find a Route 66 sign to snap though. I'm sure that's never been done before!

The bus driver explained the walking trail and pickup times to us at least three times. This was due to idiots forgetting the time in the past and causing a hassle. Apparently if you get left behind a taxi to bring you back to Vegas costs $900. Not sure if that's true or just menetioned for shock tactics. In any case I decided not to be left behind.

The bus driver also delighted in telling us the stats of how many deaths per year happen in the Canyon due to suicide, dehydration, accident etc. There have even been a couple of books written about some of the stand-out tragedies such as the couple who went on a boat trip down the Colorado for their honeymoon and disappeared without a trace. Sounds very 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' to me.

Also had an encounter with one very over-zealous park ranger who started pointing up at the sky and frightening little kiddies with his screaming 'Condor, codor - American Condor!'. The way he carried on, I thought he may have to change his pants....! Other wildlife encountered were cute little squirrels who came close and begged for food then shot off as soon as you tried to take their photo.

The end of our trail came out amongst some lodges and shops. As the day was stinking hot the queue at the ice-cream shop was really long. There was cookie-dough flavoured ice-cream and one the the big unanswered questions in the world is 'Why are Americans so obsessed with cookie dough????!!'

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