Viva Las Vegas - Part 2

Returning back to Las Vegas, we checked into The Stratosphere, a Hotel/Casino complex at the absolute northernmost point on The Strip. Compared with Mandalay Bay (which is the southernmost hotel), things were decidedly lower-rent, so we didn't hang around long before heading southwards to wage an assault on previously-unexplored casinos. Bec had picked up a "free gaming" voucher for one of them, so we made our way past the Bellagio Fountains (good):


... and the strip-show touts (bad) to the Monte Carlo, a fairly middle-of-the-road place. But that was the scene of our Great Gambling Turnaround, as we converted our ten virtual dollars into twenty real ones. Johnny became obsessed with the "free money" potential of the various "Club Membership" schemes offered by the casinos - almost all of them offer a similar voucher upon joining - and converted ten virtual Monte Carlo dollars into real ones, before we headed back out to some of the most exorbitant places on The Strip.

The rest of the evening is a bit of a blur now, as the free drinks took hold and the gambling euphoria escalated. We had dinner in Paris, where we were amused by the waitress asking if we'd like to be seated "inside or out?":


We also took in the amazing Venetian, entering via the completely unnecessary travelator through a replica of the Rialto bridge. There on the second floor (yes, the second floor!) is an indoor canal with gondoliers, bridges, Venetian architecture and the same amazing sky painted on the ceiling as we'd seen in Paris:


Of course, no trip to Vegas is complete without a visit to Caesar's Palace, arguably the hotel/casino that started the opulence arms-race which is driving all the hotels to ever-greater levels of lunacy:


After also passing through the Sahara (where Johnny is now also a member!), we finished the night back at the Strat, where the (very cheap) Pontoon table was very kind to us, guaranteeing that we would leave Las Vegas in almost the same financial position as when we had arrived. But with considerably more toxins in our livers...

A Grand Canyon

OK - back to America now!

After a couple of Vegas nights we fled the bright lights and crossed the Hoover Dam - our destination, The Grand Canyon. While it is possible to get from Las Vegas to the West Rim of the canyon in about 2-3 hours, we were headed for the South Rim, which is more like six.


We were booked in for a helicopter flyover of the canyon, which was possibly not the best way to get our first look at it. While it's undoubtedly very impressive when you fly low over the trees at the edge and then suddenly everything drops away, it's extremely difficult to retain a sense of scale when you're a mile above the floor of the big ditch. The commentary tells you you're flying over the mighty Colorado River, which is over 125m wide - but because it's carved such a huge groove for itself, and the chopper isn't allowed to swoop down into the valley, it looks like just another average-sized muddy river. It was cool to be able to look down at the oldest exposed stones on Earth however. I know - older than Mick and Keef!


Later that evening we went back to the park and looked at the canyon the old-fashioned way. We were very surprised that in the land of the lawsuit, you're completely free to wander up to, and indeed over, the edge of the canyon. This was extremely cool, and made the enormity of it much more real. As the sun set and the shadows played over the rock faces, Bec went on a photo rampage, very nearly melting our memory card with the workload.



Not content with sunset studies, the next morning Bec forced me to we got up at 5.30am to catch the sunrise over the canyon. Unfortunately some low cloud meant the morning sun never got a really good crack at the canyon - but it was certainly great to experience the transition in such a beautiful setting.


And with that, we hopped back in the convertible and set sail back to Vegas. Yep, we were heading back for more...

Viva Las Vegas - Part 1

What an amazing place. Rising out of the desert like a neon-lit oasis, Las Vegas was a place we'd been alternately dreading and dying to see. Would it be the ultra-tacky, fake Elvis-infested dive of Johnny's nightmares or the breathtakingly opulent backdrop of Bec's jackpot-winning dreams? Well it turns out that while it is undoubtedly a unique and hilarious vacation destination, almost every silver lining has an associated cloud...

As we arrived on the Vegas Strip the top came down and we soaked in the atmosphere. Which unfortunately was mostly carbon monoxide. As opposed to the old Vegas (Fremont Street), The Strip is 8 lanes wide and pretty much heaves with traffic 24/7. Our introduction was also slightly spoilt by getting lost trying to find our way into the car park at the super-premium Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.


However things quickly turned around once we got to our room, undoubtedly the most luxurious we've ever been in, featuring a massive plasma TV, monster bathtub and mesmerising views up The Strip. But on the (obligatory for Vegas) flip-side, our extortionate room rate didn't include breakfast or wireless internet - something we'd virtually taken for granted, even in rooms costing a third as much!

We figured we should get to know our "local" first and as such spent the first evening entirely within the mega-complex of Mandalay Bay. But before we knew it, it was 11pm and almost all the restaurant options were shut! It also became apparent that the casino's apparent generosity (free drinks if you're gambling - or appear to be gambling!) does not extend to its numerous restaurants. Luckily we'd gone through the hunger barrier and really only needed a snack, so we ended up ordering an appetiser - Nachos to share. What came out would probably have fed an entire Mexican township:


We did our best, but about half of the nachos went back to the kitchen, no doubt to be scraped into the bin along with who-knows-how-many other tons of waste this place must produce daily. Quite a sobering thought. Our first impression of the gambling at Mandalay Bay was also that it was extremely expensive - it didn't seem to be possible to risk less than $15 at a time on any table game, which is too much for us high rollers. We made friends with an extremely-drunk Jamaican dude playing poker, who advised that Mandalay was definitely one of the premium-priced casino floors, and to try "a few doors up" for more affordable tables. But as it was already 3am we decided to call it a night. Where did the time go? We have no idea! Damn free drinks...

The next day we took our Caribbean friend's advice and ventured up the strip, through the impressive Egyptian-themed pyramid, Luxor:


and into the hilariously-tacky mock-medieval castle, Excalibur:


While undoubtedly dodgy, Excalibur did have some redeeming qualities, namely that we could gamble at $5 a pop, and also that they ran free poker lessons. Now we both know how to play Texas Hold'em, but had never played at a casino before, and poker rooms are very intimidating places at the best of times, so it was great to get some tips on the etiquette of playing in Vegas. Of course, at the conclusion of the lesson, there is an opportunity to turn your new-found skills into cash by playing your classmates, which we both agreed to try. Bec bombed out quite early but Johnny hung in for a while, experiencing the uniquely heart-pounding thrill of winning a poker hand, for real money, in Vegas, with a big bluff.