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Sin City', 'the city that never sleeps', there are many names given to Las Vegas and when we arrived it was clear why it was so named. Las Vegas is like a huge playground for adults where you're encouraged to spend quick and live fast.
From the moment we arrived I was constantly thrust leaflets and cards for 'girls, girls, girls' and no matter how many times I ignored one person, the next (2 steps away) tried again even with Abi on my arm. Aside from these audacious and, in my opinion, rude attempts there was still a lot in Vegas that I loved.
On day one we spent our time walking around The Strip gawping at the incredibly lavish and bold architecture of the hotels and oversized statues. Mingling around these were costume dressed Las Vegans/ Las Vegasions/ Las Vegies (...locals) looking for photo opportunities amongst the crowds of tourists.
By recommendation, in the evening we decided to watch a show. This wasn't as easy a choice as we'd expected as there are countless shows of all different varieties and contexts to suit any preference. The show we finally chose was La Reve (or The Dream) which was an acrobatic show similar to Cirque du Soleil in a purpose built circular theatre. La Reve had everything in it; acrobatics, strong men, magicians, syncronised swimming, diving, dancing and more, and although it was slightly on the pricey side for my liking it was well worth every penny. It even managed to hit the top spot as Abi's favourite part of the trip so far.
After a welcomed rest for the next day relaxing by the pool and at the hotel we prepared for an early start the following. ready to venture from Nevada into Arizona. Why Arizona?... The Grand Canyon! We booked a full day tour that took us the 4 1/2 hours from Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam.
Although on any normal trip the Hoover Dam would have provided great views, after Lynn Canyon and Kelowna it seemed to lose some of its impressiveness. Despite this it was still interesting to marvel at the ingenuity and bravery that went into building the Dam in a time where tools and equipment were far less advanced than today. As equally impressive was the surrounding towns that had been purpose built to house the workers (and their families) for the Dam, beginning as a mass of tented fields and slowly developing into more constructed houses.
Throughout our day our bus driver, who also acted as tour guide, provided us with plenty of amusement and in amongst educating us we found ourselves waiting for his unique phrases like 'sweeeeeeeett!' and 'oooh dawggy!'
When we eventually reached our destination we walked off the bus to a beautiful sun teasing us to take plenty of photos to which we obliged unreservedly! The Canyon is described best in its name - Grand! At the first viewing point we looked over an expanse that peaked and troughed within a huge casm about a mile in height. Looking down it was hard to really grasp the depth of this natural wonder.
As we strolled around the edge of the Canyon our eyes were drawn to the incredible diffeerence in rock type, the changes in contours and the small winding river hardly visible in the centre of the Canyon. When the first pioneers reached the edge of Canyon they documented the river to be 6 feet wide, however in reality it is well over 10 times this.=
We spent about three hours in awe of the size of this wonder, photographing from every angle, getting as close to the edge as we dared. Other than a few designated viewing platforms a lot of the photo's were taken where there was no barrier. While on a viewing platform we met a few American grandparents who introduced themselves amongst the hordes of visitors and showed us their gekko, a toy animal they were taking pictures of during their holidays to show their grandson. Now here's a sight you wont see very often - we watched the grandad sit over the edge of the Canyon with Gekko beside, lean up against a tree that wes teatering on the edge and walk out on precarious ledges in order to get interesting and original photo's with the stuffed toy....absolutely bonkers!
After walking the edge of this great expanse we headed back which allowed for a brief night time view of the Hoover Dam and it's lights from the coach.
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