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The saying goes 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'....right....well in which case this blog should be a very short one :P
However I am going to let you into a few secrets from my stay there, it was short however very sweet! I arrived on Monday 1st March from San Francisco, and have left on Friday 5th! So I had a good few days to explore Vegas! I arrived on the Monday at Las Vegas airport at about 1pm, there was no time difference between San Fran and Vegas, which was quite handy! After getting through baggage claim which relative ease, I went to go and find my complimentary shuttle from the aiport to the hotel, this was harder than it sounds! First of all I followed the signs for the shuttle buses, then when I got out to the shuttles, the only ones I could see where ones that you had to pay for, it was only like $7 but still, being a backpacker and all that, you have to save money where ever possible ;) So I was still to find my complimentary shuttle, so I asked a few people at the airport and they directed me to where the hotel complimentary shuttles pick you up from, once I got there I asked the 'Bike Police' where to wait to be picked up by the Travelodge shuttle, I no I really splashed out in Vegas staying in a Travelodge hotel, lol! They were like 'oh the shuttle will pick you up from anywhere along this road' so i went and sat down on a bench, where the shuttle was going to pick me up from, and got my hefty backpack off of my back as believe me, you dont wont that heavy thing on your back for too long! Anyway, after sitting on this bench for an hour, and seeing multiple shuttles from various hotels come and go, I decided enough was enough and so I went back up to the 'Bike Police' and said to them 'look ive been waiting for an hour for this shuttle and it still hasnt arrived' they said 'well have you phoned them' obviously i hadnt as i had presumed it would be making multiple stops to and from the airport, so anyway I phoned up the hotel and they were their within 15 minutes to pick me up, but I was still frustrated that the 'Bike Police' didnt tell me that in the first place! As it meant I wasted an hour just sitting around! The 1 minute 30 second phone call also cost me £2, which is why i have not been using my phone at all up until now, but skype instead as its free, haha!
Once at the hotel, I checked in and was allocated a room, I was quite impressed with the hotel I must say, My room could have slept 3 people, but I had the bed to myself which was lovely! I also had a tv, microwave, desk, safe, armchair, fridge....you name it, the room had it! So it kinda felt like luxury, after coming from a hostel, even though it was just a travelodge so I can only imagine how luxurious a hotel on the strip would have felt to me! There were infact cheaper hotels on the strip but for all of them you have to be 21 to check in because they have casinos, so I had the choice of about 4 motels as they accept 18 years olds and above to check in and I opted to stay at the travelodge, the free breakfast swung the vote ;) There wasnt a lot of choice though, by this I mean you either had cheerios or raison bran (or both if you were greedy lol) and some pastries which were all the same except there were 4 varieties, apple, jam, lemon and just icing! Tea, coffee, apple and orange juice were also free! So taking everything into consideration, the hotel suited my needs, I wouldnt say it would be a good place to stay for a family though! It also had a swimming pool, I didnt see anyone brave enough to go in it, however there were a couple of people sunbathing around the outside of it!
I didnt arrive at the hotel until about 3pm because of the mishaps at the airport and once i had unpacked and got sorted it was about 4pm before I ventured out and walked to the strip, which was a good 10 minutes walk away! Once I got here I just a nose about, to familiarise myself with the surroundings, but didnt actually manage to walk much of the strip, I went to a Walgreens supermarket and brought some bagels and crisps and a coke and then went back to the hotel to eat it before heading off to sleep!
The next day, Tuesday, I managed to walk the whole 5.6 mile long strip and back again, the strip was amazing especially at night when it was all lit up, I started out at the Mandalay Bay resort and worked my way up to the stratosphere! I was out for 8 hours on the strip this day and was able to witness the strip transform from night to day, there is a completely different vibe at night to the day time, the strip just seems to come alive at night, this is after all the city that never sleeps! I didnt really go in too many of the hotels this day, I was just taking photos of the hotels from the outside, there was the odd exception for example when I went into the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio and when I went to watch a juggler at the circus circus! I also managed to watch the free shows that took place on the strip this day for example the Bellagio water fountains which were amazing and the Mirage's Volcano eruption, as well as Treasure Islands, Sirens show! All were great especially as they were free but the fountains were definitely the best thing! There were so many elvis impersonators on the strip also, some good....most not so good! There was also a bloke dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow, he looked quite realistic, there were also plenty of people that were standing really still, trying to look like statues and then scaring people! Quite a laugh especially when the people werent expecting it! The weather was hot hot hot, my whole stay in las vegas, it was certainly the warmest place of my travels so far, I think it felt warmer as well because it is in the desert, I think the temperature was around 20oC in the daytime but it certainly felt cool at night! I think I saved myself a lot of money by not being 21 also, as it meant I couldnt gamble so saved me throwing money away! The casinos themselves however are unbelieveable, they are so big, the amount of money that must be gambled in Las Vegas in one day must be astonishing!
I also witnessed a fair few weddings, as you would expect with their being on average 300 weddings each day in Vegas and upto 4500 weddings on Valentines day and Christmas day! The highlight though would have to be seeing these newlyweds already having an argument with what looked like the best man outside the Bellagio just minutes after getting married! I think the length of my stay was a good amount of time to spend in Vegas when you cannot gamble or drink as after a while it would get a bit repetitive! The rollarcoasters at New York New York and the Stratosphere and Sahara also looked a little too much for me, they went upside down, twisted and turned in every direction, I would definitely have been sick had I gone on one of those rides, also the ride on the stratosphere leans of over the edge of the strip from the strips tallest building, which would be even more scary should it break down and you were stuck on it for 7 hours which is what happened to some people a couple of years ago! For dinner this night I found this really cheap noodle meal for $1.50 which could be microwaved in my room, and it was pretty decent considering, it went down well with a packet of crisps anyhow :P
The next day, Wednesday, I was up at 5.30am, because this was the day that I went to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam! On the Monday when I arrived, the driver that picked me up from the airport told me that the lowest cost to see the Grand Canyon was $180, which made me think there was no chance of going to see it as it would just be too expensive, but after enquring at a few places along the strip and a bit of bartering I managed to get a few deals on the table all offering similar trips, the lowest was $80 a whole $100 cheaper than the original quote, I also had an offer of $120, $125 and $95! In the end I opted for the $95 deal (I no I didnt get the cheapest one...shock horror lol) but the tour company looked the most reputable and trustworthy plus they gave you unlimited water throughout the day! I went on a bus trip because going by helicopter was so expensive, the lowest price was like $250, so getting the bus was my only option, it was a long day but it was worth it for the jaw dropping views once we reached the canyon, when i first saw it i was in awe at how huge it was and just found it hard to take in what I was seeing, it was breathtaking, it was one of those things that until youve seen it, you just cannot describe the feeling you get when you first lay eyes on it, it is just out of this world, it is ridiculously big and all natural, nothing is man made which makes it all the more astonishing! It was cold at the top of the Canyon however, beacuse we were 7000 plus foot above sea level, there was thick snow at the top of the canyon too! The tour guide for the day was also quality, he was so clued up on his knowledge of the canyon, nevada, las vegas and so on, and he passed all this knowledge onto us, the trouble is ive forgotton most of it, I do remember that it takes the average person 14.9 seconds to reach the bottom of the canyon if they fall in, i managed to resist this thankfully! Although most of the canyon has a small wall around it as security to prevent you falling in there are some parts which are unprotected and are alot more dangerous especially in the icy snow on the ground, so everytime I got near the edge woth no protection it was slightly worrying to think in 14.9 seconds I could be at the bottom! The tour guide was also incredibly funny, he made loads of jokes throughout the day to make it a bit more entertaining and to make the journey go a bit faster! Some of the humour I didnt get however as it was American humour! lol!
It was a verrrry long day, as we got picked up from out hotels at 6.30am sharp, then we were transported to a different hotel, called the luxor which is where all the tour buses gathered and we were grouped together and put on the correct coach, where we recieved our free breakfast which consisted of 2 blueberry muffins, a tropicana, a banana and a cereal bar! It was quite a treat, and we ate this as we made progress to our first stop on the way to the Canyon, which was at the Hoover Dam, after passing Lake Mead! We stopped off at the Hoover Dam for a photo session for about 20 minutes before we were back on the coach and heading to out next comfort stop which was at this garage, with a few shops on the Route 66! We stopped here for about 15 minutes before we headed to a small town called Williams, where we picked up our lunch, which was a bag of Walkers crisps, a lovely sandwich (it felt so good eating something fresh) and a bag of top notch cookies! We also had free water available all day long! We stopped here for about 15 minutes also before we set off towards the Grand Canyon which was a further hour from Williams, it took a total of 5 hours to get from the strip in Las Vegas to get to the Grand Canyon, which is in Arizona, my fourth american state! So for that hour we ate our lunch on the coach before we reached the Grand Canyon National Park! During this visit I also found out that there were actually residents living in the Grand Canyon village, and there was also a school, police station and hospital, it was like a small community...what a place to live ehh...right next to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! As Ive said once we got through Brett Angel Lodge where we were dropped off the view was indescribable! We got to spend a total of 3 hours a the Canyon which was a generous amount of time, before getting back on the coach at about 4pm to make the 5 hour journey home, but with the additonal rest points, it turned into a 6 hour journey home as we didnt return to our hotels until 10pm so it was an incredibly long day and I was knackered when I got in, but it was so worth the money, and in a way im glad i didnt do the helicopter tour as i wouldnt have got to experience as much of the canyon or the surrounding areas that we stopped off at! On the coach journey back we also got to watch the movie 2012, and Terry Fator's show live at the Mirage hotel, Terry was the winner of America's got talent last year, he is a ventrilaquist, and also does a lot of singing in his act, he was great fun and kept us entertained for an hour of the trip home, but but this time I was so tired and just wanted to go to sleep! On the way there they also had the new Star Trek movie on, but this gave me an opportunity to sleep as im not into the Trek all that much!
The next day, Thurday, my last day on the strip I was up at 8.30am only because the free breakfast finished at 9am, and i couldnt miss it! My one chance of every day to really refuel! So I quickly chucked on a hoody, jeans and my shoes and went to get breakfast before coming back to my room to try to get some more sleep, which i was unsuccessful at, by which stage i went on skype to talk to the family, then had a shower and went to experience the Las Vegas strip for my final time! I started the day by going to the 'Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas' sign to get my photo taken, then decided that I would explore the hotels more in depth than I did on my first day, so I went in Mandalay Bay and considered going into the shark aquarium they have there but the $18 price tag out me off, then i walked through to the luxor, before heading into the MGM grand and going to see the Lion Habitat there, where they have 2 lions on display at any one time, the Lions dont live at the Habitat however as they live at a ranch about 20 minutes from the strip, where they are transported from when it is their turn to be on show, as they are about 10 lions which are used in a rotation system at the habitat, and there are 2 sets of lions rotated everyday at the habitat, all the lions go to the MGM grand about 2 times a week for about 8 hours each time! From here I went past the Harley Davidson Cafe, which is pretty cool, then headed to the Flamingo, then came out at Bally's, following this I went in the Paris hotel which has a Eiffel Tower out the front, and L'arc de Triomphe, after the Paris, I went into Planet Hollywood and the Venetian, where I saw people in boats pretending to be floating down stream in Venice with the bloke directing the boat singing! After this I walked past the wax museum, and headed toward the Wynn and Encore hotels which are relatively new! Then continued on towards the Circus Circus again to check out a couple more shows, one was of these two gymnastics doing these extreme routines, where it looked as if they could die at various moments throughout the routine as it was pretty dangerous stuff, like spinning in the air with just a brace around your neck for support and hanging upside down by just their feet etc! The next act was a little less dangerous as it was clown doing the usual stuff such as juggling and just generally making a fool of himself! After this I started to head back towards the south end of the strip which is the better end as you start getting towards downtown and the rougher end of the strip the more north you go, having said that i didnt feel in danger at any point! There are also so many people that are handing out cards with escorts pictures and photos on throughout the length of the strip, and they are their practically 24/7, just hitting the cards together to make a noise and get your attention and try and hand them to you! I ignored them on every occasion however...except one time where I thought you know im going to get one of those cards as a little memento as i cant buy any souvieners as I have no room in my backpack and very little money to spend on souveiners! So I put my hand out to the guy to get one of the cards and he gave me a thick wad of about 10, I was thinking to myself..I only wanted one souviener but hey i have 10 now! On the way back to my hotel I stopped off at this fashoin shopping mall and went and had a look in the Aria hotel, which is the new hotel on the strip and cost a stupid amount of money to build, the most money ever spent on any hotel in Vegas, but to be honest when your inside your like 'where did all the money go' alright it did look good but not as good as you would expect considering the billions that was spent on it! I also went in New York New York which has quite cool surroundings as it has a statue of liberty replica outside and the new york skyline as well as the brooklyn bridge! It felt good to think that I had seen the real deal though!
Following this I returned to my hotel to eat another microwave noodle meal for dinner before getting packed and eventually getting to sleep by midnight. I was then up at 7.20 the next morning to catch my flight at 11am, I got showered and dressed, had my breakfast, made sure that I had everything packed and hadnt left anything behind then went and checked out and got a free lift to the aiport which was literally 5 minutes away, once there I was checked in, through security and waiting at my gate for boarding within 45 minutes which gave me a chance of to make the most of the airports free wifi!
Anyhow...its off to LA from here, to go celebrity spotting at the red carpet of the oscars :P Vegas was certainly great fun, but I dont think I could have spent much more time there as its geared up to make as much money out of the tourists as possible and once you seen the strip day and night there isnt too much more to see, unless you want to gamble! So I think I was wise in the amount of time I spent there, and of course its easy to pick a highlight from my stay here....the Grand Canyon...breathtaking!
I hope everybody is doing well back home, I miss everyone so much but Im having an awesome time, and its going so quickly, im 3 weeks in now and am on the last part of my American adventure before I head to the Cook Islands!
Love you all!
Toby
xxxxx
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