The Bright Lights of Las Vegas
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2010
1
37
53
Trip End
Oct 08, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday, June 20, 2010
My hostel is downtown in the slightly seedier part of town where all the older casinos are - dusty streets, faded and busted old neon signs, grotty motels and 'colourful' local characters; the main strip is a 20min bus ride down south. But the hostel is cheap, has a pool and jacuzzi, and has a number of pretty cool and chilled people here from all over. First night is a nothing night, but the next day I walk the lengths of the strip and catch up with a friend before heading to the Rio for a few hours to watch the WSOP in play. There must be about 3000 people competing here, and the sound of chips being thrown constantly is mesmerising. I spot Chris Ferguson playing, and Michael Grekko ('Bepe' from Eastenders for you soap addicts), who's a well-know and established celeb pro poker player who made it through to the final table when I was watching.
For those who haven't been to Vegas, The 'Strip' is smaller but more spaced out than I had imagined for some reason, but still spaced out over about 4km. Distances do a funny thing to the mind here: everything looks like its a lot closer than it actually is. The hotels that line the main drag are huge and I recognise a number of the famous sites in between the palm trees that are scattered down the central reservation. Spotless blue skies hover above the towering edifices, and there's certainly a lot of cheesy tackiness amongst the bright neon lights that aim to attract casual tourists and hardcore gamblers alike. I understand what people say when they describe the place as a poohole and probably wouldn't have stayed as long as I did had it not been for a couple of my friends being here, but there's a fair amount you can do outside Sin City too, such as trekking in the Red Rock hills, day-tours to the Grand Canyon, and Hoover Dam is just down the road too.
The second evening doesn't really see me doing much, and I'm not really in a socialising mood - not the best heading out to busy casinos on your own when you feel socially retarded, so I end up not gambling and just knocking back a couple of beers before heading back. I don't recommend this place to single travellers unless you're really gregarious and make random friends easily, which I don't.
It's pool party time!! Friday day is for chatting idly by the pool, drinking, playing music and generally passing the time with a bunch of like-minded travellers including 2 Canadian fellas, 2 Swede girls, and 2 Danish girls. Then it's off to Eve nightclub near the very swanky and brand new Aria hotel/casino with my good old friend Liv's poker buddies where I meet the likes of (***shameless name-dropping alert***) Tiffany Michelle, Adam Levy and Jeff Madsen, all big names on the poker circuit, the very hot and lovely Trishelle Cannaella, and a few others. A heavy night ensues and I just about make it back to the hostel at some point in the morning.
The next couple of days will take me briefly past the impressive Hoover dam, the mind-blowing Grand Canyon, through tiny towns in the middle of nowhere, and to Moab on the edge of Arches national park before returning to Salt Lake City. Last minute chores are done, and it's a 'short' 12h bus journey over to the west coast to San Francisco. Time to see what all the fuss is about...
