Vegas Baby!
Trip Start
Nov 11, 2009
1
10
26
Trip End
Jul 26, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Writing this live from the heart of Sin City in Caesars Palace (the only place with free wifi it appears). Journey from Denver to Vegas started well by meeting a 32 year old girl called Violet who was travelling with a pillowcase full of marbles!! She insisted I touched the marbles but I couldn’t play with them as they are decorative only! She also gave me a pear pudding and a bag of tropical salad. Luckily she sat next to me for just 2 hours in which time she burst into tears - I ignored her and pretended to be asleep).
After Violets crazy departure I had 2 seats right at the front to myself the perfect greyhound experience!! I spread out, slept watched Heroes on my ipod! It was a bumpy journey though and the first 4 hours were spent winding round the mountains, when I woke up I was surrounded by the red Rocky’s of Nevada and the sun was shining.Vegas has to be the easiest city I’ve visited to navigate round its literally one long 12 mile strip “ Las Vegas Blvd” so I just walked straight down from the station to my first hotel the Sahara.
It was just like the movies with hundreds of gamblers playing the machines/tables inside the hotel. Somehow I have a room with 2 double beds in it which is kinda cool for $40 a night, I wish I could sub let the bed. After unloading and showering etc I set of down the main strip - My hotel is one of the first along with Stratosphere, then further down you get the more famous Caesers, Mirage and New York New York etcI stopped inside each one as I passed, Vegas might be easy but its LOOOOOONG and this took me the rest of the day - about 5 or 6 hours.
The best hotel has to be Casers or the Bellagio which had an amazing fountain display outside every 20 minutes.I was absolutely exhausted and had an early night crashing and having about 14 hours sleep!Today I’ve just been doing some more exploring/picture taking, drive through weddings etc Bette Midler is tomorrow night and New Years day I’m heading to the Grand Canyon. In-between I’m going to check out a night club and organise California.Money is very tight now - doesn’t help that I have no debit card and credit card is down to the last £100 so its all about $1 burgers at burger king for the next few days.My Indonesian friends from Denver have arrived and will try and meet them tonight or tomorrow.Bye for now!
Thursday 31st December 2009 - 3.38am
Just back from driving round Las Vegas with 3 Mexican immigrants, better start from the beginning.Yesterday was another day of exploring the city and its Casinos/Malls - I lost abut $30 playing craps, roulette and poker, just don’t get it!!! So have given up on gambling while I’m ahead, or not rather!I was looking at man bags in the Venetian hotel (which has a duplicate of St Marks Square in Venice) and the sales assistant was been very flirty and after chatting for a while he offered to take me to a few bars when he finished…I was in a YES man kind of mood and had a really good night driving round and visiting a few bars. His name was Aldo or Alex as he likes to be called and gave me loads of tips on free shows to see etc then dropped me of at my hotel.
As soon as I got in I was so sick! I think its all the crap food I’ve been eating - I did have 2 double cheeseburgers, a mc chicken sandwich and a mc rib that day so now I’m on healthy eating kick!Aldo (not the shoe shop, the Mexican) text me today saying he was meeting with some friends going to a new Casino on the strip “Ario” and Planet Hollywood and could get us free drinks if I wanted to come..again I said YES! But first I had the one and only peoples diva Bette Midler to see.
The show was as camp as you can imagine split into 3 the audience was Jews, Gays and Old people, but it was a funny show with a mixture of stand up comedy and classic songs e.g. Like a rose and Wind beneath my wings (once in a lifetime opportunity) just wish I could come back for Cher next week haha.After Bette at Casers Palace I met Aldo at the Venetian and he drove us to Planet Hollywood to meet George or Horhay as he preferred to be called we had a few drinks there then headed across town to the newest Hotel/Casino Ario - it was amazing, indoor waterfalls, massive sculptures and lighting displays, never seen anything like it and stands out a mile from the other hotels I’ve seen. Aldo was friends with one of the cocktail girls so we got lots of free drinks.
Then another Mexican guy called Mario arrives and has a friend who owns a bar in downtown Vegas so we drive there (everyone is quite drunk by now) but again it doesn’t seem to stop them wanting to drive just like in Dallas and New Orleans. I take a few pictures and they freak out and say its best that they are not photographed, they also speak a lot of Spanish and I pick up a few words, “Marijuana” is the main one and also immigration!The bar is a total dive bar with prostitutes and the ugliest hilly billy’s I’ve ever met (even on the greyhound) but more free drinks! I finally realise this is not the safest situation and ask Aldo to drive me back - which thankfully he does!Random night but they were nice guys, just a little bit illegal, maybe.They’ve offered to show me round tomorrow (NYE) but I’m hoping for nice normal hostel friends to bring in the new year.Night time xPS spent the day time visiting Flamingos, Lions and free shows at various hotels.
2nd January 2010 - 6.23am - New Year
Im sat on the floor of Greyhound Las Vegas and it isn’t a pretty sight at 6am here.So walking through down town Vegas at 5am is not recommended, I was approached by a million beggars, thieves and prostitutes, my advice get a TAXI!!!I’ve had about 4 hours sleep in 2 days soo might make this a quick one…maybe.New Years eve was amazing and thankfully wasn’t spent on my own!
The new hostel had a house party that started at 8 with free booze and food, ended up making friends with a South African guy who gave me all my California tips (where I’m heading today), then 2 guys from the Netherlands.At 10pm we headed to the strip, it took over an hour to walk to the Bellagio fountains but the atmosphere was crazy! The whole street had been closed of and 700,000 people were dancing, singing and hugging each other randomly (including me) I was getting on really well with the guys from the Netherlands then 2 guys kissed in front of us and they were like “f(*ing faggots” “I hate Gays” etc ironically they said I was the coolest person they have met since travelling and ended up buying me my drinks all night (irony)! But the homophobia did make me realise something, friends often ask why do gays need their own bars? Societies and prides??? Well its because if we kiss, hold hands or act gay in anyway in the street or public we still get abuse and to be made uncomfortable. I didn’t know why until now and it’s because we cant do the things in clubs that straight people do, if another clubber doesn’t do something then bouncers probably will! (think that’s my first gay rights rant EVER haha).
When the countdown began all the hotels put on massive displays with the countdown then it was like a scene from a Disney movie and the sky lit up with the most crazy fireworks Ive ever seen, they lasted for 10 minutes and included the fountain display to Viva Las Vegas by Elvis. I got in at about 4am and had to be up at 5.15 for the Grand Canyon tour, I was a little groggy when the bus picked me up to say the least.
It took over 3 hours to get to the Canyon, stopping at the Hoover Dam, and a small town for lunch. The whole route was through the Marja Desert, passing inactive volcanoes and big cactus etcI made friends with the lady next to me she was from Brazil and forgot her camera so I have to email her pictures.When you see the Grand Canyon it’s a bit surreal as the depth and scale of what your seeing is so big and like nothing you could expect - the pictures you see don’t do it justice, it also the atmosphere and the peace up there! I don’t really know what to say apart from amazing and one of the 7 wonders ticked!Got back really late so had a Denny’s and hit the sack ready for waking up at 5am for Greyhound fun to San Diego!
