Whatever Happens in Las Vegas, Stays in Las Vegas!
5th Apr
This almost felt like a page from the ‘Amazing Race’… I had a major screw-up… went to the wrong airport for my flight to Las Vegas! Somehow I got mixed up between Ronald Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. With 45 mins to go… I had to pay $85 ($75 + tips) for a private fast car to Dulles.
Still, I missed my 9.30pm flight despite reaching at 9.25pm. The good news is, I may be able to squeeze into the 8.15am flight in the morning. In the meantime, I will have to sleep in the airport!
6th Apr-7th Apr
I barely made it into the 8.15am plane… if there was one more seat available, the couple that was in front of me in the waiting list would have left instead of me!
The sliver lining on this large gloomy dark cloud was that I was rewarded with the magnificent view of the Grand Canyon from air when we are 15 mins from Las Vegas! The Grand Canyon would be impossible to see at night… the $85 and the 12-hr self-induced delay was probably worth it! (plus that back-breaking sleep in the airport!) I could never quite imagine the scale of the Grand Canyon… endless valleys cut into the red barren ground… I couldn’t even see the limits of these valleys when we were so high up! I guess this is gonna be one main highlight of my trip.
The Grand Canyon from the sky.... wow....
From the McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas), I took the cheapest option to my hostel by taking the public CAT bus (bus 108) (the bus stop was well hidden in a corner of the airport!). My hostel (USA Hostels Las Vegas) is located in downtown Las Vegas which is a good 45 mins by bus away from the major casinos on the Strip. (This is backpacking for you…) Unfazed, I walked all the way from downtown along the Strip (also known as Las Vegas Blvd) and killed my legs in the process!
Las Vegas welcomed me with it's money-sucking tentacles......
My hostel in the seedier part of downtown Las Vegas...
Downtown Las Vegas... the whole ceiling lights up at night with music in the Fremont Street Experience!
The casinos are mostly located on the southern Strip… the more interesting thing of note along the northern Strip is the numerous wedding chapels here! There are even drive-thru wedding chapels here! I saw one wedding chapel where rock star, Bon Jovi got married in… cool!
One of the numerous little wedding chapels on the Strip... this one wedded Bon Jovi!
Proof!
Walking on, I pretty much checked out all of the major free attractions along the northern Strip. All the major hotel-casinos have free attractions to attract tourists and would-be gamblers. Among the best for me are:
1) Fountains of Bellagio (impressive! Outside Bellagio)
2) Sirens of TI (very Las Vegas! Outside Treasure Island)
3) Volcano Eruption at Mirage (why is there even a volcano?! Outside Mirage)
4) Fremont Street Experience (not too bad… this is in downtown Las Vegas)
What the hell?! This Mirage volcano blows flames!
There were more that I have seen and some that I missed… I’ll probably come back Las Vegas to check them out again sometime!
The hotel-casinos there are really quite amazing… you have Venetian, which is modeled after Venice (including those gondolas!); Bellagio, with the spectacular fountains; Paris-Las Vegas, shaped like the Effel tower; New York-New York, with the exterior that looks just like New York City’s skyline and Luxor, which is the famous pyramid hotel!
The Venetian... wow...
The ceilings of the Venetian are all like this....... wow!
Paris-Las Vegas... there are hotel rooms in that 'Eiffel Tower'!
New York-New York and its crazy roller coaster!
Treasure Island.... the 'Sirens of TI' shows here at dusk!
The Mirage
Caesars Palace... so big that I got lost inside!
Excalibur...
Luxor's pyramid-shaped hotel complete with a Sphynx!
The sad thing was… I lost quite a bit of money without even planning to gamble in the first place. This is the danger of Las Vegas… you see casinos everywhere that you can easily get hooked by them! There are even slot machines right in the airport! (basically, you can’t run away from them!). I would have been able to afford a decent hotel stay, eat nice restaurant meals and probably catch a good Cirque de Soleil show with the money I lost!
Aside from gambling… Las Vegas did have some interesting adult-themed attractions but … whatever happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas! I guess I’ll visit Las Vegas again sometime!
This almost felt like a page from the ‘Amazing Race’… I had a major screw-up… went to the wrong airport for my flight to Las Vegas! Somehow I got mixed up between Ronald Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. With 45 mins to go… I had to pay $85 ($75 + tips) for a private fast car to Dulles.
Still, I missed my 9.30pm flight despite reaching at 9.25pm. The good news is, I may be able to squeeze into the 8.15am flight in the morning. In the meantime, I will have to sleep in the airport!
6th Apr-7th Apr
I barely made it into the 8.15am plane… if there was one more seat available, the couple that was in front of me in the waiting list would have left instead of me!
The sliver lining on this large gloomy dark cloud was that I was rewarded with the magnificent view of the Grand Canyon from air when we are 15 mins from Las Vegas! The Grand Canyon would be impossible to see at night… the $85 and the 12-hr self-induced delay was probably worth it! (plus that back-breaking sleep in the airport!) I could never quite imagine the scale of the Grand Canyon… endless valleys cut into the red barren ground… I couldn’t even see the limits of these valleys when we were so high up! I guess this is gonna be one main highlight of my trip.
The Grand Canyon from the sky.... wow....
From the McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas), I took the cheapest option to my hostel by taking the public CAT bus (bus 108) (the bus stop was well hidden in a corner of the airport!). My hostel (USA Hostels Las Vegas) is located in downtown Las Vegas which is a good 45 mins by bus away from the major casinos on the Strip. (This is backpacking for you…) Unfazed, I walked all the way from downtown along the Strip (also known as Las Vegas Blvd) and killed my legs in the process!
Las Vegas welcomed me with it's money-sucking tentacles......
My hostel in the seedier part of downtown Las Vegas...
Downtown Las Vegas... the whole ceiling lights up at night with music in the Fremont Street Experience!
The casinos are mostly located on the southern Strip… the more interesting thing of note along the northern Strip is the numerous wedding chapels here! There are even drive-thru wedding chapels here! I saw one wedding chapel where rock star, Bon Jovi got married in… cool!
One of the numerous little wedding chapels on the Strip... this one wedded Bon Jovi!
Proof!
Walking on, I pretty much checked out all of the major free attractions along the northern Strip. All the major hotel-casinos have free attractions to attract tourists and would-be gamblers. Among the best for me are:
1) Fountains of Bellagio (impressive! Outside Bellagio)
2) Sirens of TI (very Las Vegas! Outside Treasure Island)
3) Volcano Eruption at Mirage (why is there even a volcano?! Outside Mirage)
4) Fremont Street Experience (not too bad… this is in downtown Las Vegas)
What the hell?! This Mirage volcano blows flames!
There were more that I have seen and some that I missed… I’ll probably come back Las Vegas to check them out again sometime!
The hotel-casinos there are really quite amazing… you have Venetian, which is modeled after Venice (including those gondolas!); Bellagio, with the spectacular fountains; Paris-Las Vegas, shaped like the Effel tower; New York-New York, with the exterior that looks just like New York City’s skyline and Luxor, which is the famous pyramid hotel!
The Venetian... wow...
The ceilings of the Venetian are all like this....... wow!
Paris-Las Vegas... there are hotel rooms in that 'Eiffel Tower'!
New York-New York and its crazy roller coaster!
Treasure Island.... the 'Sirens of TI' shows here at dusk!
The Mirage
Caesars Palace... so big that I got lost inside!
Excalibur...
Luxor's pyramid-shaped hotel complete with a Sphynx!
The sad thing was… I lost quite a bit of money without even planning to gamble in the first place. This is the danger of Las Vegas… you see casinos everywhere that you can easily get hooked by them! There are even slot machines right in the airport! (basically, you can’t run away from them!). I would have been able to afford a decent hotel stay, eat nice restaurant meals and probably catch a good Cirque de Soleil show with the money I lost!
Aside from gambling… Las Vegas did have some interesting adult-themed attractions but … whatever happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas! I guess I’ll visit Las Vegas again sometime!
4 Comments:
At 10:13 PM ,
coot said...
looks very interesting! lookin forward to ur pics posted online.. and definitly if u keep on backpacking, u will become very fit, come back who knows can get ippt gold standard
At 1:49 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Hmmm.... "what happens in vegas stays in vegas"... this phrase sounds so very familiar... aw aw aw woo... haha...
At 11:14 PM ,
Unknown said...
haha! mr bao.... i rem those days... ya lor... and basically its abt the same as last time! keke
At 11:15 PM ,
Unknown said...
coot... no la...unless there is ippt for walking long dists haha!
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