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Other entries in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, USA - 20 to 26 July 2007

Viva Las Vegas!!!!!

Caught our first Greyhound bus on 20th.  There were some strange people on it.  Young blacks, trash talking and calling themselves and their friends "nigger" all the time.  When we stopped for a half our break a Mexican guy started to smoke the biggest joint you have ever seen - its legal for personal use in California.  We have also found out that guys getting out of prison are given free Greyhound bus tickets. Pete's pissed off as we had to pay for ours!!!  For all of this,  we felt safe on the bus, as it was only 8 hours travelling in daylight. The Greyhound bus is not as good as others we have travelled on and there are no allocated seat, so if you dont get there early you can miss out on a seat altogether,  even though you have a ticket.  The trip through the Mojave Desert was great though.

We had booked Circus Circus hotel,  in the cheapies out the back,  called the Manor. Friday and Saturday nights were US$114 and Sunday to Thursday only US$46.  We had a king room with a great bathroom, tv, air con, fridge and swimming pool.  Air conditioning is an absolute necessity as it is incredibly hot,  reaching  100 regularly and had been 114 the week before we arrived.  The hotel was very busy with people everywhere. The hotel casino is amazing, its such a huge place and takes ages to walk around as it is full of shops, bars and restaurants,  including an indoor amusement park with a roller coaster ride.  Also had a regular shows with trapeze artists, jugglers and other circus acts,  which were free. Also had a wedding chapel and we often saw the bride and groom in their wedding outfits,  playing the pokies.

Once again couldnt get over the amount of huge people and the huge amounts they eat.  Once again there were lots of people in wheelchairs around.  We think its because they are simply too big to walk,  especially in the heat.  America is the place for everything BIG.  Big people,  big meals,  big cars,  big drinks.  There are a lot of homeless in Vegas and although they dont bother you much,  they are hard to ignore.

Food and drinks were quite expensive compared with South America and Mexico,  but cheaper than Aussi.  We ate at 2 buffets, one at $12.99 and the other $14.99.  Went to Bills one night for their Rib Eye special at $14.99 and this was very good.

We wanted to go to a supermarket.  There are none near The Strip and when we asked for directions at reception they told us to get a cab as nobody walks here.  We decided to walk anyway, as we wanted to look around and ended up walking 5 huge blocks (probably about 3 miles) in extreme heat.  We completed our shopping and caught the bus back.

There is a bus called The Deuce which goes up and down Las Vegas Boulevard  (The Strip) and we caught it to the end and walked back,  which is about 4 miles,  being entertained all the way.  You can have a good laugh on the bus as the drivers are comedians and their commentary can be very funny.  The Strip is an amazing place,  full of bright lights and something happening all the time.  Some of the hotels have shows outside the hotel that you can watch from the footpath.  We saw the shows at the  Bellagio, the Mirage and Treasure Island.  We had a hot dog at "New York, New York" and a drink at "MGM Grand" where they still have 2 MGM lions in a glass enclosed cage in one of the pokies areas.

Couldn't get into to see The Beatles "Love" as it was all booked out and Celine Dion, Elton John and Seinfeld were not performing until August.  We got half price tickets for The Coasters, The Platters and The Drifters at The Sahara.  We knew every song they sang and they had us all singing along.  It was a great show even though they weren't the originals of course.  Also got half price tickets for La Cage,  a female impersonators show,  where they dressed up Cher, Dolly Parton,  Bet Midler, Joan Rivers,  to name a few.

"The Frontier",  one of the oldest casinos, has just closed down and been sold for US$1.2billion and will be knocked down and a new huge hotel and casino built in its place.

We visited the outlet stores one afternoon.  Great place.  Could have spent a fortune as they had such great bargains.  I purchased a few things and got 5 tops for about US$80.  Shame we cant carry much more in our suitcases.

Took a 12 hour 4 wheel drive tour to Death Valley - only 4 of us and the driver.  The other couple were from Latvia,  but could speak good English.  Just as well as our Latvian needs a bit of work!!!!  At times the temperature reached 113 in the valley - it often gets up to 130 so we were told.  It was an interesting tour, but not worth the money at $200 per person.  Also went on a half day tour to Hoover Dam,  again interesting,  but not worth the money either.

We have always wanted to go to Las Vegas and it lived up to our expectations.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

We are booked on another Greyhound for Flagstaff,  as it is closer to the Grand Canyon. So more from there.

Sam and Pete

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