It's pretty rubbish to think that this has been out penultimate destination in the US (not including Hong Kong) - not because its a rubbish place (its awesome), but because it means the trip is nearly over - but it's probably an indictment of our poor planning to leave one of the most expensive locations to last, when budgets have been all but decimated. Still, Vegas has been fun and we definitely tried to maximise the little we have left to make the most of being here.
Also, sorry but I can't be bothered to give a day-by-day account of what happened, so highlights will have to do...
Upon arriving, we decided to check out a few casinos and bars, which was fun until I lost quite a lot of money on the slots. The following two days we explored most of the casinos on the boulevard. We soon realised that we would not be affording the $20+ buy ins to most tables, but gave a few of the cheaper ones a try. We also realised that beer is cheaper than water in Vegas, so we made the most of that...
[I actually had a really good picture of us in a casino, but I've accidentally deleted it which is annoying]
Another thing that's strange strange is that prostitution is legal in Nevada, so you can't walk more than a few meters without someone waving a stack of cards with pictures of naked women at you. I'm not exactly complaining but the people doing it are all like old Spanish-speaking women who look like they could be your grandmother... Very odd...
We spent our nights out in the casinos and bars, where again we met loads of Brits, but the most notable was stumbling into a female mud wrestling contest. We had chosen to try out a few bars at Treasure Island at the recommendation of a couple of Americans, and having stopped off at a Coyote Ugly bar (it is exactly what you think) we saw a big crowd of people cheering - at a good old mud wrestling competition...
The hotel we were staying in was called Circus Circus, and one of the major attractions is their 'world-class' circus acts. I'm not actually being facetious with that - it was really good, and we saw several shows (including a dance troupe from Americas Got Talent apparently). I think though this was the only time I felt out of place, as every other group of people had at least one child accompanying them...
Jack fulfilled a long-term ambition in Vegas, which was firing a gun. I didn't fire one myself, but it was cool to go to the shooting range and watch people's faces light up with glee upon pulling the trigger. The guys working there all looked like ex-forces, and were very enthusiastic - shooting a gun for one of them was akin to 'scratching an itch'. I must admit that being surrounded by loads of guns did make me quite curious to see what it would be like, though Jack's assertion that it felt exactly how he thought it would meant I decided to leave it for now.
I think the final noteworthy event for this part of the trip was our day tour to the Hoover Dam Grand Canyon. It's difficult to describe much about the actual canyon because it is just so vast, but I did feel quite taken aback by just how huge it was. It's quite funny too because there are parts of the walk way on the west ridge where there are no railings, so you can peer over the edge to the very bottom. Some people on the tour went on a helicopter down to the bottom, which I was really jealous of, though at one stage we did consider hiring mules to take us down. Although it was definitely worth going, and I'm really glad we did, the day lasted over 20 hours overall, as we were picked up at our hotel at 5.30, and didn't get back until about 1.30. Still, saw one of the seven wonders of the world...
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