| LAS VEGAS |
| MEMPHIS TO LAS VEGAS - 22/09/2003 - 26/09/2003 Well we finally arrived in Las Vegas after a 41hr bus journey which took us most of the way along Route 66 which was pretty cool. We had an unscheduled stop at Bull City due to the bus catching on fire - yes I kid you not and the daft thing is about 30 mins later we all got back on the bus and carried on to Vegas - nuts or what!! Hostel was nice - got a free beer on arrival which was definately required, slight problem was that the hostel was in a dodgy area of town ie our taxi driver said even he wouldn't go down there on his own.... but everything was ok. We crashed by the pool the next day which was lovely - sooo hot and humid - bliss!! Got chatting to some girls - Esther, Rosie, Katie & Crystal and we all donned our gear and off we went exploring at about 4pm that afternoon. We went to Circus Circus which is cool and saw a circus style show - lots of people doing silly things and balancing on top of each other (pics to come later). From there we decided to "walk the strip" which was cool, went to the Mirage to see the tigers which were lovely and pretty cute (well they were behind glass!!) To get to them you walk thru a small rainforest which was lovely and cool. |
| We then left and wandered down the strip a wee bit more to Haaras which is mad - like all of the casinos from where we got a free shuttle bus to take us to Rio (Ells has the links to all the casinos we visited) The blining thing with the casinos is if you're at a fruit machine or gambling money you can have as many free drinks as you want, had a strawberry margarita which was very sweet. While there watched the light parade from the ceiling which was fantastic got lots of free beads too - all different colours, we also all had our photo taken with a chippendale - didn't buy photo though just wanted some more free beads. We got the bus back to Haaras and sang songs all the way and made our way to the Venetion which is absolutley breathtaking, its venice built inside a hotel complete with gondalas which you can hire and if lucky get sung to, there is an inside canal and an outside canal - can choose which one to ride. Made our way to New York New York and went into Coyote Ugly bar (based on the film) which was pretty cool - anyone who got on stage to dance got a free shot of tequila or vodka from the girls. We wanted to go and see the Lions at MGM but they were shut so will have to go another day. Went to a club called Studio 54 which was good, had acrobats dangling and somersaultng upside down from the ceiling which was pretty nuts. |
| The Grand Canyon Well what can I say except - awesome!! We went on a day trip to the Grand Canyon, one guy on the tour had just arrived in Vegas that morning and decided to jump on and join us who is going to OZ for all of Englands rugby games, Gary hope you're enjoying yourself Our tour guide was a bit nuts and loved to chat which was pretty cool (he was a kiwi). Met a couple called Dave and Emma who are doing a similar routing to us, maybe bump into them again who knows..... We stopped at the Hoover Dam on the way which was smaller width wise than I thought but crikey is it a long long way down!! was blinding to see. We stopped off and saw some Joshua trees which are very very nasty - their leaves are as sharp as a knife ie could cut yourself very badly if you touched them, also saw some lizards and a jack rabbit. The road to the Canyon was very twisty turny and pretty rocky in places, took about 3 hours to get there but god was it worth it - the sight is breathtaking, you cant really describe it or do it justice. After lunch we went on a wee walk down part of it and along a pretty narrow ledge. On way back was told that Gary had found some rattlesnakes - thanks but no thanks although the pics that Dave took were pretty cool. The helicopters look tiny against the back drop of the Canyon and you can hear them before you see them. |
| There was a hen night in the hostel for a girl who used to work there, a couple of the girls arranged a stripper who was rather nice and did the full monty - but you weren't allowed to take photos -sorry girls. Then went out on the town again with the girls inc Nic and Vic but no Esther. Went to Freemont Street and saw a wonderful light show set to music and played in the casinos for a bit. Carried on and consequently got in rather late. Spent the next day with a hangover and we went to see the Luxor hotel which was cool and then onto Excaliber which was next door - Ells had a few goes on the 5c machines, went to M&M world which was pretty cool and then onto MGM to see the Lions which was good. The Aladdin is full of shops and a casino and they also have an indoor rainstorm which was nuts - it is Vegas afterall but was very good - didn't get wet either. The Bellagio hotel was our next stop to see the dancing fountains which everyone raved about - and they were fantastic especially at night or at dusk as can see the lights alot better (see pic). Also went to Paris and they have built a mini version of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the hotel which is crazy - you can also go up to the top of it if you want to. Our last stop before heading back to the hostel to catch the bus to San Francisco, was the Mirage again to see the exploding Volcano which was very good although not as good as the dancing fountains. The Strip at night is fantastic especially when you stand on one of the bridges and look down it, with all the lights and over the topness that is Vegas. All in all, Las Vegas was crazy and wonderful and mind boggling which includes some of the fashions!! It was very hot and very very humid, met some great people, spent money and had an awesome time. It can be as expensive or as cheap as you make it Well its now time to head off to San Francisco on another Greyhound bus which hopefully wont catch fire this time. |
| PICS STILL TO COME!!! |