Driving in to Las Vegas we've already counted 10 casinos and we're not even there yet! We arrive at our hosts house and have time for a quick chat before taking the car back and changing it for a new one (it was cheaper that way). It's late in the evening so we have food and call it a night.
Ready to see the sights of Vegas we're expecting big and in your face. We get some tips from our hosts and drive to the Bellagio hotel to take advantage of it's free parking. We drive to the roof parking lot and are instantly met with the sight of the Eiffel Tower, well, a smaller version of it anyway. Everything is huge, everything is loud. We've been given a list of the free shows that the hotels offer so we go into the Bellagio to see the indoor garden, it's beautiful, smells gorgeous and has giant watering cans hanging from the ceiling. Next we walk outside to watch the fountains of Bellagio put on a show to music, it's quite spectacular. At last we've seen them for real after seeing them in so many films.
We walk along the strip being bombarded by the massive sights and booming sounds, seeing a huge cola bottle, huge M&M's, a small but still huge Statue of Liberty and a huge lion outside MGM Grand. It's huge in case you hadn't guessed! There's even a bit of Egypt out here.
We'd quite like to go to downtown Vegas which is the older part of the city but after walking down the strip for a looong time we realise that we've underestimated the length of it so we settle for a walk in the "biggest gift shop in the world" and a free silk rope act at Circus Circus, the girl is amazing!
Walking back we are just in time to see the volcano go off outside of the Mirage, it's brilliant but after seeing a protest outside the casino about how they treat their dolphins and the death rate of the dolphins we're not going inside! We've had a look at the shows on tonight but we're just not in the mood for Donnie & Marie or Celine Dion (did you know that Matt Goss is Britain's answer to Frank Sinatra? No, neither did we) so instead we catch the night version of the Bellagio fountains and drive back to the house.
We miss hiking and need a break from flashy Vegas so we're going to Red Rock Canyon to take in the view and hike up to Icebox Canyon. It's a great hike as it takes you through the desert for a mile before taking you into the trees where you have to scramble over rocks and boulders. We stop before a steep, slippy rock, it looks too dangerous but we're put to shame when a girl in Ugg boots makes it up there followed by 2 kids who pretty much hop their way up. We've noticed that most of the hikes in the USA take you back the same way which we find pretty boring, but this time we find a bit more of an adventurous way back to the car by following an old river bed. That gives us a bit more of a chance to scramble over boulders and get scratched by trees.
Back at the house we want to go out but can't be bothered to make our way into the centre of Vegas. Walking through the streets we see a dingy bar in the distance, it doesn't look very inviting but we'd rather go there than somewhere called Nosh and Swig. Opening the door we're met with rock music and a really friendly barmaid, yeah this'll do. The bar has gambling machines built into it and every one has someone putting their life savings in to it. We have a great night chatting to the barmaid and barman but we seem to have upset a guy at the bar who when asked to join in the conversation says "I don't want to talk to those stoners", eh? Maybe our accents have confused him a little.
The next day we drive across the Hoover Dam to see what that's all about and take a few pictures. We put our feet on Arizona soil for the first time but James doesn't realise we crossed time zones until we're on our way back in the car!
Afterwards we decide we can't go to Vegas without having our picture taken with the famous sign, when we get there we join the huge queue of people who have had the same idea. Finally we get to the front and a guy takes a few pictures for us, making us feel awkward for every one "Get closer! C'mon you're not brother and sister. Put your arms up! Move away from each other! Hold hands! Put your hands up!" Just take a ruddy picture mate, you're not David Bailey!
We don't feel like we've experienced the real Vegas so we get spruced up and aim for The Fremont Street Experience in downtown Vegas. It's very neon sign friendly and the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed than the main part of the strip. James tries his hand at gambling but after five minutes he's been up by 50% and then lost his whole gambling budget of $1, Vegas claims another victim. Walking out of the casino we hear the sound of The Who, this is what Fremont street is famous for, the curved ceiling puts on a show of images of the band while the speakers blare out music. It makes Vegas stand still for a few minutes.
Continuing up the street we see a DJ on a stage playing 90's dance music and a big crowd of people dancing like no one's watching. It's top! People just walk up, hear the music and get into it. We see a softer side of Bane from Batman, Dark Night Rises as he pirouettes across the dance floor before trying to woo a girl with his sexy moves, go Bane!
We walk to the other end of the street which is quieter but does have a large praying mantis driving a tank. As we walk away from it we hear a loud boom, fire is coming out of his antenna! The guy controlling it makes it dance and squirt fire for a while and then we find a place for a drink. Joy oh joy it's karaoke which is mainly terrible apart from a perfect Vanilla Ice impression. We play a game of 'guess the weight' as people use the scales at the Heart Attack Grill to see if they qualify for free food, you have to be 350lbs or over - jeez! We see one guy qualify for it and a lot of stroppy girlfriends get annoyed when their boyfriends weighed less than them.
While we are people watching we see a bloke wearing light up gloves throwing some shapes at the traffic lights...there can only be one place he's strutting to. Back at the DJ stage and free-for-all dance floor we spot him in the middle of the crowd, he's easily the best dancer there and lots of people are filming him. We decide to join in and dance the night away until the DJ stops (far too soon for our liking).
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