OnSno.com

Today started even earlier than yesterday (a trend that we hope stops very soon), with breakfast at 6:20am. The bus to Las Vegas was due to pick us up at 7:30am, which although wasn’t the most pleasant thing to look forward to, in hindsight it was a very lucky move considering the current air restrictions that have picked up over the past few days. We finished breakfast, checked out, and waited for the bus (which turned out to be a shuttle to the real bus) all in good time.

When the shuttle arrived, we puzzle for a few minutes over how we were going to fit in our 4 bags and ski bag, but after a few attempts by the driver everything was set and we were on our way to pick up the remaining passengers. The irony here? The remaining passengers (and bus terminal) were in Anaheim; the real Anaheim; where we had been not even 7 hours prior. (Oh, and it’s much faster getting to Anaheim if you go with someone who knows where they’re going!) The transfer to the actual Las Vegas bus was painless, although it was a full bus from here. Pip was sent as the advanced party member to grab some seats, and managed to do so in the 3rd and 4th rows of the bus. Just before 9am, we hit the road – heading out of town, and towards the desert oasis that is Las Vegas.

Wow!

We were soon out of the metropolis that is LA, but the sprawl seemed to go on for miles – into, over and beyond the hills surrounding the city. As we finally pulled out towards the Mojave Desert, the scenery changed from lush green to dusty brown – but it was certainly great scenery nonetheless. The hills and mountains created out here (some snow covered) are evidence of some serious fault-line activity, but certainly change the old fictional view that deserts are sandy, flat, and have lots of cacti.

Our first and only stop on this journey was at Barstow, a small town on the main route from LA to Vegas. This was a popular stop for many of the tour groups, and so people were everywhere to be seen (however, nothing compared to yesterday’s crowds). As it was only 11:00am, lunch seemed a little too distant to commit to serious eating here, so we snacked on some healthy McDonald’s fries (see image below). It also seems that the Panda craze back home has taken even the most remote areas by storm – however, these guys seem more interested in serving Panda…

A Polite Warning

Back on the road, it didn’t take long to hit the border and leave California, entering into the state of Nevada. While the trip from here contained nothing worthy of me describing to you in words, we did see two things – an interesting street name for starters, and also the world’s biggest thermometer (a ploy to put Baker, NV on the map). Interesting fun fact: lotteries are banned by law in the state of Nevada. Maybe there’s too much fun to be had in winning at the casinos?

As we pulled into Las Vegas at around 1:30pm, we were almost ready for some lunch, a nice relaxing afternoon and evening, and some good time to sleep. Unfortunately, the bus service did not drop us at our hotel, and so we had to round up taxi to take us, our 4 bags, and a ski bag down the Strip to our hotel. It didn’t appear that van-style taxis were that common in Las Vegas, so Pip arranged (or tried to arrange) for one to meet us at Harrah’s – where we were waiting. A taxi did turn up not long after, and although he seemingly didn’t want to take us (winding up his windows as Pip walked towards him), ended up agreeing to earn some money.

The experience we had with this driver was the craziest so far – he was a true red-neck American with nothing but criticism for the United States government (actually, any government anywhere), or anyone who was operating a business in an efficient and economical manner. We listened to his tirade for the 10 minutes it took us to get to our hotel, and feared that one wrong word would lead to him spraying some bullets around the taxi. Regardless, after a big day of travel we were finally at the hotel and ready to relax.

Down the Strip

Ed went to check in while Pip and I waited with the mountain of bags, but when he hadn’t returned 15 minutes later and we could tell there were raised voices, we knew something was up. A little more waiting and Ed was finally back with us; but with only one hotel room available of the two that should have been arranged. While we walked to the first room, we heard the full story – that the group who had booked the hotel, HotelClub.com.au (according to the hotel staff) had only send through confirmation of one room, and not for the second; even though Ed had paid for, and confirmed, both rooms. Upon reaching the room, Ed made a number of phone calls (at least one of them ending in a hang-up) and heard that it was the hotel’s fault (ie, the complete opposite), and that there were no other rooms available for the next four nights (according to HotelClub).

This continued for a number of hours, and while Ed continued to make phone calls Pip and I explored the hotel a little and the shopping that was nearby – the Miracle Mile as it’s known (possibly because there’s a mile-worth of shops). We walked through a number of gaming areas on the way there and back, and realised just how little shame anyone has in Vegas – card dealers wearing nothing but lingerie, scantily clad pole-dancers in front of poker tables (do I need to go on?). By the time we returned to the room, Ed had rustled up another room (after proving to HotelClub that there were rooms available, just not the cheapest ones), and we were finally settled in. A short time later, we hit the Strip in search of food – hoping for Italian, but really happy with many things.

Pip at the Eiffel Tower

We walked North along the Strip, walking through hotel/casino after hotel/casino. Along the way we stopped to look at the flamingos at the Flamingo, the canal and gondolas at the Venetian, and various other sights along this part of town. I should admit that although we attempted to see the indoors part of the canal at the Venetian (and did see it, outside), we failed to find it and ended up three casinos further North. Luckily this did find us our dinner venue, Lavo, which was a nice upmarket Italian restaurant. Amongst other things we experienced here, one was the toilet attendant looking for tips in the male toilet – what a CV that boy would have!

After dinner we walked the reverse side of the Strip, stopping to watch the volcano erupt at the Mirage, ducking into Caesars Palace to thaw out, and then stopping again to see the fountains at the Bellagio. Crowds were fairly thick in places around the free entertainment (reminiscent of Disneyland), but we pushed our way through and made good time back to the hotel. The distance walked was quite significant, and by this stage we were in need of desert; Pip suggested ice cream, and we made our way to the nearest store to satisfy this craving (luckily out of the cold by now). We crashed soon after, and remembered that although the wake-ups had been consistently getting earlier and earlier, tomorrow’s was set to be the worst yet – 4:30am to head out on a Grand Canyon tour.

Check out some of the photos here, and at least watch the photo mash-up included below!