Into the Stratosphere and Along the Strip
I skip breakfast at the scummy motel and get up just before check out time. I need the sleep. Then I’m out, on my way to The Stratosphere. This is the tallest building on the Strip. Actually, it’s the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. They let me check in early and I walk into my lovely room with its mega plush king-sized bed and my own bathroom. All this hostel living means I appreciate mild luxury more. I don’t have WiFi here at all, but I have comfort and that makes up for it. I’m not sure why, but despite the cheap internet rate, I have a special package that includes the tower entrance, which is usually an added cost. I collect a ticket and head up to the observation floor.
The views are brilliant – 360 degrees. It makes you realise that apart from the Strip and the very small downtown area, most of Vegas is housing for the service industry, and it is all low level, stretching for miles. There is another floor above the observation tower for the joyrides. Yes, there are rides up there that dangle people out over the edge of the deck. I see the fear on other people’s faces and that’s enough.
It’s time for me to go and see what Vegas is all about. I’m at the top end of the Strip, so it’s not as packed. I walk past Circus Circus Casino and Hotel (can you guess the theme?) and Sahara. I also find the Riviera, which I am staying at tomorrow night, and the half-price ticket booth that I will be purchasing from later. I grab a quick bite from the 7/11 for lunch – a burrito that you heat up in the microwave there. It reminds me of the ham and cheese burritos from the 7/11 in Japan that I had a fixation with for a while, but this one features jalapenos, which are far less likely to be found in Japan.
After walking for a while, I decide a better strategy would be to catch the bus down to the farthest end of the Strip then walk up and if I time it right, I can catch the bus back to the hotel for a rest before heading out for the evening shows just before my bus ticket expires. I’m working from a list of all the casino highlights and freebies. I start at Luxor with its huge statues and sphinx, stopping in at Excalibur, looking like a fairy tale castle with pink and blue turrets, before hitting New York New York, which is a reproduction of the New York skyline with replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge thrown in for good measure. There is also a fire engine boat replica that sprays water onto the statue every five minutes or so and gives people a slight soaking as they walk past if the wind is blowing the right way.
Across the 10-lane (five each way) road is the MGM Grand, with a statue of the gold MGM lion standing at the entrance. Inside, there is an incredibly tacky jungle theme throughout the lobby, with animatronic animals in the foliage. There is a large butterfly that flaps its wings, a python swinging from a tree, a crocodile snapping it’s jaws and chimps calling to each other, just to name a few. I then get turned around and walk for ages inside the casino, unable to find the exit. I’m on the verge of panic when I finally recognise something and sprint outside for air. Neat trick by the casinos to keep you there – limited exits.
Back out on the street, I walk past a few more casinos, including Paris with its Eiffel Tower and Arche de Triomphe and the Bellagio, which I will come back to later. I wander into Caesar’s Palace as I’ve heard the attraction there is moving statues, but it turns out they are in the attached shopping mall and I have just missed the hourly show, so I plan to go back later. It’s about now that my camera battery starts heading into the red, so a rest at the hotel and a recharge are in order. The first couple of buses are so crowded that they can’t let anyone else on, so it takes longer than I expect, but I make it back and have half an hour to recoup.
On the bus again, camera ready, I head to the Bellagio for the dancing fountain display. The entire area in front of the Bellagio is a lake and every half hour during the day and every 15 minutes at night, they play loud music and jets of water in the lake dance along. Think Mall of the Emirates’ fountain in Dubai, but much, much bigger. After that, I bolt a few blocks down to see the Sirens of Treasure Island show in front of, you guessed it, Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. The show is horribly tacky, with scantily dressed women fighting off the lusty pirates with cheesy double entendres. This is not helped by the fact that the pavement is quite narrow in front of the show, so people are crammed in and sweating. The technical side is quite impressive though, as they have two huge pirate ships in a lake and pyrotechnics are scattered throughout the show. The pirates also do some pretty spectacular dives into the lake when the sirens win the battle.
Next door, in front of the Mirage, the volcano is about to erupt. More pyrotechnics, with flames and smoke shooting out everywhere. I’m too hungry to be impressed by this one, so head to the first restaurant I can see. It’s an Outback Steakhouse. I’ve never been to one on the principle that an American chain restaurant shouldn’t be attempting Australiana, but tonight I’ll give anything a go. This is when I learn that the only thing Australian about it is the name and some of the dish names. The food is all standard chain restaurant American food – buffalo wings, steak, and cheese fries. Not even the beef is Australian. I have a steak, which fills me up nicely and head back to the Stratosphere for an after-dark tower visit.
I walk back past Paris again and the Venetian, which is quite pretty with its aqua blue canals and gondolas floating under the replica bridge. The volcano is erupting again and the view is better from this side of the road. Back at the hotel, I stop for my one bet in Vegas and spend a grand total of $1 on one of the pokies. I then collect another tower ticket and go up to see the lights of Vegas before bed.
Bad Food and a Good Show
I want to make the most of my stay at the Stratosphere, so I get up and go to the gym, then dash along the corridor for a quick dip in the pool before I check out. I climb onto the bus with my rucksack and get to the Riviera easily enough, but they won’t let me check in yet, so I put my bag in storage and head to the half-price ticket place. I pick up a reasonably price ticket for the Phantom of the Opera, which I’ve never seen, then head to Caesar’s Palace to try and catch the moving statues.
I arrive early, so I walk through the entire shopping centre, which is pretty impressive, with its huge Greco-Roman marble statues. The moving statues are just in one area and they perform a little recorded routine, which is mildly amusing, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it again. I then drop into the Bellagio to see the handcrafted glass flowers in the foyer.
By now, its lunch time and I realise that food is a problem in Vegas. Most restaurants are inside casinos. I don’t want to go into a casino, as it then takes forever to get back out as they force you through all shopping and gambling areas in the hopes you’ll get distracted along the way. I remember there being a Denny’s across the road, which I assume is something like TGI Fridays, so I figure that will do. Ends up being down a few blocks, but I get there and take a seat. It’s actually a cheaper version of a chain restaurant. I mistakenly order Chicken Fried Steak with mashed a potato, which turns out to be beef schnitzel in batter with dollops of gravy over everything. It’s disgusting. I leave most of it.
A quick swing by the Venetian again on my way to the bus, and back to the room to refresh before the show. I have to pick the tickets up an hour prior from the box office back at the Venetian, so I do that, then sit in a coffee shop near the box office and wait. Handily, all of the hotels use the same WiFi system, so I can use my laptop at the Venetian using the credit I bought at the Riviera. That keeps me entertained until the show. This is an edited version of the full show that goes for 90 minutes with no intermission. It’s brilliantly staged – very tense and dramatic, I assume because the fluffy stuff has been removed. I didn’t realise what a sad story it is either. Some great special effects, and altogether very enjoyable.
That ends the night – I have to leave the hotel at 5am to get to the bus station for my ride to Flagstaff, Arizona. In summary, I decide Vegas is like Dubai on steroids – the same fakeness of something built out of nothing, but with a lot more tackiness. I’d come back to explore more of the area, but not the Strip. There are nicer places to be.
