The drive into Las Vegas is as bizarre as the city itself. After five hours of driving through the Nevada desert – 250 miles of dust, straight as hell roads and tiny towns consisting of a gas station, a drive-thru and a loan company for all those bail bond emergencies – suddenly from out of nowhere there’s this huge city full of neon and skyscrapers and limousines.
Sin City lived up to the hype: it was every bit as ridiculous, outrageous, glitzy and tasteless as we’d been led to believe. We stayed in the Sahara hotel and casino, one of the oldest on the Strip (and the only one with $1 stake blackjack). It’s a bit faded now but in its hey-day the Rat Pack used to hang out there. The room rate was just slightly more than the price of a night in a campsite – that’s how keen the hoteliers are to get punters in and losing money on their slot machines and gambling tables. It had all mod-cons including a greasy spoon caff and a tattoo parlour in the lobby.
It’s impossible not to gawp at the architectural monstrosities lining the Strip. In one section the Eiffel Tower jostles for attention with the Statue of Liberty and a vast Venetian palace, complete with a canal and gondola rides. There’s also a 30 storey pyramid with a light beam so bright it can be seen from space – classy. Hundreds of tourists line the streets, many clutching huge plastic vases filled with lurid coloured cocktails, and on every corner guys try to push calling cards for “girls that want to meet you – 20 minutes delivered to your door”.
We decided that the only way to approach our stay was to jump in with both feet. We got ourselves some cocktails, lost some money, and Phil even managed to find himself some hot lady friends.
The weirdest thing about Las Vegas though was that it was easier to get our hands on a semi-automatic weapon than buy some bread. We went to a gun range so that Phil could fire off a few rounds (he went for a Glock in the end but the nice young lady behind the counter was trying very hard to sell him the ‘Iraq Paq’ - a machine gun, rifle and pistol combo with free tee shirt thrown in). Within five minutes of walking through the door Phil was shooting live rounds at a zombie, one of the more PC available targets. In contrast we had to drive for three miles and visit five different stores before we could get our hands on a humble loaf. Very odd.
After three days the seediness started to get to us so we set our sights on a more spiritual desert experience courtesy of the Joshua Tree national park. Leaving Las Vegas…sweet relief indeed.
Susie and Phil xxx
Susie and Phil xxx
