Las Vegas Travelogue

Stratosphere

Back from a Las vegas - LA tour and here's the travelogue of all that I can remember:

Las vegas - the sin city rocks!This man - made marvel in the middle of a desert just proves the saying: "The shortest road to wealth lies in the contempt of wealth".You can see the glittering lights of the city and the imposing pyramid of Luxor casino with its vertical beam of light shooting out to the sky above even beforeyou get out of the plane.It was around 8:30 PM when we reached Las vegas on a Wednesday evening last week.We had a booking in Stratosphere one of the hotel/casinos on the Las vegas strip.Every casino in las vegas has something to boast of and the Stratosphere has the tallest observation tower in Las vegas to its credit.

After a one hour rest inthe hotel we dashed out exploring vegas.Our first stop was the near by circus - circus.As the name suggests the casino is themed after a circus carnival and looks likeone.The entrance is shaped like a tent and has people dressed up as clowns welcoming you.The casino floor is nothing unusual.The upper floor has lot of stalls as in fairs and carnivals where you can playgames and win prizes (mostly stuffed toys to attract the kids).We tried out games like aiming the pistol and throwing ball in the basket and won some stuffed toys as well!The casino also has a stage where circus acts are performed for free.We caught up some juggling acts being performed.
The next casino we went was the Sahara casino with an arabian theme to it complete with the sand coloured building and date trees in the entrace .The interiors were pretty good too with huge crystal chadelier,mirrored pillars and walls all like a arabian palace.
After this we headed back to our hotel room and ordered a late night pizza dinner and ate and slept.

Insanity(top)

The next day we started out exploring the Stratosphere.First we went to the much talked about Observation deck on the tower.At a height of about 2000 ft, it offers a panoramic view of vegas and the strip.After taking some snaps we headed for the thrill rides said to be the world's highest thrill rides.There are 3 of them :bigshot, Xscream and Insanity.We tried Insanity.Here people are made to swing tilted at a 70 deg angle from the top of the building.God! dont try it if you suffer from vertigo!We strolled across the mall shops on stratosphere and soon headed to the other casinos.We caught the shuttle that ferries tourists from one end of the strip to another.We were in the south end and decided to startexploring from the north end of the strip.

We started with Mandalay bay a posh casino with a oriental theme.This is a beautiful casino away from the crowds , complete with fountains waterfalls, pagodas and gardens to go with the theme.

The next casino we went to was the adjacent Luxor with an egyptian theme to it.For long the pyramid and the sphinx have been symbols of vegas.The Xenon light beam that is lit up in the night is so strong that it is claimed to be seen from space too.This casino is reported to have been constructed under the supervision of experts from Egypt.The interiors are very egyptian with trademark figurines, hieroglyphic motifs etc.Very good.It also boasts of a museum which is a exact replica of the famous Tutankhamen's tomb of Egypt.A must visit.

Located nearby is the Excalibur casino connected to the Luxor casino by a covered sidewalk.For your comfort there is a slider(like in airports) which you can step on and not bother to walk at all.Excalibur is designed like a medieval castle though from exterior it looks more like a kids castle.The interiors are done with faux stones and wood panelling with castle like balconies.Not to mention medieval style cafes and armoured knights in and around the place.

We next went to the New york casino connected via sidewalk to the Excalibur.This casino has all the famous attractions of New York : Statue of Liberty,Empire state,Manhattan building all scaled down versions.Also there is a huge roller-coaster in frontof the casino.Inside the interiors are styled to resemble a New tork street.All the well-known New York eateries have stalls here.But what was really funny were the little Liberty statues in Marilyn Monroe poses.Really funny!After going around for some time, we walked over the bridge connecting this casino to the MGM grand casino opposite to it.

MGM Grand is the biggest of all the casinos and is famous for the Lion Habitat where we saw Lions inside a Glass Enclosure.We could watch Lions walk above standing in the Glass tunnel inthe Habitat.This was the nearest i could get to a Lion and was very thrilling.Also interesting is the tropical jungle kind of environment they had set up inside.

Next we walked upto the newly done Planet hollywood Casino (earlier aladdin).It has very bright interiors and a Mall designed like a street.The roof is designed like a sky above.Not to mention a canal where artificial rain with thunder/lightening is seen inside the casino.So you can reach out your hand and touch this rain!

The Paris Casino was the next place where we went.This one had a huge baloon ( reminiscent of around the world in 80 days), a wonderful fountain, and of course the 2 Paris landmarks, the Eiffel tower and Arc De Triomphe.Inside was a surprise.The Casino inside was like a Paris street full of little shops, eateries, artificial trees, fountains etc and of course sky like roof.

We then headed for one of the oldest casinos on the strip , the fifty year old Flamingoes started by the Mafia gangster Bugsy Siegel.This casino boasts of flamingoes habitat and other rare species of birds.While we were there were some couples were getting married in the chapel in the park.

Next on the list was Caesar's palace styled like a roman villa.We thought of covering the interiors before it got dark so that we could see the flashing illumination across the strip.The moment you see the forum shops inside ,the only thing that strikes you is the grandeur.The scale is HUGE! Be it the wall art or the roman statues, its very grand.The forum shops have all the best known brands: Versace,Gucci,Estee Lauder,Tissot, Burberry , you name it and its there!The most striking was the Cleopatra boat in egyptian style named after Caesar's most famous queen.

By the time we came out the lights were there and we headed to the Bellagios.Termed as a Luxury resort for the rich and famous, Bellagios was an entirely different experience.It has a Botanical conservatory inside with beautiful gardens , fountains and an old- fashioned water wheel too.The apples you see in the photos are real and it seems they change the fruit stock with fresh ones daily!But the most amazing attraction were the musical fountains.More than 1000 fountains dance to music across a man made lake.They can go upto 40ft height.No words can describe the moment.It made our visit worthwhile.

After watching the fountain show we walked up to the Mirage casino.We did not go into the interiors, but waited outside to watch the artificial volcano eruption.The mountain is in a lake sorrounded by trees and gardens and every 20 min it erupts.We waited along with other onlookers and when it erupted it was a good sight to see.

Mirage and sirens show

The casino next in the line was Treasure Island with a Pirates theme.Inthe entrance were 2 big pirate ships.Again this casino houses the sirens show held on these ships full of music , dance, drama and gunfire.

They say all good things come last.Rightfully so as the last casino we went to was the Venetian palace.Styled after Venice , this casino was elegant from beginning to end.The Italian frescoes with gold liniing on the roof were breath-taking and so were the venice like canals with gondolas.The goldola men were professional opera singers so they sang while they took people for a ride on the gondolas.I was lucky for i was able to capture a gondola man singing my favourite song "Speak softly love" from the movie godfather when we came in.At 8:30 Pm in the night the interiors made us feel we were in broad daylight. The village square in the casino was also wonderful with eateries, gelato stalls and live orchestra making it a very happy atmosphere.A fitting finale for our vegas trip.

I can only say:Whether you gamble or not, a trip to Vegas is a must for everyone.