Doug and Kerry Hudson in Nevada

We arrived in Las Vegas after a hot drive from Johannesburg, the one in California, that is. We had almost reached our hotel when our car was rear-ended by a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Don't worry, we weren't hurt at all. His bumper being so much higher than ours, the boot was all pushed in, however. It subsequently opened and closed only with difficulty. The most annoying thing about it was that he refused to apologise or admit it was his fault. Mr Ray Chavez of Albuquerque, New Mexico, please explain to us how it is possible to drive into a stationary vehicle if you are looking where you are going and not driving too fast. All we can say is that it was very satisfying when the police officer fined him $190.

When we eventually reached our hotel, the Circus Circus, we were feeling quite stressed. To make matters worse, they had not received notification of our reservation; and being Sunday we couldn't reach the booking company to sort things out. We made temporary arrangements and got up to our room and flopped. But what a lovely hotel room. The bed was so big we had separate telephones just to speak to each other. We went downstairs and explored this strange place with flashing lights and beeping machines everywhere, not to mention millions of people milling around. Months later, when we were in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, a friendly American explained to us that the Las Vegas hotels are designed to make it difficult to find your way out and even keep track of the passage of time. We can well believe it. There were no clocks and no windows, and the layout was labyrinthine. God help anyone if there were a fire.

We spent the next two days dividing our time between trying to win a prize in the fairground section of the Circus Circus (we eventually won a matching pair of stuffed tiger toys), lazing by the hotel pool to top up our tans, and walking the Strip gawping in wonder at the amazing hotels. We thought Treasure Island was the best from the outside, they have really gone to so much detail on that theme of pirates and buckaneers.

The Luxor hotel made us gasp in amazement when we entered the lobby: the ceiling just stretches up and away, and huge Egyptian statues guard the way deeper into the hotel. Our favourite free show on the Strip was the Fountains Of Bellagio, where fountains danced to Celine Dion's song from Titanic. We can't really describe it and do it justice: just make sure you see it if you ever go to Las Vegas!

In summary, we found Las Vegas to be exciting, flashy, stressful, and very expensive. The local people were generally rude, disrespectful and inconsiderate (with some exceptions, of course). Glad to leave there for Utah after just two days, would you believe that we actually returned a week later? After the spectacular scenery and tranquil serenity of Zion National Park, what on earth were we thinking?

Las Vegas was still the bustling, hustling place we had loved and hated first time we were there. However, this time we were there for one purpose alone: to see the show Mystere by Cirque du Soleil. The show actually started ten minutes before the scheduled time, as a clown helped to show people to their seats in a very amusing manner. The unsuspecting victims were led all over the theatre not realising that everyone was laughing at them! The actual show was incredible: a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds. It featured dancing, music, special effects and amazing feats of acrobatics loosely woven into a story that we will never understand. The collective effect was mind-blowing, and we returned to our hotel room on a high.

The next day we moved on, to the amazing Death Valley.

World Trip >> USA >> Nevada

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006