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Hilton, Hookers and Harleys - Solo in VegasIn 1855 a Mormon expedition built an adobe fort at the intersection on the Salt Lake City - Los Angeles to watch over the railroad. 100 years later it was already the most 'immoral' city in the world, a gang of evangelical Christians had unwittingly created a den of gambling, prostitution, gangster activity and by no means least a huge amount of fun. I entered 'Vegas' around 11.00 in the morning I could see it from miles away as I headed west on the interstate from Death Valley , California . Thick smog filled the big blue desert sky high above the city. As a pulled into 'the strip' the traffic began to get worse, it was only Wednesday morning, my hotel (The Luxor) was right at the other end of Las Vegas Boulevard opposite McCarran airport. Part of me wished I had flown from Los Angeles but in hindsight im glad I didn't as I would have missed my first introduction to the world famous hotels. The strip is almost split into three sectors, as I first drove down on both sides of the road were seedy strip joints and cheap wedding chapels this gave me an unflattering first view of the city. Even at midday on a Wednesday the occasional lap dancer had already began handing out cards from the dingy alcoves of dilapidated clubs. After about half an hour of slowly crawling down the strip I reached the 'postcard' district all the famous hotels did not, somehow have the glamour and magnificence that their fame deserves in the midday sun. Tacky souvenir shops plugged the gaps between the hotels selling all manor of unneeded things such as 'I love Las Vegas ' shirts and a whole bounty of 'Tupac Shakur memorabilia' it's quite unnerving knowing someone is making a mint out of a gangland murder. The final section starting just after my Hotel contains all the cheap/ non-hotel casinos around the airport which is strange as the world's most famous casino, Caesars Palace is ten minuets walk away. At last I walked it to the foyer of the Luxor where I was promptly handed the Key to my sixth floor room, where I dropped off my luggage before heading around the hotel searching for a spot of lunch. My room was spacious with two single beds and a widescreen television being inside the pyramid it had a strange slanted wall decorated with Hieroglyphics. The Bathroom was incredibly spacious with a powerfully warm shower and a fine selection of complementary toiletries from the famous Lux range. Going back downstairs via the inclinator (a strange slanted elevator) I headed into a reconstruction of a Cairo street Bazaar where they were selling dried fruit and nuts alongside mock antiquities, personally I wouldn't buy an Egyptian souvenir from a hotel in the southwest US as they are frightfully expensive and obviously not real but never the less they are fairly tasteful and do look the real deal.
I brought a falafel pita from the Bazaar for my lunch before heading to the incredibly busy swimming pool. On the official Luxor website it claims to have three heated pools, but in reality the pools are only separated by thin pathways and are only 3.5 feet deep at the most, they are fairly nice to lounge around though as you are closed off from all the noise and pollution of the city beyond the tall walls. About 6.00 I headed out to the strip to explore and find some dinner, at first I took the mini-monorail from the Luxor to Mandalay Bay . This Hotel was luxurious and built to the style of a late 19 th century Indian Maharajahs palace with a huge heated pool in the central courtyard surrounded by palm trees and Hindu statues. I then took the monorail back past the Luxor to 'Excalibur' which as the name suggests is built to the style of Camelot and has a built in roller coaster, this hotel was more child friendly than the previous two and was therefore full of burger bars and arcade machines. Being early evening it was swarming so I decided to head across the strip to the MGM grand. The MGM grand is one of the bigger hotels in Las Vegas , inside I visited the Lion habitat which contains several of these majestic beasts in what is claimed to be their natural habitats although I thought the enclosures were a bit small. Across the promenade from the MGM is The Aladdin (famously where Elvis married Pricilla). However the only thing I shared in common with the King at that moment was a love of burgers so I headed down the grimy concrete steps to the Harley Davidson Café. The Harley Davidson café, rocking with overblown rock music along the lines of 'ZZ Top' I had a spicy buffalo chicken burger with a huge portion of fries, the menu mainly contains meals like these and is therefore no place for vegetarians, the walls were covered in signed photographs of stars on Harleys, ranging from Elvis Presley, to James Dean. There is also a huge 3d map of 'route 66' on the ceiling which is interesting to look at. Attached to the dining area was a large chain American flag hanging behind several famous bikes. Back outside around 9.00 the pace of the Strip was heating up, I took a leisurely stroll down towards the treasure island, pirate battle taking in the amazing exteriors of 'New York, New York' and 'Paris' with their scale reproductions of land marks from their respective cities. The Pirate battle was a huge disappointment, the crowd was so big it was hard to get a decent view but from what I heard it lasted for little over 5 minuets. Better quality was the dancing fountains at the Bellagio, which lasted for little under half an hour the interior of the Bellagio was amazingly luxurious and built to the style of a Milan shopping mall, it is also the most most expensive hotel on the strip however. Around 11.00 I climbed into my incredibly comftorble bed at the Luxor and fell asleep to the beat of the Blue man group downstairs. I end rather cheesily to the words Of the king (or the dead Kennedys) 'Viva Las Vegas'.
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