Travel Tips

This place must be the most extravagant place of consumerism in the entire world - little wonder then that it's in the United States!

At the Hilton is the Star Trek Experience. This was fun, but for only a borderline Trekkie like myself, I did get the feeling that they only wanted me for my money and were trying to fleece me for as much as they could get! The ride was fairly good, but the timeline was out of date and most of the area was actually open to the general public such as Quark's bar! The absolute worst rip off is when they try to charge you $20 by super imposing your head onto the bodies of your favourite characters!!! I got my photo op with two of the staff dressed up as Ferengi for free!

One of the best things about this city where money changes hands so readily is that each of the major casinos puts on some kind of free show to attract the punters! For Bellagio it's the fountain show played to classic tunes; for Treasure Island, it's the Pirates show... Other ways these opulent palaces pack them in is by offering various other enticements such as the lavish banquets that Bellagio puts on morning, noon and night for next to nothing! Don't eat too much though - I had stomach ache reminiscent of a certain Monty Python sketch... ;-)

The insular nature of Americans is brought slamming home to you when you walk the strip and are surrounded by facsimilies of some of the World's most famous places either historically or from the present day towering over you... From Venice it's a short walk to Paris, or if Rome takes your fancy - well that's across the road! Just to name a few! Each of these are small cities unto themselves, catering for your every need within their cavernous walls - such is their intention anyway...

50 miles out from Las Vegas before you've even left Arizona, you are struck by the shimmering glow on the horizon to the West! After you've passed the Hoover Dam your eyes gradually become aware in the nighttime sky that one single part of that great mass of light is punching itself skywards like an energy bolt of raw power! Welcome to Luxor!

This Casino was my favourite hang out as it seemed so much more ALIVE than the others, many of which had the same cardboard cut-out atmospheres as their cardboard cut-out facades... The people here however seemed to really enjoy themselves with a real zest for life - perhaps the real New York has rubbed off on this copy? One of the must do things in Las Vegas: The Rollercoaster!

If shopping and hobnobbing with Roman Centurions is your thing, then head straight to the forum... It's the place to be seen and the place to be 'scene'... Caesar's Palace is also the location of many of Boxing's most lucrative purses. What really has me drooling however is the lifesized scale model of the Coliseum that's going up right next to Caesar's Palace! Obviously following swiftly on the rich successes of 'Gladiator', I can't wait to see the chariot races and gladiatorial duels that undoubtedly will be staged there!

Fremont Street is the old nucleus of Las Vegas casinodom - home to the Golden Nugget and Lucky Luke's, this is 'historical' Las Vegas...! These days, it's also the raggedy end where the casinos here have fallen from their former glory and eke out an existence from the scraps thrown from the table of the Strip... Fremont St does however have it's 'light show' which is a free draw in an attempt to woo the crowds - it's OK I guess.