Vegas baby!

Vegas, the Sin City! I did not find it so sinful though:). But it was an interesting experience nonetheless.This summer, we stayed a couple of days in Vegas before going off to the National Parks in Utah and Arizona, and to be frank, I did feel a bit letdown by Vegas. It wasn't really as good or out of this world as I had always imagined, especially given that we have been hearing and seeing and reading about this city for ages!

Venetian at night

When in Vegas, we stayed in the Venetian, which was on the strip itself. It was a good hotel, with well done up and huge rooms but the decor did feel a little garish with all the Venice based paintings and lighting everywhere in the hotel (but isn't that what Vegas stands for?).

Gondola on Grand Canal

The first day, we did some sightseeing within the Venetian itself which was grand. There is the canal with the gondolas and the gondoliers singing while rowing passengers along the canal (within the hotel itself!). There is a St Marks square and many other eating, shopping and sitting places just next to the canals, all covered with a fake blue roof.

Masks at the Venetian

There are performers everywhere around in the hotel and lot of people wearing Venetian masks, entertaining tourists and clicking pictures with them. The hotel was decorated with waterfalls and flower arrangements and stuff all over. There were lot of events also happening within the hotel, given that it was Carnevale time. In fact there is enough to see within the hotel itself for a couple of hours.

Grand Canal

St Marks Square at Venetian

Venetian from outside

Ceilings at Venetian

The Strip

The Venetian was at one end of the Strip, which is kind of the high street of Vegas. All the major hotels are located on this Strip itself and its the place to stay if you really want to explore the area. For a budget traveller, you can easily stay just off the strip too in very cheap places but if you can, do stay here. Its easy to get out and see the sights this way.

We walked a lot along the Strip to check out all the interesting hotels and sights it had to offer. Each hotel had some interesting architecture and characteristics based on its theme and was interesting to just walk around taking in the feel (and clicking pictures).

Mirage volcano

The Mirage has a fake volcano erupting regularly in the evenings. Bellagio has the famous musical fountains in front, going off every 15 minutes.

Paris

Paris is based on Paris; New York New York on (you guessed it!) New York, with a roller coaster taking you up and down its sights; Ceasars Palace is based on the Roman empire, with statues of their Gods and a Fontana de Trevi copy; Monte Carlo on its namesake; Hotel Luxor on Egypt and so on. You get to see all these famous places of the world without having to even go there! How American:). The MGM and the Wynn have a more sober look, not based on any city or theme. Then there are the low-end Flamingo and Ballys hotels and casinos.

Vegas at night

Its just fun to walk along the strip and see all these garish images. There are multiple performers in various costumes all along the road, dressed up in all characters you can imagine. At nights the whole area is lighted up brightly. Its fun to see it all actually, but somehow I did not find it warm or inviting at all!

And all along the road, there are all these high-end shops. In fact each of the hotels also have their own shopping arcades. I found that weird, who would shop on a vacation? But in fact that iss the standard template for all the big hotels. There is a hotel theme which defines its decor, and then loads of shops and eating places, casinos, gardens, bars, pools and clubs within each hotel. And the hotel rooms are relatively cheap given their quality. The hotels make all their money from gambling rather than room rent. Also, even though all the hotel themes are different but on the inside, they start looking the same after a point!

Flower garden at the Wynn

In terms of eating, Vegas is a haven. Each hotel has some 20-30 restaurants within; any cuisine you want, any rate you want it at and its all there! We went to a couple of places which were good. Most of the time though we ate at the Venetian, Sushi Samba was tasty as was Aria on Tao Beach, the restaurant next to the Venetian pool. Pearl at the MGM was a nice Chinese place and the Terrace Garden Cafe at the Wynn good for a nice breakfast. My favorite though was Jasmine, which was in the Bellagio next to the musical fountains. It was a Chinese food place but I loved it just for the view of the musical fountains outside! Other than that, apparently the breakfast buffet at Bellagio is supposed to be great, though we could not eat there. But a definite must try I would say!

Vegas at night

Of course there is gambling in Vegas (of course!), but to be honest, I did not feel as interested in that and we spent very less time in the casinos. But each of the hotels have casinos and even off the Strip, there are multiple other smaller casinos to lose your money in:).

If gambling is not your hobby, there are loads of other activities in Vegas to keep you busy . During the day lot of organised trips leave for Powell Dam, Grand Canyon etc, which are quite interesting places all located nearby. You can also take a trip to the Vegas downtown which apparently has lot of places playing good music in the evening, and a fun slightly non-Vegas place to go. We did not go there but have heard the experience is different.

One thing anyone going to Vegas must definitely do is check out one of the many stage shows that happen there. There are a couple which are popular, La rev, O etc. but the one we saw was 'Love', by Cirque de Soleil based on the Beatles at the Mirage and it was amazing. It was a well choreographed show, with many performers on the stage at once, beautifully choreographed and riveting and performing to Beatles music. Loved it!

After a day and a half in Vegas we had left for the National Parks and when we drove back, I got the feeling of an oasis looking at the city. It is surrounded by miles and miles of desert wastelands all around, and then suddenly you see this collection of high rise brightly lit high rises in the middle of the desert. Whoever thought of making Vegas must have been quite a visionary, thinking of creating such a world in the middle of nowhere is quite a brilliant idea!!

On the whole though, I found Vegas very weird. There are loads of tourists just walking around doing the same stuff in every hotel. The feel of Vegas wasnt as 'fun' as i thought it would be. It just felt too standard, the same everywhere.

Bellagio fountains

The one thing about Vegas which I just loved were the Bellagio fountains! They were the best part of the trip for me. Very well designed and executed, the huge streams of water flowing in tune with the music, and to a different song everytime. Just amazing to sit by it and take it all in. Its a definite multiple times must-do.

US cross country drive (3) : Flagstaff to San Francisco

US cross country drive (1) : Durham to Fort Smith

US cross country drive (2) : Fort Smith to Flagstaff

Over the next 7 days we visited various places in the states of Arizona, Nevada and California and finally reached our destination, San Francisco.

Day 9 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 280 miles - Antelope Canyon and Horse Shoe Point -  Flagstaff (Arizona)

We stayed at Flagstaff for a couple of days and did some day trips nearby. The first day, we went to Antelope Canyon and Horse Shoe Point in Page, about 140 miles from Flagstaff. The terrain was totally barren all along the road with yellow-orange sand dunes everywhere and no trace of any vegetation anywhere!

You approach the canyon by walking through a sandy track. The Antelope Canyon was made by rain and water running over rocks over long periods of time in different patterns. The rocks are red in color and look stunning when sun rays fall inside through the rocks.

This place is a paradise for photographers, as sunlight comes into the canyon only for some time around noon. With the movement of the sun, the sun rays fall at different angles and create intricate patterns and colors. You can spend hours taking photographs of the area from different locations and angles, with light playing games with the terrain.

After the Antelope Canyon, we went to the Powel Lake. It was a surprise to see the bright blue Colorado river flowing in the vast dry yellow desert, it made for an unexpected but serene scene. The Glen Canyon dam has also been constructed on the river for power generation. The Powel lake is created at the location of the dam and is a mesmerizing sight in itself. There are watersports also near the lake plus it is ideal for swimming on a warm summer day!

We also visited the Horse Shoe Point nearby where the Colorado river is visible from a height of 300 feet like a shiny sapphire blue in the shape of a horse shoe with orange terrain all around. It was a magnificent sight, felt unreal, just like a painting!

All these points of interest are located near the town of Page and one can easily spend a day in and around here checking out these spots. They are a nice place for a picnic day and very close to Flagstaff. We spent sometime exploring these places and returned back to Flagstaff in the evening.

Day 10 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 140 miles - Grand Canyon - Williams (Arizona)

The next day, we visited the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the 'seven natural wonders of the world'. We drove 30 miles west from Flagstaff along the I-40 and then took the state highway 64. It was a good drive, with green bushes all along the road. The Canyon is about 57 miles north of the town of Williams. To visit the canyon, you can either stay at the town of Williams or the Grand Canyon village.

The Grand Canyon is a unique geographical feature created by the river Colorado flowing from east to west. Its a long and deep gorge about 4500 feet in height. There is not much vegetation there either, just layers and layers of stone in brown, till wherever your eyes can see.

The whole experience was great, standing at the top of the canyon and seeing the wide expanse on all sides. Such a grand structure can only be created by nature. It is otherwise even very difficult to imagine making something like this.

We spent a couple of hours there, walking around and admiring the beauty and power of nature to create such wonders. In the evening we came back to Williams, a nearby town and spent the night there.

Day 11 : Williams (Arizona) - 80 miles - Flagstaff (Arizona)

After ten days of driving, we decided to take a rest day in between and relaxed at Flagstaff. During the day, we visited two lakes nearby, the Mormon lake and the Upper Mary lake. These were good picnic spots with lots of shade and tall pine trees around. The Upper Mary lake is good for swimming in the summer as well as some water sports which they have. There are lots of people there with their boats enjoying the cool breeze.

We also went to see the springs in the nearby forests. Its another good site to visit and spend some time. Overall, there are many places near Flagstaff to enjoy a nice day of relaxation and just picnic a bit.

Day 12 : Flagstaff (Arizona) - 250 miles - Las Vegas (Nevada)

Back to our hectic traveling, we left Flagstaff along I-40 and took the state highway 93 for Las Vegas. It was a long and quiet stretch of road with deserted lands all along and no greenery anywhere till you reach Las Vegas. On the way we stopped at Hoover Dam on the river Colorado just as it enters the state of Nevada. It was a nice place for a small halt along the road.

Once in Vegas, we had a nice time. Known as the Sin-City, Vegas has it all. The main street called 'the strip' has hotels and casinos on both sides. The Casinos are open 24 hours. We went and played in the casino to get a feel of it.

We also checked out some of the famous hotels and what they had to offer, the fountains at Bellagio, the Ceasars palace, the Venetian and all. Vegas is famous for its shows and we also got a chance to see on in the hotel Wynn itself where we were staying.

Vegas is sometimes difficult to imagine, a grand city with lights and huge hotels built right in the middle of a desert, its just like an oasis. There is not much to say about the city, its all well-known. Its a city that never sleeps, dazzles its visitors and doesnt let any of them sleep either! It has so much to enchant them all with..

Day 13 : Las Vegas (Nevada) - 60 miles - Pahrump (Nevada)

We woke up late as we had spent a lot of time the previous day checking out the city. In the morning also we went to some of the hotels and casinos around, the Ceasar Palace with its delicate landscaping and the Greek experience and the Venetian with their gondolas and experience of Venice.

After spending some more time in the casinos, we started for Pahrump along the state highway 93 situated on the border of Nevada and California where we were staying for the night. The terrain along the road was again dry and sandy, just a desert. The weather was again warm and there was no habitation along the route. Once in Pahrump, we just relaxed at the hotel, had a nice swim and since we could not find any Indian restaurant in the vicinity, had a bread sandwich for dinner and retired to bed.

Day 14 : Pahrump (Nevada) - 300 miles - Death Valley -  Yosemite (California)

After breakfast, we left Pahrump for the Death Valley National Park. All along the road was just a stony desert. As the name suggests, nothing survives in this area. In the early parts of the last century, Borax mines were very popular in the area but later on the mining was also abandoned.

After death valley, we went to the Bad Waters area of the valley, a place 285 feet below sea level! The temperatures here are hot, when we were there, it was 45 deg C!! Even the vehicles get over heated in this area. For the same reason, there are multiple signs placed along the road warning you to switch off your car air conditioners to avoid engine overheating. In fact we also had to shut off the engine for sometime for it to cool. There is a lot of natural salt available at the Bad Waters. Surprisingly there is also a golf course in the death valley (or that's what it looks like!).

The mountains and the Canyons look desolate and hungry and frightening, as if death is staring at you. The whole region has been aptly named, its so dead! But all in all, it was a unique experience driving through the Death Valley .

After crossing the Death Valley we moved on towards the Yosemite National Forests. As we drove, we gained height, upto 4000 feet above sea level. Once we crossed the river Owens, we suddenly entered a green belt with lot of trees and green fields all around. We entered Bishoptown and felt relieved on seeing civilization and habitation finally!!

As we moved on further, we gained height and the vegetation also changed to pine trees and other high altitude trees. At 9,990 feet, we crossed the Tioga pass with snow still visible on the mountains peaks even in the month of June. The whole area was pretty and worth spending time just admiring its beauty. There were many lakes around and the drive through the forest was refreshing. We spent a part of the evening walking and exploring nearby and spent the night at Yosemite.

Day 15 : Yosemite (California) - 170 miles - Death Valley -  San Francisco (California)

After spending 14 days on the road and driving across 9 states witnessing different terrains, people, vegetations and temperatures from 45 deg C to 0 deg C, we finally moved towards our destination, San Francisco, California.

The moment you enter California, you see greenery. A well developed agriculture and a good irrigation system by way of canals. While driving from Yosemite to SF on the I-580, you come across lots of fruit orchards also along the highway, a complete change from the states of Nevada and Arizona which we had left behind.

Once in San Francisco, you are back to civiliation, you see a well developed city, with concrete and tall buildings and roads going up and down along the hills in the city. The climate suddenly becomes cooler and the vegetation greener.

It was different than the US we witnessed along our long trip. Felt like a different world altogether. The trip was long and fun. We saw a lot, explores a lot, saw the many different faces of this huge and vast country called the United States. It was a fun experience for us, tiring but once in a lifetime experience. Would definitely recommend it to anyone fond of exploring the world and experiencing different worlds.