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5 Days in Las Vegas

I was in Vegas from the Tuesday 19th till Saturday the 24th of December 06. Wednesday the 20th I spent in traveling to the Grand Canyon and back. The whole trip was awesome. Expect to spend a lot of money and you’ll have a time of your life.

I took the flight from Austin, Texas to Las Vegas with a stop over in Phoenix Arizona. I stayed the New York, NY hotel. There were cheaper hotels on the Vegas Strip, I choose NY, NY cause of the location and it was a great location. I had a room on the 27th floor of the century tower with excellent Views to the strip.

Click on the pictures to Enlarge

Picture I took from outside of my Hotel


Night Picture of the Hotel


Replica of the Brooklyn Bridge at the NY Hotel
Grand Canyon

My first night in Vegas I was gambling late and had a Bus to catch at 6:30AM to head for the Canyon. Made it in time, bus was there in front of the hotel to pick me up.

First stop we made was at the Hoover Dam. The dam crosses the border between two time zones, the Pacific Time Zone and the Mountain Time Zone We passed lake Mead, largest man made lake in the US about 30 mi (48 km).

Hoover Dam




We stopped at a town called Williams, Arizona for lunch, one can take the Train from Williams to the Canyon. On the way back the Train is robbed by cowboys on the horses (not a real robbery).

When we reached the Canyon, before the entrance to the park, our driver asked if anyone was interested in taking the helicopter tour of the Canyon for $150. I had won a few hundred in the casino the night before and this was most likely once in a lifetime thing for me, I took it.

The chopper I took


Picture of the Canyon I took in the air from the chopper


Another picture I took from the chopper, there was a Japanese Girl in the front seat next to the pilot, you can see the reflection of her hand in the picture from the chopper glass, click to enlarge.



The best way to see the Canyon is to camp and hike for a few days, if you don’t have the time, I highly recommend the Helicopter tour. After the helicopter tour the bus was there to pick me and another person up and off we went to the canyon to experience it on foot.

It had snowed, still I ventured to go down the Canyon




On the way back to the hotel from the Canyon the bus Driver played the movie ‘Fools Rush In’ and right where Isabel Fuentes Whitman is about to have a baby on the Hoover Dam, the bus was at that spot on the Dam, the drive with years of experience driving bus tours to the Grand Canyon, timed it perfectly. I am going to buy a DVD of the movie.

Out of the 5 nights I had 3 nights to see shows. The day I spent in Grand Canyon I got back at 11 PM and show times at usually 7:30 PM and 10:30 PM. Most of the cirque de Soleil shows except to pay over $100 in ticket price. All theaters I was at had speakers built into the seats.

Zumanity





Zumanity as they call - Another Side of Cirque du Soleil played at NY,NY where I stayed . The performance incredible. The music the acrobatics the performers just blew my mind, they were that good. The show is adult themed, its not X rated by any means, PG 13 at the most. A must see.




Le Reve





The Dream or a collection of Dreams in this case. The theater at Wynn, custom built for "Le Reve" cost at least $100 million and contains a 1.5-million gallon pool center stage.




I was at the Venetian Hotel for the Gondola Ride and started talking to the lady selling show tickets. I wanted to see ‘O’ at the Bellagio and she recommended Le Reve. The show was at Wynn Hotel and I bought the tickets. I waked into the theater that night and I had never seen anything like this. The theater is round and the center Stage is a pool. The show was amazing. The thunder and rain on the pool in center stage, the sounds the effects and the performance is out of this world. Another must see.




KA





Click Here for more info on KA

My 3rd show, my last night in Vegas was KA, played at the MGM Grand. I was going to see ‘O’ and O was sold out. There were 2 seats left for KA that night, I bought one.
This is one of the best shows I have seen. Yes it was that good. I thought I the show I saw last year Shenzhen China was the best ever, that was in a out door theater, KA beat that hands down.

MGM custom built the theater for the KA show, the cost $135 million.







Check the links to these shows on the right. I had wanted to see Celine Dion and she was not playing while I was there. There is too much to see and do, cannot do it possibly in one trip. Will go back.

Hotels

I loved NY, NY hotel, they have a roller coaster that goes around the building. I took the coaster ride. The breakfast buffet at Chin Chin is a good way to start the day.

2 places I liked for food were Gallagher's Steakhouse at NY, NY. The Steaks is really really good. Expect to pay over $100 for dinner for 2. The other place I liked was the Grand Wok at MGM Grand, the sushi chef was from Okinawa Japan. I am certain there are many better places, its just that there were close to where I stayed.


Excalibur Hotel (Picture I took, across the street from where I stayed and a View from my room.



Paris Hotel



Monte Carlo


Treasure Island


Gondola Ride at the Venetian

I shared the gondola with 2 Koreans from Vancouver BC. My gondolier was a lady from Italy, she sang to us. She was very good, it was like front seats to the opera.





Above Ceiling of the Venetian Hotel




Walking

I have not walked so much in 5 days in a long time, I am glad I took a good pair of tennis shows with. You can take the bus on the strip, The DEUCE , its 5 bucks for 24 hour pass.

Cesar palace


Inside the Shopping at Cesar Palace


The Shopping Mall at Cesar palace had a brooksstone Shop and there was a foot messager, what a relief from walking and my feet thanked me for using that messager.

Gambling


Don’t gamble what you cannot afford to loose. Before Vegas I played Slot machine twice in Reno a few years back, black jack twice, basically no gambling experience.

In Vegas I gambled every day (few hours)and every Night. Had a great time!!

Slot Machine at NY,NY


Night Clubs

I went to Coyote Ugly twice, it’s like the movie, and a wilder version I would say. Studio 54 was being renovated while I was there, missed it. Went to Tangerine at Treasure Island, it was not busy so decided to go see the fountains at Bellagio.

Will I go Back

Yes, next time its going to be in October. Fly to Vegas, rent a car and head to the Grand Canyon, camp hike for 3 or 4 days, see Havasu Falls. Drive back to Vegas for a day or 2, stay at the Hotel Paris this time, and see a show. Re live the memories and head home.


Went up to see the Stratosphere observation tower. While in Vegas go see it.



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