MOMENTLOG: New Year in Las Vegas!

Hi everyone,

After cruising the Californian coast, we decided to have a change of scenery and get our freak on by going to Las Vegas for the New Year. For us, Las Vegas was one of those places you have to visit, because you have heard so much about. To be honest, we had mixed feelings about what to expect… The drive from Los Angeles takes around four to five hours and crosses the Mojave Desert. On the way, random ‘cities’ have grown to accommodate the gambling freaks and give you a little hint of what Las Vegas can be. We arrived at night and the city is pretty much standing alone in the middle of the desert, with its high casino towers. After a cosy night in our lovely van (her name is Catie by the way) we were ready for Vegas. Everything is done so that it is very easy for people to spend in the Casinos. The food and even sometimes the price of the hotel rooms are discounted to make sure you have enough money to spend on all those machines and tables ! Resort car parks are free to anybody, so we ended up parking (and kind of camping !) at the Treasure Island Resort, fancy isn’t it !! The Strip, as it is known, is a 5 km long portion of the Las Vegas boulevard, where all the big attractions, casinos and resorts are. The flow of people there is unbelievable. It took us 50 minutes to walk back to the car-park one time, because you are just stuck in the middle of the crowd. And surprisingly this crowd is a real mix of people, from the foreign tourists amazed by the whole concept, the Vegas gambling freaks, the good old bogans, to the homeless, street performers…and more ! In two days, we hardly had enough time to visit all the resorts, each having their own little ‘inside world’; the Paris casino/resort for example, as its own ‘Boulevard’, a representation of a French town. Anyway, I can go on and on about Vegas, but you got the picture: you might not be into the whole gambling/partying hard, but it is still worth seeing!

Happy New Year to all of you people!

Marie & Simon.