The South Riding RV Travels

143

October 11th - Las Vegas NV

If you have an image of the ultimate American city then Las Vegas is probably it. It is quite unlike anywhere else we have been, more like entering another universe. Gambling is not permitted in many US states (unless it is on an Indian reservation) but in Nevada it is, and Las Vegas is the mecca.

The main casino in this view is New York, New York, with MGM and its golden lion to the right.

There are more than two dozen major casinos in Las Vegas, each with an associated mega hotel (over 2000 bedrooms) and built-in attractions, shopping, and its own unique feature theme. New York, New York has street scenes complete with small  boutiques, delis and pavement cafes.
Most major casinos are on Las Vegas Boulevard (the "Strip") starting in the south with the Mandalay (seen in yesterday's pictures) which has an Asian style. Then comes the Luxor with its black glass pyramid-shaped hotel complex, complete with large sarchophagi in the foyer (above) and a mammoth Sphinx outside leading onto the aerial tramway which joins several of the uptown casinos.
Looking the opposite way to the previous shot is the tram station and then this obelisk full of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Everything here is way over the top and done on a truly gigantic scale. One of the hotels recently changed hands and the 'refurbishment' is reputed to have cost $2.1 BILLION. You can just imagine what a room must cost in order to make that pay.

And yet south of here are huge trailer home communities. I have seen nowhere where the gap between the haves and have-nots is more stark than it is here.

One of the restaurants in one of the casinos has an automated wine rack five stories high. The bottles are selected and retrieved by an automated lift process.
Most of the attractions in the hotel/casino complexes can be wandered around for free, but the pools (more like small lakes) are restricted to paying guests. Not that I was complaining since we had our own pool and hot-tub at our RV site which was at one of the more outlying casinos.
One casino had a huge conservatory area with a seasonal display of scarecrows, autumn flowers and, given the time of year, featuring pumpkins.
This appeared to be the prize specimen weighing in at an incredible 569 lbs. I'm not sure I understand the American fascination with pumpkins. It must be something to do with their mythology - or lack of it....
It is difficult to determine which is the largest casino but Caesar's Palace must be in the running. The indoor shopping mall (called the 'Forum') must be about the same size as Rome!
Outside the Forum was a collection of statues of the period. This was one of the grander ones.
Within the Forum was a fish tank - like about 12 ft tall and 50ft in diameter. The fish were going a bit wild till we discovered there was a diver in the tank hand feeding them with squid bits. There were all sorts in the tank like the tuna, lion fish and the fluorescent stripey one (not a technical name). Light levels were not high and they move awful quick when there is food about.
Just to give you some idea of the scale these places work to, the sky is artificial and the lighting varies as the day progresses. The only thing which gives it away is the fire sprinklers in the clouds.

 

A bit further on we found this horse - as in Troy size - advertising a toy store.
There are son et lumiere performances at frequent intervals. We watched one that was something to do with Neptune. No actors, just automated figures that replace these statues. They rise up and down and shoot off fire and water with accompanying quantities of billowing steam.
Further down the road was Treasure Island which had a galleon amongst other things. On the opposite side of the road was one of the newest, the 'Venetian', complete with canals and gondolas (see tomorrow's episode).
The buildings and attractions are amazing but the driving force is the gambling. You can tell the non-gambling tourists, they are the ones who look like they feel they come from Mars or Venus - totally bewildered. After a day walking through it all,  that's how we felt.
There are thousands upon thousands of slot machines and hundreds of tables each with its own croupier. And many were busy even at 1000hrs in the morning. In many of the casinos you have to run the gauntlet of these just to get to reception.
The thing I'll remember is the overwhelming random noise sound made up of the noises produced by thousands of slot machines. It is almost deafening and I'm sure you become a zombie after being in the environment for very long.