I am staying at the Sin City Hostel (oh yes) and by lucky chance I have a 4-bunk room all to myself. Quite civilised really. However I'm still making sure to keep things padlocked in the locker.
Vegas is huge and spectacular and nutty and crass and tacky and everything else.The best bit for me was the three fairground rides I've just been on. One of them is a little track of about 40 feet, where the car rolls up and down while the track itself see-saws backwards and forwards; another is a little whirligig merry-go-round thing with chairs suspended from above; and the other is a tall vertical pole where your seat gets shot up about 100 foot and then falls back down again. All three sound fairly tame, but the special attraction is that they're all located at the top of the Stratosphere tower, at an altitude of roughly 866 feet, which is about the same as the highest observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Oh yes. On the see-saw and whirligig rides (called X-Scream and Insanity respectively), there are moments when you're suspended in mid-air and looking straight down at the street, nearly 900 feet below. Learjets and helicopters glide past BELOW you. Meanwhile the sun sets behind the mountains lining the horizon, and even at that height there isn't really any wind to speak of. Mercifully, the heat (80 degrees F) is manageable even for me, as is the humidity.
Who needs casinos when you have rollercoasters? I wandered up and down the main drag this afternoon, and again tonight after a siesta & shower. There was plenty to gawp at in town without actually needing to join the zombified hordes staring into their fruit machines (or whatever Yanks call them) or taking up the innumerable offers of Latino beauties delivered 'direct to your room' for 35 dollars. Indeed, to my surprise, I haven't had a beer all night (1am Pacific time as I write), although I've got through a good few litres of rather painfully overpriced soft drinks.
By the way, it only cost me $28.95 for entry to the Stratosphere and unlimited rides all night.I did the Big Shot (the vertical launch thing) three times. While I was wandering around the observation deck below, the piped muzak was playing 'Fields Of Gold' by Sting. The same song was playing at 11pm on the 94th floor of the Hancock Tower in Chicago a few days ago. I think in both cases it's an attempt by our American cousins at a subtle metaphor, ie all those twinkling yellow lights make up a 'field of gold'. As a metaphor it would work quite well if only Sting wasn't so naff. (Sorry Mam.)
I think I've used up all my appetite for cities, at least for the time being. Next update will be in a couple of days, from somewhere a bit less busy, where I can breathe a little. Somewhere a bit like going for a wander up Tunstall Hill, except different.
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| Las Vegas - the Stratosphere tower in the distance, from outside my hostel |
