Las Vegas

The desert and canyon country of Zion and Bryce were the last we were to have of peace and quiet and a little slower pace of life....Las Vegas beckoned...

There was firstly a few hours drive across the Mojave desert to be negotiated, passing by the largest thermometer in the world which I personally was thrilled to see. The driving was all that you would expect it to be - automatic car set to cruise control on a dead straight road - it was suggested to me by a friend that I could have played cards whilst going along to prevent boredom - not such a bad idea actually.

In Vegas we stayed at Circus, Circus which is as its name implies, a circus, or at least, it has a circus going on inside the hotel all the time...Well, actually it doesn't...what it has is a small stage set up inside a Big Top style area where every couple of hours some sort of act is performed - Jugglers, Acrobats, Trapeze artists, that sort of thing. The hotel and casino is probably better known in Vegas for its inside theme park which is a little smaller than Metroland at the Metro Centre in Gateshead but just as noisy. And yes, several hours were spent there going on the roller coaster and the log flume ride.


Vegas itself was a mixed bag. Plenty of Americans go wild for hotels like the Venetian where you can ride in a gondola under a fake Bridge of Sighs but for Europeans (read - Me) it was tacky on a grand scale...But then that's only because of the general arrogance of Europeans (Me) who have been to see the real Bridge of Sighs so why on earth would I want to have a go on the fake one? Some parts of Vegas are a must see but in all honesty, it would be far, far better to go on an adults only trip...It's not terribly family friendly despite the best efforts of Circus, Circus. The main road - the strip - is punctuated by guys selling tickets for clip joints and every newspaper stand (the ones where you put in your money, open the plastic box and take out the paper) was filled with porn magazines. Even the once thrilling Treasure Island extravaganza - a pirate adventure on full sized ships on water, which took place each evening outside the Treasure Island hotel, has changed...It's now called TI and the pirates have been added to....now there is a ship full of scantily clad 'Sirens' who do the whole pole dancing bit and entice the pirates aboard their ship. The show is on each evening and it's all free...people (mainly men) start hanging around waiting for the show to begin about an hour before the start....Add to this a Spearmint Rhino and Hooters, not forgetting the seedier places off the strip and you've got an Adult playground complete with the casinos and nightclubs.

All of that aside, half an hour's drive down the road from Las Vegas will take you to Red Rock Canyon National Park which is renowned the world over for its sport climbing. We took a drive out there and I rather grumpily drooled over the rock faces - I say grumpily because it was well over 100 degrees - too hot for me to climb and I hadn't organised it properly either, so I sulked, despite having no one to blame but myself.

I was quite happy to leave Vegas when the time came - it was loud and brash and I felt like I was missing out on the party most of the time. I would go back there again though, but it would be with climbing friends, all adults, and the days would be spent at Red Rock and the nights out on the town...Now that would be some trip!