US diary: part 4: Las Vegas, NV

After our short but fun stay in San Francisco and Los Angeles [as well as Glendale and Pasadena], it was time to say goodbye to California and say hello to Nevada.

We took the bus from LA to Las Vegas. Our first choice was to drive, but I think my mother wanted to try every mode of transportation there is in the US! He he! I booked our trip via GotoBus, which offers really low fares! Imagine, our bus ride cost only $30 per person!

Going from LA to Las Vegas was like going from one end of the pole to another. One minute, all we saw were buildings. Then after a while, all we saw were deserts!

The bus ride took approximately 5 hours, with one stop. It was like 2 hours of buildings and people and then 3 hours of desert and cactuses. The desert seemed to go on and on and on and on! Ang lawak ng US!

Finally, after what seemed like endless desert, we saw some indication of buildings and finally arrived in Las Vegas. My first thought was, how could a place like this exist in the middle of the desert? Well, I guess that the fact that it was located in the center of nowhere makes it a more attractive destination. Here are some facts proving that Las Vegas is one of the favorite spots of tourists [customer service jobs anyone?]:

• Hotel room occupancy rates average 91% annually.
• Southern Nevada (including Primm, Mesquite, and Laughlin, Nevada) has over 142,000 hotel rooms and is growing almost daily. Vegas accounts for 124,000 alone, with nine of the ten largest hotels in the world.
• 851 flights a day deliver over 2.4 million city visitors each month through McCarran Airport, making it the eighth busiest airport in the world.
• Vegas is the fifth most popular foreign travel vacation destination in the world. It’s also the top summer destination in the United States and the top gambling destination in the whole world!
• Over 30 million people visit here annually. Almost one in five are “forced” to come for a convention. Around 100,000 Vegas weddings were held last year!
• There are nearly 1000 taxis, 330 limos & 32 bus routes in the city.
• Over 1.41 million residents call Las Vegas home! (source)

 *****

Have you ever been to a place that is dead in the morning but so alive in the evening? Las Vegas is one of these places. It is quiet in the mornings [well, if people aren’t out, they’re inside casinos]…come nighttime, it seems everyone is out. And I know Paris is known as the City of Lights, but Las Vegas can come in a close second! Grabe ang lights! The whole Strip seems to be glowing with neon lights!

The strip is a 6,.2-km stretch that houses hotel-casinos, shops, and restaurants, as well as people! So alive every evening!

Well, what better to do than to explore the hotel-casinos, which abound in Las Vegas? There are so many hotel-casinos that I can’t imagine how each thrives in Las Vegas. Well, I guess it’s simply that there are so many tourists in Vegas.

Wendy gives the thumb-up sign. She was excited to enter a casino. When we were in Macau, she wasn’t allowed to enter one. Dito, pwede sya pumasok.

But we found out she wasn’t allowed for a certain distance from the slot machines. Ayun, simangot na.

Iba sa Vegas! Bawat liko may casino…and not just a casino, grand casino ha!

*****

 As we walked along the Strip, we saw so many people of different colors, sizes, characters, and even costumes [I saw a bride in white gown walking!]. Well, we were with my aunt who was a nun, so people must have also thought she was in costume! It was so fun walking along the Strip. There were so many things to see, so many people to meet. Food and souvenir were cheap. Performers were here and there. Even professional “entertainers” were on the streets! We also saw some of the more famous hotels.

MGM Grand

This is where Manny Pacquiao used to stay when he had fights in Vegas.

A lion and some other mythical beings guard MGM.

*****

New York

This area was made up of structures that would make you wonder, am I in New York?

There’s the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Would you believe that there is also a roller coaster here?

*****

Paris

Amazing! It was like being in Paris. Even the color of the lights was the same! That’s the Arc de Triomphe at the right and the Louvre [if I’m not mistaken] at the left.

And there was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. With giggles and lots of picture taking, my father and Wendy were blurting, “Oh ayan ha, nakarating na tayo ng Paris!” Ang ganda!

*****

Bellagio

My absolute favorite! The bridge and building reminded me of Venice.

Inside the Bellagio’s botanical garden, which is located inside the hotel.

They had a mini-garden. My favorite was the one full of sunflowers (lower left picture). The mushrooms were amazing too!

My favorite: The fountain shows of Bellagio! Absolutely beautiful! Beautiful! [That’s Caesar’s Palace to the right.]

They say that a trip to Vegas is never complete without seeing the fountains of Bellagio come to life. We must have watched this six times! Tutal watching is free, and the shows are every 15 minutes! Ang ganda ganda!

*****

Besides the fact that Vegas was so alive and full of people, one more thing I loved about the place was the food. I mean where else can you get a buffet lunch or dinner for only $7? Even our buffets here in Manila are worth more than that. And take note, food was abundant. As in hindi sila nagtitipid. You will go gaga over the choices of food. I guess the competition in Vegas to so high that they have to keep afloat with these cheap buffets. Just go into a hotel and inquire about their buffet. Almost every hotel has this! In fact, even though mahina ako kumain, sobrang dami ko nakain…ang sarap pa ng food! Oh, how I miss their buffet!

*****

Even though I prefer quieter places, I certainly enjoyed the lively and busy Las Vegas. There is certainly something for everybody here!

*****

Related posts:

US diary: part 1: San Francisco, CA

US diary: part 2: Glendale, CA

US diary: part 3: Los Angeles, CA