(Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.)
This is my first time in Las Vegas. I’m just using it as a jumping off point for my express tour of the “canyonlands” in Utah and Arizona, but I’m here long enough to form some impressions.
My flight arrived in the late evening, so the bus ride in from the airport was an extravaganza of activity and lights. I had to walk 4 blocks from my bus stop to my hotel (the Golden Nugget, in downtown Las Vegas). Ever try navigating Fremont Street at 11:00 p.m. on a Saturday night with a suitcase and a backpack? It’s complete sensory overload: there are concerts, buskers, rapid-fire light shows on the “roof” over Fremont Street, people ziplining overhead, people in various stages of exuberance and/or intoxication…I was glad to make it to the hotel unscathed!
There are definitely some interesting things here (particularly some of the entertainment), but I already find myself rebelling against certain aspects of the place. For breakfast, I went to a vegan restaurant away from the main street. The atmosphere was peaceful, the food was very good, and it was hard to believe that this was the same city that seemed so overwhelming the night before.
Not all of my food adventures were successful. I saw a “Donut Bar” that looked really good, so I decided to return there a bit later when I had more of an appetite. Alas, it closes each day when it sells out of the day’s stock…and they sold the last one just as I returned. Things improved again when I ventured away from the main part of Fremont Street for lunch. I found a family-run Thai place that, among other things, served excellent Thai iced tea.
Moving on down the list of Las Vegas cliches, it didn’t take long to find an express wedding chapel. This one started in 1940 and would be rather “traditional” (as these things go); I’m sure the newer ones have all kinds of unusual approaches.
And then, there’s the gambling. I was actually a little saddened by what I saw. The number of slot machines is incomprehensible. Each hotel must have thousands of them. But many of the people playing them seemed bored and unhappy. They looked passively resigned to their fate. At least the players at the card tables seemed to be engaged in what they were doing.
I’m glad I had a chance to look around, but I don’t think this is a place that I’ll need to see again. To paraphrase Macbeth: it is definitely “full of sound and fury”, but it is up to each individual to decide if it is really “signifying nothing”. As for me, I’m glad to be heading for Utah in the morning. I’m really looking forward to some active travel in the midst of some stunning natural wonders.
Your impressions of the place are very similar to mine. I went there maybe three or four years ago to attend and present at a conference (which was also at The Golden Nugget). While all of the spectacle was interesting to see, it really seemed like a lot of the people who were there were not particularly happy, especially those plunked down in front of the one-armed bandits. Not a place high on my list of places to revisit, though I would like to see The Beatles Cirque du Soleil show “Love” there sometime. (I tried to see it when I was there, but it was on a brief hiatus during the time I was there).
I looked at some of the other hotels/casinos too, and people didn’t seem any happier there either. I’m in Utah now and enjoying the spectacular geology. Hope to put the next blog post up soon