Finally some pictures

You can see our selection of non blurry photos (about 10%) at the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/meriboots/PeruAndUSA/

Ride the Deuce

Las Vegas was the final stop on our American adventure. It was supposed to be gentle relax by the pool, but because the rest of the our trip had been all go go go, it was hard to switch to that mindset, so we had to do something, anything! Not being great gamblers (as in really bad), we were content with a bit more shopping!

Obviously you don't shop on the strip, that is far too expensive. Luckily there are outlet malls at both ends. The bad part is that although they are not far away the strip bus (the Deuce) takes forever because the traffic is mental and the stupid thing stops at every casino. If it wasn't 40C outside then it would be quicker to walk. When you get on the recorded voice over commends you to "ride the deuce", before it tells you what the next stop is. Maybe Meredith has a problem with the American accent, but she thought it was saying "ride the douche". Perhaps this is one those things that happen in Vegas and stay there.

Our accommodation was sufficiently lux being the 5 star Bellagio. It was quite classy, which is a hard thing to do in the garish desert paradise that is Vegas. The room had a totally marble bathroom, and the hotel has like six pools. Plus, there was somebody getting married in the chapel that looked like they had actually planned it before hand, and wasn't the result of too many vodka cruisers. Unfortunatly, we couldn't stay there the whole time because the weekend rate was double the weekday rate we got, so for the last night we had to stay in the 1 star less lux planet hollywood. It was ok, but the pools were much crappier and the inside was proliferated with time share hawkers which the classier joints do without.

We did do a little bit of gambling, but Matt was too afraid to play at the table so we tried the machine black jack instead. Suffice to say, it cheated and stole our money.

So in conclusion, things to do in Vegas:

• See the Bellagio fountain show, it's better than half the shows you pay for.
• Go to the north strip and see the roof light show, aka. the Freemont St experience.
• Have breakfast at the spice market buffet (in Planet Hollywood) and don't eat for the rest of the day.

Things to avoid:

• Circus circus, it sounds like fun, but is actually filth.
• Mexicans flicking cards with call girl numbers at you, cos the girls don't look like the ones on the cards (i have heard).
• Timeshare hawkers, unless you are too cheap to pay for a show yourself (they'll give you free tickets) and have the fortitude to withstand the withering sales attack they will mount on you.