Los Angeles to Las Vegas
"The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments." -- Gustave Flaubert
Flew out from Hawaii into the conflict and frustration of Los Angeles airport at a late hour. Booked a cheap nearby hotel as it turned out I’d booked a room next to the wrong hotel earlier, planned how I’d get to Las Vegas and then slept.
Early morning, I took an Uber to the Union Station – a beautiful building as all train stations are in the United States (I think of them as the airports of the 19th century) and took a bus to Las Vegas. It was cheap and allowed me to see the landscape.
Arrived in Las Vegas, took a bus to nearby the Tuscany Hotel and walked the rest of the way. A ruined wheel on my bag meant I needed a new bag and a rapidly mounting roaming mobile phone bill meant I had to get a pre-paid SIM card the next day.
The hotel room was really nice and at a very cheap price. Four days here before travelling to more expensive New York. I unpacked and organised myself before walking through the hotel-complex’s casino to have a look then watching a cover band with a couple beers.
Everything had been cluttered since I left – cluttered mind, cluttered environment, cluttered schedule. Even riding in Hawaii had been cluttered. I woke up to the strong desert sun burning through a gap in the blinds, got up to close it and decided to stay in bed drifting through the funk and depression as long as I want, with no demands on myself at all. I drifted in and out of sleep, sometimes thinking and sometimes not.
In the early afternoon, the fog lifted and I felt good again. I researched and booked a motorcycle to ride through the countryside the next day as I knew Las Vegas city isn’t my thing, organised the rest of the day, showered, dressed and stepped out feeling good.
First to Wynn Casino which is a classier place without being stuck-up.
Joe Rogan, a comedian, mixed martial arts fighter and interviewer I listen to had recommended the buffet there as excellent. Having not eaten that day, it was a good excuse to take some time at an expensive but quality buffet – which is was. You’d have been happy with any of the food had it come out in a restaurant and there was an immense choice, practically the size of a whole shopping centre's food court.
Joe Rogan was right. I’d probably try a different casino’s buffet if there’s a next time – like a cab driver told me, it’s excellent but it’s a lot more expensive for a little more quality than the others.
Wynn is near the start of the main strip so I slowly walked the length of it. The casinos are generally well made and the outsides are well done though frivolous as you’d expect. Inside, most are similar to each other – hordes of poker machines with a great deal of people playing them, with other games sprinkled lightly around in large high-ceilinged rooms themed to whatever the casino’s theme is. It’s really not my thing, I never gambled a cent and didn’t drink at all that night, I just wanted to see the place and know it exists since it was so accessible from my landing spot in the USA.
Walked all the way down – it was nice to see a sign I recognised from the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but most of the imagery and casinos in that movie are either now closed or were recreated for the movie, so there’s not a lot of a ‘tour’ to do associated with that movie.
The main strip in Las Vegas is all tourists - locals go to other places. So when you visit the strip, you see casinos and tourists.
After I reached the end of the significant strip, I walked back to the hotel where I had an early night to be well rested for motorcycle riding the next day.
More pictures below, thank for reading.
