Las Vegas

The first and most noticeable thing about Vegas is that as soon as you've landed, before you've seen a security guard, assistance desk or even a shop you're met by a whole host of slot machines and jingling noises. They've definitely thought this place through. Pretty much everything you do in this city is designed to entice you to gamble - I loved it!

So I got off the plane and met my friend Andy, my housemate from university days. We jumped in a shuttle bus and got to our hotel, the Sahara. On arrival, we couldn't figure out where to go and check in. Naively, we thought we were in the wrong place because all we could see was a casino floor. We were soon told that you had to walk across the entire floor in order to reach the hotel check-in desk - just incase you fancied gambling a little bit while schleping your big backpacks!

We arrived at our room to find two big double beds, loads of space and a million channels on the TV - not too bad for 17$ a night! We decided to take a walk along the strip. The Sahara is near one end, which meant we could walk in one direction and see pretty much every other hotel going. We checked out the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Mirage, New York New York etc. As glitzy as they all were, we were quite happy to be paying so little per night. We soon realised that you can't walk anywhere without being invited to a strip club or being propositioned by a lady of the night!

The next day, we woke up late and looked up the choice of buffets on offer. Circus Circus was offering 12$ all you can eat - can't complain with that! After feeling pretty satisfied, we spent the rest of the afternoon photographing and visiting all the sites. That evening I decided it was time for a gamble - oh did I do well! I think it's fair to say that I owned Vegas. I managed to rack up a whopping 30$ at the MGM Grand, Treasure Island and The Sahara. Not too bad for someone with absolutely no knowledge of casino games and little inclination to spend any amount of money. I came, I saw, I conquered - cha-ching! The best part was that while I was busy placing my pathetically small bets, I received free drinks all night round. It was as though they thought getting me intoxicated would result in me splashing out larger sums of money - FAIL!

We left Vegas the next morning and took a 6-hour Greyhound bus to Los Angeles, during which time I used up any phone credit that I had left. We arrived at LAX and Andy and I found our respective terminals. Due to our differing round-the-world travel routes, we have separate flight packages. So while my flight was with Air New Zealand, his was with Quantas. We saw each other off, ready to meet up in Auckland.

Much love!

Sam