Vacations: Refreshing Las Vegas, a different ball game

This is happening for the first time on this blog that I am posting an off-topic post. As you might have noticed that I have not posted anything new on this blog for last three weeks, and there is a reason behind that. I was away travelling to the US of A for few official meetings and then went to Vegas for vacations :). This was my first time to Vegas so I was very excited and yes, Vegas did not disappoint me at all.

So here I am with this post, it does not cover any new Android app or game but its a trip report of Las Vegas.

Vegas trip was full of adventures and it started from the flight itself. We were at airport well on time and were eagerly waiting to board the flight but there was something unusual happening in Vegas at this time of the year, it was raining. And then the ground staff announced that the flight was delayed by more than 3 hours :(, it was the last thing we wanted to hear. Anyways, after the long wait they got the green signal and we boarded the flight. I was sitting near the window and it was evening time, when we were near to our destination, I could see it was all dark on the ground and just one road lit by vehicle's headlights heading to a place excessively lit by colorful lights. Well that's Las Vegas, a lively place in a barren dessert.

We reached our Hotel at around 11:30 PM and all we could see was, the place was heavily crowded with people all geared up for party and fun, that place was MGM Grand.

We were there for three days, our plan was to spend two days in Vegas and one day for a day tour to the Grand Canyon's West rim. So as per the plan we boarded the tour bus to Grand Canyon. The journey started at 6:30 in the morning and took around 3 hours to reach the first stop, the eagle point.

It was a cloudy day so we were not able to see the valley and the shape of an eagle as told by our guide Jerry. So we headed to our next stop that is the West rim sky walk. The sky opened up by that time and we could see the vast and simply awesome view of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado river. Grand Canyon is really "Grand" and at the same time mesmerizing. We spent around 2 hours at that point and we were served with lunch prepared by the native Hualapai people. The food was good and it was quite an experience of having lunch by the side of Grand Canyon. We really enjoyed it.

Grand Canyon: Breathtaking view of the canyon and Colorado river

Once Grand Canyon was done, we concentrated our energy to explore the Las Vegas. Walking was not an option as it is very easy to get tired especially if you are staying in MGM Grand, that place is really big. So we bought the "Deuce" bus ticket with unlimited rides for 24 hours, which is one of the most convenient and affordable option at 8 USD. We boarded the bus and then got down at all the major attractions on the Las Vegas strip. Some of the stops were: Stratosphere, Venetian, Aria, Bellagio etc. The good thing here in Vegas is you can simply walk in any Hotel or Casino and explore it, there is no restriction on the visitors.

Las Vegas: The Stratosphere tower

We particularly liked Venetian for its Venice like theme, they have emulated the canals of Venice and also there are gondolas with singing gondolier which is really a nice touch. The roof is painted like sky with clouds and due to the awesome lighting it really looks like a real sky.

Las Vegas: The Christmas decoration at Venetian

Las Vegas: The Venice canals at Venetian

We spent our day exploring all the places. Took some rest and by the evening time we were ready to go out again on the strip. The strip looks really different at night time, every place is illuminated with bright colorful lights and huge display screens. We headed straight to the Bellagio to watch the famous fountains show. And I must tell you it was awesome, everything was so synchronized the lights the music and the fountains. It was very difficult for us to leave that place, we watched 3 shows back to back and then boarded the Deuce for the Fremont Street experience.

Las Vegas: The famous fountains of Bellagio

Fremont Street is a comparatively new area which is being promoted as the next Vegas strip. And they have added some unique attractions to this place. The first thing you will notice is the roof covering the entire street, the complete roof is a giant screen and it keeps playing music videos or some random graphics, it's really an experience of the life time. There you can find lots of interesting people and performers on the street playing live band, some artists, painters and all other sort of entertainment. There are casinos, restaurants, souvenir shops too to keep you engaged.  

Las Vegas: Fremont street experience

Las Vegas: It was time to bid adieu

And then the time came to say goodbye to Las Vegas and return back to our abode. Las Vegas experience was one of its kind and quite different from the places I visited earlier.