So after spending two days in San Francisco and catching up with my family in America (OUTDOOR ICE SKATING RINK WITH FAKE SNOW AT UNION SQUARE ESHAYS), we got up at 6am to begin our tour to Las Vegas. Those few days were such a fun bonding experience with my families.
The road trip there was long and exhausting, even though we were mostly sitting and napping on the same spot for an entire day, only getting up to stop by a few stores in the middle of nowhere to stretch our legs. I loved how our tour guide told us to not buy food for our first stop because it'd be a really short break, but my uncle, aunty and dad all came back one by one with bags of food. Rebellion must run in the family.
Our first landmark was Badwater Basin in Death Valley, which is a very cold desert that consists of a lot of salt. Apparently it is the lowest point in North America, which is 282ft (86m) below sea level.
That night, we stayed at a small inn before leaving at the crack of dawn, back on the road to Las Vegas again. We stopped at Zabriskie Point, which is another part of Death Valley. The soft pastel colours of the landscape was just so unique and bare of anything.
It was a crazy few hours when we finally arrived at Vegas. Do you know how easy it is for minors to "accidentally" slip coins into the slot machines, bash a few buttons then pull the lever? Each uniquely themed hotel has a large casino in it so it's easy for anyone to gamble. Our hotel, Excalibur, was a GODDAMN CASTLE WITH FLAMING TORCHES, KNIGHT ARMOURIES AND FLEUR DI LIS SYMBOLS LINING THE CORRIDORS. Yeah, cool story, bro. It actually has (displays of) dragons and shit.
We visited a majority of the hotels and casinos to watch the shows and displays they put on at intervals. The highlights would be the indoor canal and fake sky at the Venetian hotel, which reminded me of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, the Fountains of Bellagio and Freemont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.
My absolute favourite song, It's Time by Imagine Dragons, was blasted across blocks so how could I not love the vibe downtown? I was surprised by the amount of people with signs protesting to legalise marijuana, which was more than the amount of prostitutes I saw.
Imagine your drowsy self waking up to views that sparkles and twinkles at 6am because that was what I got.
The Grand Canyon was our next stop. I didn't realise it was in Arizona and that we were in a completely different time zone as well. I feel so small minded not knowing my geography. It is like the "real" America here with the Native Americans and their tipis. There's only one way I can describe it - It really was grand.
We decided to take a helicopter around the Grand Canyon. It's like you're on a very loud magic carpet hovering in mid air, which is the point of it, but I still found it a cool experience. We also went on a little boat on the Colorado River, which was pretty amazing. There were these Chinese old men TAKING PHOTOS OF US AND VLOGGING OR WHATEVER AND THEY WERE LIKE, "DIS IS MA QURLS." HEY MAN, I AIN'T NERBODY'S GURL. *sassy z snaps*
The Grand Canyon Skywalk's glass floor allowed us to see over a kilometre down the canyon, which was enough to make me want to just lie there whimpering and worm across the whole thing. There wasn't a time limit on how long we could stay, but there is only so long we can amuse ourselves with our "gnome shoes" (the brown cloths that covered our shoes so we don't damage the glass floor). WE AIN'T LEAVING TILL WE GET OUR MONEY'S WORTH.
We went back to Vegas, with a short stop at Hoover Dam, and explored the Vegas night life ourselves. I've lost track of the amount of buffets we've had so far in America.
The next day, we moved to Planet Hollywood hotel. I screwed up my ankle there because I was that person running and twirling around 23 floors of the hotel in my pyjamas at 12am and jumping in fast elevators because gravity is fun. For some reason, the highest floor can't be entered by elevator. Every time I push the button, it takes us back down to the tenth floor. IS THIS SOME KIND OF GRINGOTTS SORCERY?
The last three days of our time here, we mainly shopped, bought a junk load of souvenirs and tried to go as many hotels and casinos as we could along the Las Vegas Strip. It was like all the major cities and landmarks all on one street, but on a smaller scale. The interiors were all so creative and unique.
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