Viva Las Vegas

Venice and the canals inside the Venetian Hotel

Well, we have come from the sublime to the ridiculous or the ridiculous to the sublime. I'm not sure which it is. Guyana to Las Vegas. So different, but I think Guyana definitely wins but Las Vegas has its good points. We have been before and thought we would probably never return but, last time, we didn't go to see the Grand Canyon and that was our motivation this time. Not only that, it's warmer than New York (about 22C) and after 10 days of minus 6C and 35C before that in Guyana we needed a bit more of moderate climate!

The front entrance of the Venetian

Apart from the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas has some amazing deals on at the moment. We are staying in the Venetian which is at the north end of the main part of the Strip. It has over 250 shops and around 50 restaurants in the hotel alone and we have an amazing suite with 3 TVs, sunken living area and out of this world bathroom for the price of a B & B in England. So luxury is the order of the day and we have it for 6 nights.

We enjoy a drink in the Paris Hotel

Mary couldn't resist taking a picture of the loos in the Paris

Half way through the week we went to the Canyon, via the Hoover Dam, by coach -5 hours each way but it was well worth it for what you see on the way. We went to the South Rim, which is more untouched and probably has some of the best views. We didn't get the Skywalk (walking on glass over the Canyon) but the IMAX I think was amazing and better! This has been a real treat and lives up to its name of the most visited natural tourist destination on the planet. Having visited some of the others I can see why.

The Hoover Dam

But, here's the crunch - Kaieteur (Falls) in Guayana is the largest single drop waterfall in the world and although it cannot compete with the GC for size, it is equally impressive for its wild, untouched, raw state and simple lack of people and tourists - a rare site on Earth.

However, we cannot say there were no tourists in LV because, even though it was February, it was packed. The hotels were splendid, the entertainment really enjoyable and the phasing back into a reasonable temperature was really pleasant. We have had a great 6 days.

South Rim

And now we are on our way back to England from Las Vegas to Los Angeles using New Zealand Airways after two exciting, fulfilling and really enjoyable two years in our second home - Guyana.