It's like we've been transported into a different world! We've exchanged the hot and sweaty, climbers dusty desert life, for air conditioned hotel suites and bright lights - all within an hour of each other!
We started out the day on some more excellent Red Rock Sandstone. The route we'd wanted to climb had a que of people near it, so we moved on to Plan B, which turned out to be a much better plan anyway!
We climbed in the Red Springs area of the Calico Basin on a crag called Gnat Man Crag. The good thing about it was that it was a quieter area and also in the shade all morning. When I say quiet, I mean, no other climbers on our cliff. American climbers seem to have the trait of talking very loudly, (and constantly) so we could hear plenty of teams (and their music!) on the other side of the gorge, but on our shady side, we had the pick of the routes!
Opting for nothing less than two star classics, we climbed two fantastic routes at a very pleasant 5.7 (soft touch!) grade. They tend to have long pitches in this area, so you need good ropework as by the time you've climbed a 50m pitch there is a lot of rope to drag up behind you!
Once we'd done a few routes, we returned to the van and got ready to move into a completely different environment/world. It felt a bit like getting into a teleporting machine. We put our climbing packs away, threw some 'city clothes' into a hold-all, and drove across the desert towards the skyscrapers. About half an hour later, we were in the thick of it and we realised that we were about to see some crazy sights when we drove past the tower in the photo - and noticed that there was a roller coaster on top of it!
First though, we had to get scrubbed up! The 'Mason Research Machine' had done us proud once again and after four days in the desert with no showers and the only amenities being a long drop toilet, we were overjoyed to be shown into our luxurious hotel suite! That's right - a suite, not just a room - they don't seem to do small, or things by half in Vegas. It's about as big as the cottage and on the third floor of a hotel and casino resort. Several long showers later, we were back in a presentable shape and ready to hit the town.
Everything is huge! There really is too much to describe, and in a similar (yet obviously very different) way to the Grand Canyon, you really have to see it to believe it. I spent most of the time gazing up, down and all around, trying to soak it all in! I'll try and describe a few of the highlights.
Our first stop was the Venetian Hotel. (Although the word hotel doesn't really do it justice). It's a full size re-creation of Venice! Complete with towers, bridges (that have escalators, so that you don't have to actually expend and energy walking over them!), ornate chapels and a canal with Gondolas!
But the most amazing part was that most of it is indoors! The high ceilings look like the sky! Totally bonkers! There was even a sunset indoors!
As darkness fell, excitement levels rose, as the bright lights of the city began to turn on.
After coffee and cheese cake in Venice, we went for pizza and wine in the casino of the Mirage Hotel. When we came back outside, there was a volcano erupting outside the front of the hotel!
After negotiating the tropical trees and big waterfalls (and erupting volcano), we looked in Ceasars Palace and then watched a fountain display to music outside the Bellagio Hotel.
Much much more happened (too much to write down - we're off to see more now), but in brief, we went dancing, had cocktails at a bar where the waiters jugglers the bottles and balanced bottles on ther heads while pouring drinks! Saw live bands, ate burgers, played the slot machines, watched poker games and saw all kinds of people!
Oh, and we also went to the Eiffel Tower in Paris! What a night!...
It was amazing 35 years ago but looks even more extravagant today!
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