Thursday 12 June – The lure of Las Vegas

Yesterday, at one of the viewpoints overlooking Zion Canyon, we got talking to a Hungarian who's lived in America for 30 years; and who loves Las Vegas, and visits it often. His game is poker.

“You must get a gaming card,” the Hungarian tells us. “It won't cost you anything, and you'll get a discount on all your buffets meals with it, even if you hardly use it. It's like a loyalty card.”

We heed this advice, and before “brunch” (we are late today) we duly collect our free gaming cards. These will give us 10% off all our meals in the buffet area, and 25% off one meal of our choice. Reg thinks of it as a sort of Nectar card for gaming – even if we don't use it at all, it will still give us a discount at mealtimes.

After our brunch we buy day-rider tickets (you can buy them on the bus) so that we can travel along the Las Vegas Boulevard (“the Strip”) to take a look at some of the themed hotels that so many other people have mentioned to us. The Stratosphere, where we are staying, is way down at the end of the Strip, some distance away from where most of the action is. We're really glad about this; yes, there's definitely lots of gambling going on in the Stratosphere, but it's not on the same overpowering scale as in some of the other hotels.

It's 39º C. Reg loves this heat, but I find it overpowering. Everywhere there are street vendors selling bottled water on ice, and fine sprays of water, to cool you down, jet from the walls and roof canopies as we walk along. It's lovely to get into the air-conditioning of the hotels along “the Strip.”

Actually we only go in 2 or three hotels, just to get a flavour of the “themes” - probably the most opulent we see is “The Venetian” with its daytime and night-time themes, and real gondolas in real “canals”. We take a look at some of the features of Rome re-created in “Caesar's Palace”; both these hotels feature mock Old-Master painted ceilings (Reg reckons it's wallpaper as he can see the joins!)   Probably the most enjoyable find for Reg is when we pop into a “Planet Hollywood”, a café featuring Hollywood memorabilia, and they have there two of the gold bars used in the James Bond film, “Goldfinger”, plus James Bond's (Daniel Craig's) formal evening wear from the film “Skyfall”, together with other artefacts from “Diehard” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

I think we are still tired from yesterday, and I know some people reading this will probably think we lack the “joie de vivre” needed for a visit to Las Vegas – perhaps we are just damp squibs - but we aren't impressed by all this themed opulence. Las Vegas just isn't our scene – although we felt it had to be visited, and we don't regret coming here. For us, it's a city without a soul. People choose to gamble, and done occasionally with sensible limits it is just a bit of fun – we too have enjoyed our flutter on the one-armed bandits. However, it's easy to see that all this opulence represents excess …. as in New Orleans, anything goes, but here it goes on beneath a veneer of grandeur. The glitzy empire of Las Vegas is built on easy money; the money the gambler is only too willing to part with, because of the thrill of the game, and the fact that there's always the chance, no matter how remote, that he'll hit the jackpot.

“I bet a few lives have been destroyed here,” I say to Reg.

“I'll bet you they have,” Reg replies.

Back in “The Stratosphere”, we take a trip to the 109^th floor of the hotel – virtually the top of the Tower, where from the viewing windows we can see Las Vegas spread out before us on the flat desert plain, with the craggy desert hills on the skyline. It's a thrilling site, and the high point of our day – especially when we see someone do a bungee jump from the Tower. It's in the Guiness Book of Records as the highest bungee jump platform in the world.

There are also thrilling rides you can do where you hang over the edge of the Tower – this is definitely not for me, and although Reg has debated it, he has decided against it I think! You can also do a shute ride to the bottom of the building, which we are informed takes all of 30 seconds. This is definitely not my cup of tea.  Yes, I definitely am a damp squib - and one that doesn't like heights!

Back in the main hotel area, Reg enjoys taking photos of some local celebrities who are promoting the live shows which are taking place in The Stratosphere. I've had enough, though; I leave Reg to it and return to our room, where there is time to relax for a short while before our “25% off” buffet dinner.

After dinner we visit the one-armed bandits again where we take it in turn to spin the reels. We win a little and lose more – soon our $1 dollar credit voucher, left over from last night, plus an extra dollar we put in (we are the last of the big spenders), are gone.

The sparkling brand-new sports car on display in the casino – unabashedly there to entice gamblers to spend more money in the hope of being able to afford this luxury car – is not going to be ours tonight.

We've seen all we want to of Las Vegas - tomorrow we'll be taking a trip to the Hoover Dam - and finding a launderette, so that we can do our mountain of washing.