The 3 day 2 night trip itenary:
1st day:
Leave Los Angeles(LA) and arrive a Laughlin by evening.On way, shop at factory outlets.
2nd day:
Leave Laughlin early morning and arrive at Grand Canyon. Leave GC and arrive at Las Vegasin the late evening.
3rd day:
Go to some more Casinos and leave to LA. Midway, shop at factory outlets.
As per our booking we were supposed to leave from Chinatown in LA at 7 am. Luckily a day before we found a pick up point close to our place. So we left LA from Rowland heights at 9am.
Oops! I forgot to tell who all travelled with me. They were Uthra, Chandan and Sunil.
As usual, we were excited about Grand Canyon as it was one of the natural wonders of the world. I was fascinated by the pics I saw over internet. I had been dreaming of visiting all the wonders of the world in my lifetime. Was happy that this dream came partially true.
In the shopping outlets, we just did window shopping as we were not sure of our expenses during the whole trip especially in Las Vegas. We planned to shop on our way back. Then we left from the shopping mall and came to Laughlin. Laughlin is a city thats close to Las Vegas and is on the bank of river Colorado.
There are about some 30-40 casinos in this city. The speciality of some casinos is that they have river walk meaning you can walk on the bank of the river. Laughlin is a very small city.
We stayed in Colorado Belle Hotel Casino. We did go out in the late evening for river walk. Also visited some casinos. Just visited. Did not play as our plans were different. This city has been developed just cos it has river. Only close to the river and these hotel casinos we find some trees and greenery. Otherwise its a desert.
Through out our journey we hardly saw some greenery in this part of the world. Over that the journey made us feel desperate. Both Arizona and Nevada are dry states. Deserts!!!!!
I just cant compare my Niagara trip with this. It was so wonderful.
Anyways this is how it is. I have to accept the fact.
So we left from Laughlin next morn at 4:45am. Yes 4:45am!!!! We actually woke up at 3am and got ready by 4:45. Guys had beer and slept late night. They didn't want to wake up so soon.
So we slept in the bus till the bus stopped for breakfast. This time, I made sure that I will not go without plans and had made prior shopping and got some bread, jam muffins and chocolates to serve our breakfast purpose. We also had packed rotis with chutney powder. In USA, it is very difficult to find vegetarian food. Very Very difficult. After having a bad experience in my Niagara trip, I realized thevalue of home made Indian veggie food :)
We had breakfast in bus and rested till we reached much awaited Grand Canyon. One of the natural wonders of the world. We had actually gone to south rim of the GC. We expected that we would be spending half a day there covering most of the stretch in south rim. But to our disappointment, we gotta know before we got out of the bus that we will be there only for an hour. All my dreams were shattered. I dreamt I would spend so much time and see. Before I left to GC from LA, I was told that the natural carving in the land has made Lord Shiva and Ganesh. I could visualise nandi and Ganesh but not Lord Shiva. I could not even spot Colorado river. But in the maps, river was marked. Was it hidden by the landscape or will it be visible from other rims? I donno :(
I have also heard about skywalk, If anyone is adventurous and has enough time and money, I would suggest them to venture into this. I did not have time. I would also want to see the Hoover dam which is famous for the technology.
Later we went to IMAX movie about Grand Canyon and its history. In 1940, there was a earth quake which separated the land. This natural calamity created such a wonder in the world.
Then we had lunch and left to Las Vegas - Gambling centre.This is supposed to be a city that has shown phenomenal growth in the 20th century. During our travel only one thought kept pestering me. Why the hell did the millionnaires or billionnaires invest in this barren land. This is a desert. We see sand all over and some bushes and cactus sort of plants only. No trees for shade nothing. How can mankind survive here. Just because there is money and the land is cheap here, did the city grow?
The casinos have attracted thousands and millions of tourists through out the year. The state revenue grew drastically in a short span of time.
Every Casino is built with a different architecture, different look with different lighting systems and logos. Mindblowing city at night. Worth watching only at night.
Gambling is lawful act here. Whereas in India it is unlawful.
Every Casino has thousands of games. Mostly people lose money. Rare cases have won.
The margin of profit is so high here. hmmm what say? Want to see the photos? Visit this album to see photos
Then we visited some more casinos in the morning. MGM - the biggest casino in LV and New York Casino. Then we left to LA. On our way, we shopped in Tommy hilfiger and Van Heusen. Felt like vomitting in the bus may be due to food poisoning. I actually vomitted and felt relaxed after that. I seriously don't like eating outside home in USA. Anyways we reached back LA right on time.
Hope my next trip to GC will cover the whole stretch and be worthwhile.
