Las Vegas
Vegas is a neon splash of colour in the middle of Nevada's dustbowl landscape. Isolated by hundreds of miles of desert it feels like it is divorced from the rest of the United States, and seemingly from reality.
Getting here is part of the experience. It is a pilgrimage to the American Dream and, amidst its undoubted debauchery and tackiness, Las Vegas epitomises the Dream like nowhere else. Everyone in this amazing city is made equal. Presidents dance with disco queens and Hollywood legends serve burgers.
Las Vegas can make you or break you at the flick of a card, the roll of a dice or the random crank of a handle. But wealth is only a part of the dream. Vegas encapsulates everything it is to be American - its heroes and villains, its virtues and vices.
Here Elvis and Sinatra are alive and well, and forever young. Venice, the Eiffel Tower and the Pyramids are merely a cab ride away from each other except bigger, brighter and, in that case, better than the originals.
Suspend your disbelief and plunge through the silver screen into the living movie that is Vegas - it's here to entertain you.
Las Vegas didn't exist 100 years ago - today it is one of the world's top tourist attractions. People come to participate in the splendid illusion that life is a dream founded on the pursuit of pleasure and sensory stimulation. In other words if you like gaming, eating, dancing, and big-name entertainment then you've come to the right town.
Las Vegas is the undisputed gambling capital of the world, and few visitors return home without having at least ventured a crafty quarter into a slot machine.
There are literally thousands of options for frittering your money away, whether on the amazing fruit machines, some of which pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars, to a few turns of the cards at the blackjack tables, or a spin of the wheel of fortune on the roulette. For the complete gaming experience, try the Luxor (Tel: +1 (1)702-262-4000) with its amazing replica of the Sphinx and the Pyramids, the MGM Grand (Tel: +1 (1)702-891-7777) or the Bellagio (Tel: +1 (1)702-693-7111), all of which can be found within the same part of "the Strip".
It's easier to list the musical greats who haven't played Las Vegas, here Elvis really lives...
The big name entertainers here play regularly to packed out theatres and stars who have made it big in Vegas range from divas such as Celine Dion (who had an entire auditorium built specifically for her show) to rockers such as Tom Jones, perhaps Las Vegas's most successful crowd pleaser of all time (if you discount a thousand Elvises). Caesar's Palace is currently home to some big international stars such as Cher, Elton John, and Jerry Seinfeld who give regular performances.
No act is too big for Vegas but no act is too small either. Besides the top of the bill stars there is a supporting cast of thousands of smaller name acts either trying to make it big, or on their way back down.
Las Vegas entertainment is rarely subtle, but its most ambitious attractions are undeniably impressive. The larger casinos such as the MGM Grand spend literally millions of dollars on their entertainment, with massive sets, casts of thousands and the most awesome sound and light shows found anywhere in the world.
The biggest Broadway musicals and their stars are always on somewhere along the strip, while late-night adult revues see the famous showgirls (and showboys) take to the stage. For people who prefer entertainment more "abracadabra" than bra-less the strip is home to some of the world's most feted magicians. Although the "magic" is gaudily unsubtle, with sleight of hand often being substituted for pyrotechnics, the most famous of them all, Siegfried and Roy, have been wowing audiences for years. (Although one of their Siberian Tigers proved a savage critic a couple of years ago and mauled Roy on stage. Typically for Vegas, the audience applauded it as part of the show.)
Top shows can cost over USD100 - often including dinner - but the performance is invariably worth it.
The immense Shark Reef Aquarium allows visitors to come face to face with some of the oceans most fierce predators, including sharks, crocodiles and piranhas, alongside more gentile creatures such as turtles, giant rays and hundreds of colourful tropical fish.
You can enjoy a 360 degrees view of the creatures from an old shipwreck sank to the bottom of 1.3 million gallon tank, here you can watch the predators weave and hide in the remains of the ship.
There are also exhibits dedicated to creatures from the Amazon and the Caribbean, a mesmerizing tank full of gliding moon jellies and Shark Reef's newest attraction, the Komodo Dragon, the world's largest living species of lizard. These prehistoric looking reptiles grow on average to two-three metres in length!
Not only can experience these creature up close and personal but you can also learn about the research and conversation schemes run by the Shark Reef team. Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Tel: +1 (1)702-632-4555. Open: daily 10h00-23h00. Admission: USD16.95, adults; USD10.95, children.
Las Vegas is home to what is technically the highest roller coaster in the world, the High Roller - although it has a head start by being already 909 feet above ground, atop the Stratosphere Tower.
The Tower also features some alternative rides for the truly brave - the Big Shot, which propels passengers 160 feet into the air in just 2.5 seconds; Insanity, a giant arm which dangles passengers 64 feet out from the Tower and spins them at the force of three Gs, and X-Scream, where you are shot 27 metres over the side of the Tower at 866 feet above the ground.
Las Vegas's finest museum, the Liberace Museum is a dedicated temple to the impish high priest of piano camp and über-extravagant kitsch that makes Graceland look like a Zen rock garden.
Ostensibly the mercurial performer made his fortune playing the piano, although he was better known and loved for his opulent lifestyle and child-like delight in spectacular material excess.
Testifying to this are exhibits of his finest pianos; ornately decorated luxury cars and most spectacularly of all, in the Costume Gallery, Liberace's absurdly decadent stage wear including the memorable black diamond mink with 40,000 hand-sewn Austrian rhinestones (worth USD800,000), and the King Neptune costume, suitably bedazzled with sea shells and pearls.
1775 East Tropicana Ave. Open: Tue-Sat 10h00-17h00; Sun 12h00-16h00. Admission: USD15, adults; free for children.
Built between 1931 and 1936, the Hoover Dam is one of the 20th century's most impressive feats of engineering. Designed to prevent flooding of the Colorado River and to aid irrigation, the structure measures 220m in height and 200m thick at its base.
Although touring a dam might not sound the most interesting of activities, the visitors centre does a decent job of keeping the exhibits interesting. Guides placed around the key points of the tour indicate areas of interest, and fill visitors in on the inner workings and history of this incredible structure. The most impressive sight is undoubtedly the 200m long turbine generator hall, dug out of solid rock in the wall of the canyon.
Lake Mead, which was created by the damming of the river, is a popular resort for fishing, sailing and water-sports.
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