It is a living concept that inspirers both ardent fans and adamant critics. A place that attracts curious passing travelers, opportunistic entrepreneurs and anyone in between. A city with bright lights, flamboyant entertainment, excessive money flow and extreme poverty. A fantasy we had to see for ourselves, with open hearts and minds. It is Las Vegas!

The drive into Vegas wasn't exactly the glamorous experience we were hoping for... A marathon meant the 'Strip' was closed to traffic, and our hotel was on the other side of it! Rather than directing the mass of incoming traffic to the one and only detour across, the police force had set up blockades and were turning folks around without any explanation. Even the policeman we asked didn't know what was going on or where the detour was! Hundreds of cars seemed to be driving around in frustrated circles just like us! After three hours of this, we eventually parked the car and asked at a fashion shop of all places, and were kindly sent on our way.

Fortunately it was all up from there, with a warm shower to wash off our Mojave Desert dust and a comfy bed to look forward to - a refreshing change from the back of our car! The bed would have to wait though as we had developed a hefty appetite after all the frustrating roadworks! So we put on our best clothes, stopped at the gas station for a long-neck roady (yes, it is legal to drink on the streets in Las Vegas!) and headed off to explore the infamous Strip.

Our first stop was the Bellagio casino where we were greeted with an amazing and very expensive looking water fountain show. We walked along and found another casino with a garden full of real, walking and breathing flamingos. Further on, the street somehow forced us into a third casino, where we happily grabbed some more beers and kept on walking. One thing we learnt quickly was how deceptively long and distracting the Strip is. By the time we made it to the restaurant we had planned for dinner, it was after 11pm and they had stopped serving food! Too hungry to care anymore, Aidan walked into the next place that we saw still serving food and ordered. All too soon, we were munching on $10 hotdogs at midnight in Vegas...

We promised ourselves better food after that, so the next day we headed to the Paris casino to enjoy their highly reputed buffet. This buffet lived up to expectations and was well worth the hour and a half wait. They literally had six different sections each representing a different province in France, as well as a huge dessert station! We felt full for two whole days afterwards and we think it will be awhile before we are tempted with another buffet!

While in Vegas we had to watch a show. Indecisive between a magic or comedy show, we booked in for some comedy hypnosis. We are still unsure of whether a few people were faking it, but either way the show was a ball. The charming hypnotist with his 'playboy bunny' assistant had the brave volunteers from the audience dry humping blow-up dolls, hitting on the host and everything in between!

Vegas was the perfect place for such a show, and the streets were just us mischievous. There were drunk Chewbaccas sitting on the sidewalk, red-eyed tourists stumbling around the casinos looking like they hadn't slept for days and girls in lingerie posing for a few bucks while they stand shivering on the streets. There were also some really talented break dancers, musicians and plenty of people (including us) enjoying the fascinating people watching!

In fact we spent so much time simply meandering up and down the Strip, weaving in and out of casinos, that we are proud to say we didn't gamble one cent! There were just too many awesome, disgustingly lavish lobbies to explore to find time for the poker tables, or even the slots! There was the beautiful gardens and live entertainment inside the Bellagio, gigantic pirate ships outside Treasure Island, Greek Goddesses around Caesars Palace and trendy modernity in the Cosmopolitan, just to name a few! It was two days of excessive eating, excitement and intrigue and well worth the drive!

We were tempted to avoid the tedious wedding planning that we have in store for us next year by making use of one of the casino chapels, but thought better of it. Instead, we drove out to the place which has made the glamour of Vegas possible - Hoover Dam and the subsequent Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Partly as a Great Depression employment initiative, partly to help sustain human life in this harsh desert environment and partly as an impressive engineering and political feat, Hoover Dam began construction in 1931. This dam was one of the largest of its time, overshadowed today only by a handful of other dams around the world, including China's infamous Three Gorges. It was a very impressive concrete slab in the middle of a baron, red landscape and the military checkpoint that we passed on entry emphasized how seriously Americans take this Dam!

Last night we camped the night alongside Lake Mead, which was created by the Dam and is now a popular recreational fishing and boating spot. Heading towards Utah, we've just driven along a scenic bypass straight through the extended Lake Mead National Recreation Area, stopping along the way to gawk at the impressive red sandstone formations. We had a good time climbing all over the place, with peep holes created from wind erosion, animal prints highlighted in the soft desert sand and crazy shapes and patterns formed over time. All these impressive rock formations have gotten us very excited for what lays ahead in Zion National Park!