OK...so we'd managed to book into the Luxor without too much difficulty, the valet had parked the car (slightly different from the hostels and motels we'd stayed in before!) and we had hauled our rucksacks out of the boot. Our room was number 2552...on the 25th floor of a glass pyramid! Desperately trying to take in everything that was around us, we headed for the inclinator - which was just like a lift, but of course because the walls aren't straight, it goes up on an incline! It's the little things which amuse me...and which make Las Vegas such a cool place. When we reached the 25th floor we realised that all the corridors are open so you can look down on the casino from them. It was really cool! Unfortunately our cameras didn't really want to cooperate, so you'll just have to make sure you go there at some stage to get the idea. Our room was large and decked out in hyroglyphic patterned bedding, but other than that was pretty classy. From our window you could look down on the outdoor swimming pools, complete with surrounding Egyptian statues and palm trees and the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The weather was perfect...finally some sunshine!

That afternoon we went for a wander to get our bearings and in the evening we went to eat at one of Las Vegas's famous all-you-can-eat buffets. Virtually all the hotels have them, but we headed for one that was reputedly the best, in Aladdins, an Arab themed hotel (which as you can imagine, is suffering a slight slump in the current political atmosphere, but whose buffet is delicious!) I ate Chinese prawns and stir fried Chicken and vegetables, Italian pastas and gorgeous fresh fruit salad...all for $20! Things like food are generally quite good value in Vegas because they assume you're going to spend all your money in the casinos (little do they know that the closest I come to gambling is buying a lottery ticket once every 6 months!) Once we'd finished eating, we continued to wander. The British couple in Pahrump had suggested a couple of things for us to go and see, one of which was the rain in Aladdin's shopping mall. Weird. They have a full sized shopping mall and within it, there's a small canal. Every half an hour, they have a thunder and lightning storm. Yes, really. The rain is confined to just falling on the canal though, so you don't get wet. I can't imagine who ever comes up with these weird and wonderful ideas, but it makes the place magic! From there we continued on the water theme and went over the road to see the Bellagio fountains in action. How they make water so beautiful is beyond me, but they choreograph the fountains to music (like at the end of Ocean's Eleven when they all stand in a row and watch it.) Unfortunately Brad and George hadn't decided to join us, but there were 100s of tourists. The fountains are absolutely mesmerising - I could've stood there and watched them all night, as every 'routine' is different and played out to different music. Amazing. From there we headed back to the hotel, not realising how late it had got or how far we'd walked from our hotel. The strip is really long! By the time we got back to the hotel we felt like we'd finally had some proper exercise and were fast asleep before we knew it. x