Situated within an arid basin and surrounded by dry mountains in the Mojave Desert was a city which we had set our sights upon. It has been portrayed by Hollywood in many blockbuster movies, Oceans Eleven, Con Air, 21, The Hangover, to name but a few. Its self claimed reputation of 'The Entertainment Capital of the World' sparked our imaginations and we couldn't pass the opportunity to experience Las Vegas.
　
Our journey continues east, away from the coast and into the scorching, barren Californian desert. We take Highway 166 (with recommendation from a friendly local) and begin a long accent into the mountains. The desert roads are long, sometimes in a complete straight line, for miles and miles with great distances between any civilization. All we pass is a couple of 'one-horse' towns, with a few amenities and vast, flat nothingness around them.
　
As we get further into the desert we past acres and acres of oil fields. All we can see is rickety looking oil pumps, pumping the earth for black gold. Seeing these oil fields briefly reminds Shay of BP and her old life working in London. It also makes her realise that doing this trip and living their dreams was absolutely the right thing to do.
　
The Ghost Town of Calico
　
We decide to make a pit stop into Calico, which is on the map as a mining ghost town just outside of Barstow. The town has been revived into a tourist attraction so it was not quite what we were expecting. When we checked out the old photos of what the original town was like we could see that the place had definitely been modified to the current era but it was still nice to have a break from driving and stretch the legs.
　
Arriving into Nevada is a sight to behold. There is absolutely nothing but desert and then, all of a sudden, a town juts out in the middle. The first city you see as you cross the border between California and Nevada is Primm. The small city models itself as Las Vegas's equally sinful, smaller (and cheaper) sister, we were dazzled by neon billboards and flashing casino lights and we passed through.

Bright Lights, Big City
　
About half an hour later we were entering Las Vegas. The extravagant casinos were evident even before we hit the Strip. We had pre-booked into Circus Circus, a huge casino/hotel/amusement park/circus outfit. Our confused GPS managed to take us around the block a few times before we were able to navigate into the spacious parking lot at the back on the hotel. No problems with parking here! We checked into the hotel, located our room and freshened ourselves up. Outside the sun was setting and the bright lights of sin city were taking full effect. It was time to hit the Strip!

But before we could hit the strip we had to get out of our hotel. One would think such a thing would be elementary but once you've tried to find the exit to a Las Vegas hotel you will realise that it's not as easy as it sounds. Casinos are purposely set up to confuse you; they don't want you to leave. There are no signs directing you to the exit and every turn you take looks exactly the same as the last. You find yourself walking in circles, the chiming of the fruit machines gradually numbing your senses and hypnotising you into the Las Vegas trance.
　
After at least half an hour of searching for a way out, we finally escaped and found ourselves on the infamous Strip. Immediately our senses were overloaded with bright lights, music, and explosions on all angles. We didn't know where to look first. We wandered down the road trying to take it all in, a little intimidated by it all. Various hotels were starting their evening entertainment; each one was bigger and better than the last. There was exploding pirate ships, erupting volcano's, circus performers, people stuffing flyers into your face casino workers enticing you inside, they were all daring you to part with your hard earned cash.
　
Rolling the Dice
　
We decide to try out a casino, gamble a few bucks and hopefully score ourselves a free drink while we're at it. Being the big spenders that we are we hunted down the 1 cent machines and slide in a crisp clean $1 bill. Wuuurrrrrhhh, Bing. No win and still no drink. OK, here goes another buck. This time the plan was to hit the button only when a waitress looks like she is approaching. Whew, it works this time. "2 Corona's please". This became our game plan when needing alcoholic refreshments.

Unfortunately we didn't have the patience to wait it out too long, after a few minutes of randomly pressing buttons and watching the wheels spin, we were itchy to do something more exciting. We ended up gambling a grand total of US$10 between us, probably the lowest amount spent in Las Vegas history. Yes, it's safe to say that we're pretty pathetic gamblers.
　
One of the scary things about Vegas is the people who do like to gamble, they like it so much that it becomes an addiction. Its easy to spot the difference between the people that are there for the weekend and just doing it for the experience and the people that are there day in and day out, sometimes even days on end, feeding bill after bill into the machine. Their clothes are ruffled, they look like they haven't washed in days and there eyes are blank… mesmerised by the hypnotic chime of the fruit machine.
　
Despite our reluctance to waste our hard earn cash in a gambling machine, money seemed to evaporate from our wallets. Everyone and everything is designed to suck as much as they can from you in this place. Street sellers are relentless, they wear you down with all the right lines until you cave under the pressure. Shay is now the proud owner of a $50 pot of salt from the Dead Sea!
　
Tournament of Kings
　
The next day we decide to take in a show and after much deliberation we decide to go to the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. The show included dinner and a show with Kings and Queens, Jokers and Knights. They put on a spectacular show of jousting and other tricks upon their fine steeds. The show was excellent but we do think they needed to improve some of the other things to make it more realistic. Using actual goblets and old fashioned plates would be a start and maybe seating us at big old looking tables to make it feel like the medieval days. A few serving wenches serving the food wouldn't of gone astray either. Other than that, it was a fun evening and worth the money with the dinner you get. What made the evening for us were the American guys we were sat next too. They were two friendly Texans who were out on a jolly before being sent to Iraq. They were definitely in for having a good time.
　
After the show we went to the 'Hooters' casino, just across the strip. With a little bit more of our gambling strategy, we manage to score ourselves another free drink. Ollie was a little disappointed as the Hooter girls were fully clothed; he believed it was a topless casino, a heaven for men. Needless to say, after our free drink we were out of there.
　
Moving on, we took a taxi ride to Freemont Street, downtown of Las Vegas. Our taxi driver was called David, he was from Israel and could help us with anything we wanted. He would take us to the best clubs or casinos, we just had to say the word. As we got out the cab he handed us his business card. It read, 'David, your Magical Taxicab Driver'. Now that's Vegas to a tee!
　
The Freemont Street Experience is a huge 1400 foot long arched street canopy which has a light show enhanced by 550K watts of wrap-around sound. We made it just in time to see the last show for the evening. Freemont Street itself is rich in history. It holds many firsts in Las Vegas, including the first hotel, first paved street, first high-rise building and first Nevada gaming licence. The Freemont Street Experience was created to draw crowds back downtown after the Strip took over as the place to be.
　
After a couple more beers and a few more $1's in machines we were ready to make our way back to the hotel. Vegas done.