Trip to Las Vegas
In November of 2016, I traveled to Las Vegas. I took Air Canada. My first and last name were reversed on the reservation, but I was allowed out of pity to take the flight. I transferred at Vancouver. I arrived in Las Vegas on the same day as my departure from Japan due to the time difference. I was surprised to see many slot machines even at the airport. I saw my hotel from the airport. However, the taxi driver covertly took a roundabout way, so it cost time and money.
I stayed at a hotel called Luxor that was designed with the concept of Egypt in mind. It was shaped like a pyramid with a sphinx. The window of the room was slanted, and the elevators moved in a diagonal direction. There were some things I found strange about this hotel. First, pyramids aren’t in Luxor but in Giza, in the suburbs of Cairo. Second, there was another pyramid inside of the hotel, but it wasn’t shaped like the ones in Egypt but the ones in Central America. This hotel was extremely strange at night, because it emitted a strong beam from the top of the pyramid into space, as if it were communicating with aliens.
I walked around the city. There were many themed hotels with certain concepts such as New York, Paris and Italy. Many hotels had casinos inside. The hotel owned by Donald Trump (who had just turned out to be the next President of the United States) didn’t have any casinos, but the whole building was colored gold, which I thought reflected his character.
It was difficult to go straight along the main street called the Strip. At the intersection, I had to turn in the direction of the hotel, cross the overpass, and then turn again to avoid entering the casino of another hotel. I found a homeless-looking woman on the overpass. She was holding a message that read she was suffering from cancer. I felt sorry for her. However, a moment later I found another homeless-looking man with the same message.
I saw some free shows, one of them being a fountain show. I saw two women clad in a police costume with a club, but they were wearing bikinis. I wanted to take a picture, but I gave up because I didn’t want to be arrested (I knew they were fake). I also saw a volcano show. It was beautiful at first, but the climax seemed like an accidental explosion, as the fire appeared everywhere. I also went to see a robot show, but I got lost in the mall and missed it. An hour later, I came back and saw it, but I didn’t understand the English that the robots were speaking. I went to see the feeding show of flamingos, but the show was cancelled after I had already waited for a long time.
I visited the downtown part of the city, which was a little far from the busiest area. The bus broke down on the way there, so I got off. While I was waiting for another bus, I was looking at a fountain when there was a sudden strong wind and I got wet. The roof of an arcade in the downtown area consisted of a screen that was animated.
The following day, I took a two-day tour to visit some natural sites. I had to get up early, so I set three alarm clocks and went to bed early, but I wasn’t able to sleep at all because of anxiety.
First, we visited the Antelope Canyon, which was formed by flash flooding in the desert. We followed a Navajo guide. We went through a narrow and winding passage, going up and down like an adventure. The view wasn’t really special when I saw it with the naked eye, but it was an amazingly beautiful pink color when I photographed it. I took many pictures, but most of them were out of focus when I saw them later. I found my shoes filled with sand when I came back to the car.
Then we visited the Horseshoe Bend where the Colorado River meandered like a horseshoe. The river’s water was very low, so I had to approach the cliff to see the whole shape. They say some people drop their cellphones, and others even themselves fall. It would be difficult to remain unscathed if one fell.
Next, we visited the Monument Valley. We drove through this area in a car driven by a Navajo guide. We saw a view like you would see in a Western movie. I couldn’t take pictures easily because the road was bumpy. We stopped at a few points. The guide took a picture for me as if I were jumping over the rocks. We stayed near this area and visited the area again to see the sunrise. It was beautiful, but it was freezing.
We visited the Grand Canyon. It was so large that, on the contrary, it seemed only two-dimensional. I walked along a passage to another observatory, but time was soon up and I hurried back. When I returned to the car, westerners were seated inside. A moment later, I noticed that another car was mine.
The tour finished. After I returned to Las Vegas, I went up to the observatory of the Eiffel Tower. I had waited for a long time in line to buy a ticket, because everyone was paying with a credit card, which took more time. While I was fascinated with the magnificent view, other people occupied the position to see the fountain show. I had to wait for the following show time, enduring the coldness.
Early the next morning, I took the plane back to Japan. I arrived in Tokyo the evening of the following day. I had enjoyed my trip to Las Vegas, but I missed one thing － casinos. By a strange coincidence, politicians have decided to introduce casinos in Japan too. Personally, I don’t intend to play in Japanese casinos anyway.
※この文章はアメリカ人の先生の添削を受けて修正済みです。
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