Vegaland!

Vegas Rocks!! Man, there is so much here that I need another couple of visits before I can say I've explored this place well!!

I spent my time doing what Americans love doing (since I'd gone with my Amru friends/colleagues).... boozing, gambling and watching American football.... I wandered off by myself sometimes leaving them to their betting and football matches... Man, words are not enough to describe the experience.. I need to upload some pics soon ;-)

It is a marketing extravaganza, no doubt, enticing and addictive... Otherwise, why would hundreds of thousands of people fly-in every week, shed their money and fly back? I had seen tens of limos in NY... But here it is easily in the hundreds, may be thousands... Ever seen a Hummer limo? You can find that and much more (Ford Expedition limo, anyone?)!!

We were staying in this hotel called the Monte Carlo... Its a huge one with so many casinos, food courts, and stuff... There are atleast 10-15 such big hotels. (I'm not looking at the small ones at all) And some 5 more are being built...

I think the casino table hosts have some remote control... Anyways, I made some money and lost more money on the Roulette... did not play blackjack... that would be for the next time... got to learn fully before that...

Enroute.. we passed through Edwards Air Force Base... thats where the Columbia and other space shuttles land, it seems... Its in the Mojave (pronounced, Mohave) desert... Just around the place there is this aeroplane junkyard too, where we could find old and discarded jet fighters and passenger planes...

We passed adjacent to the death valley (supposed to be the lowest and hottest place in the US) and this place named Zzyzx (wonder why they named such!!)

We also saw Area 51 (or the UFO center). Area 51 is actually a part of the Nevada Test and Training Range and is owned by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Air Force.

Area 51 contains an airfield whose primary purpose is believed to be the operation and analysis of enemy aircraft and weapons systems, and secret development and testing of new military aircraft. Many of blackbird and stealth flights have been created here and the entire area is 'highly classified'. Until a couple of decades ago, nobody knew about this place. It did not appear in any of the maps and the US govt. did not acknowledge the existence. It required the highest govt. clearance to access even the details related to this base.

Area 51 is the frequent subject of UFO conspiracy theories. Its secretive nature and undoubted connection to classified aircraft research, together with reports of unusual phenomena, have led to the popularity of Area 51 and it being a focus of modern UFO and conspiracy theory. It was believed that this was a storage, examination, and reverse engineering center of crashed alien spacecraft!!

So much for one visit... more later!!!