Day Twenty-Eight: A Lovely Drive, Welcome to Las Vegas, And The Strip At Night

Although the sleep was highly uncomfortable, I did manage to get a few hours of shut-eye before my bus to Las Vegas. For the first few hours of the journey I tried to catch up with some more sleep as the landscape was a little boring. Later on in the afternoon, we had a short 30 mile burst across the north-western corner of Arizona. As soon as we entered, the landscape changed dramatically. Huge dusty mountains with sheer cliff faces, and small canyons with winding rivers overtook the landscape. Whilst everyone else in the bus continued sleeping or talking, I was frantically taking photographs out of the windows (you can see these on Facebook) as it was one of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen. As soon as we crossed the border into Nevada, the scenery dulled down as dramatically as it had appeared.

After another hour or so on the bus, we pulled into Sin City. My hostel was perfectly located on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip), only a couple of miles from the main action. It was a lot different from the other hostels I had been in, as rather than being one central building, it was more like a series of separate chalets surrounded by a wall. Although perhaps not as aesthetically pleasing as previous hostels, the room rate was ridiculously cheap and the staff were superb.

Not wanting to miss out on any nightlife action, I purchased copious amounts of cheap beer and got ready for a hostel-organised pub crawl to The Strip that evening. It was here that the quality of the hostel came to the fore. Everyone staying in Vegas were there to go out to party and gamble, meaning that everyone went out every night, and all in the same hostel organised group. Straight away I was able to make many new acquaintances.

The first place we visited was a plush bar a couple of blacks away from The Strip. It was definitely classier and wealthier than any bar I had been in before. Our hostel guide Chandler had managed to get us BOGOF drinks deals at the bar, so I ordered two double vodka Cokes. The barmaid on the other hand thought I would prefer to have one quadruple shotted drink. So small was the amount of Coke in the drink, it still looked colourless. Lets just say that it was not appreciated and was not pleasant in the slightest.

The final stop on our night-out was to go to the club on the 64th floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Once inside I was fairly impressed as it was very classy but I failed to see why it was meant to be such a special place. I found out why that was the case however when I went around the corner and out onto the balcony. Below me was the entire of Vegas shining brightly. This made an immediate improvement. After many photos and a few more drinks, we got back to the hostel late (early) in the evening (morning).

Day Twenty-Seven: Amtrak, The Real Rockies, And An Uncomfortable Night

As I hadn't made it into the mountains during my days in Denver, I decided to alter my plans a little bit. Rather than travelling directly to Las Vegas by Greyhound, I was going to take the train up to Salt Lake City, and get the bus from there.  This was because I had read that this portion of railway wound slowly through the mountains and it was very picturesque. As the ticket only cost $75 I counted it as a small tour in itself.

I made it to the train with a little difficulty, as trains were departing from a temporary station as Union station (the main one in Denver) was having major rebuilding work. The train itself was worth the wait however. I had a huge seat with masses of leg room and some excellent reclining features. Nothing like what is on offer in the U.K. This may however be due part to the fact that the train travels from Chicago to San Francisco over 4 days so luxury is necessary.  The best part of the train though were the large observation carriages, offering large wall and ceiling windows, enabling you to take in the beauty of the journey.

The trip itself was as beautiful as they say. We spent hours winding slowly through mountain passes, over bridges, crossing rivers, under tunnels, and around woodland. I took many photos, which I have put on Facebook in the Colorado section.

After about 10 hours of this, we crossed over into Utah in which the scenery changed to a more dusty and earthy landscape, though still gorgeous. Eventually, after 15 hours in total on the train, we arrived at Salt Lake City station. Unfortunately, my greyhound to Vegas was not for another 10 hours meaning I had to spend the night at the Greyhound terminal. There wasn't even a chance to go to a bar and wait because... you know... It's Utah... Church of the Latter Day Saints and all that stuff. I did manage to get some sleep but it was a pretty uncomfortable night sleeping on a concrete floor with the lights on brightly and nothing for a blanket.

Day Twenty-Six: Capitol, Court, And The Rockies

As the Capitol building had been closed on the weekend, and it was so close to the hostel, I thought that i can't really not go inside.  Although it was a nice building, again similar to the Capitol in Washington, it lacked the size, interest, and importance of its original. The tour was interesting and I learned a fair bit about Coloradan politics, but that's because there was not much to learn.  Probably the most interstitial part was the visit to the old Supreme Court building inside the Capitol that had been the site of many controversial state laws, including the legalisation of same-sex marriages and the decrimilisation of marijuana.

After the tour finished, I went across the road to the new home of the Supreme Court and the local federal district courts. The whole building was completely empty and I had no idea whether I could go in to any of the court rooms. As no one stopped me, I did step inside one but I felt very out of place and after taking a quick photo, I hastily retreated.

I then moved through the city, visiting a few places I had not already got the chance to see. It was on this mini adventure, that I saw perhaps my favourite ever piece of modern sculpture art- The Big Blue Bear. This is pretty much the perfect description. It's a bear, that's blue, and 40ft high, looking into the Denver Convention Centre. Wonderful. Search for it on Google, you won't be disappointed, I promise.

As I had pretty much seen every film at the cinema, I thought it would be a great opportunity to go and see some Baseball. I got some great seats, on the 3rd storey, behind home plate to see the Colorado Rockies play the Arizona Diamondbacks. The game started very well for the Rockies, moving out to a 4-0 lead in the 7th innings, with the 'backs only getting one hitter. The 8th was a different matter however. After some shocking pitching, the scores were tied at 4-4. Luckily for the Rockies, the struck Arizona out while the bases were loaded. The game eventually went into overtime and after a scoreless innings by Arizona, and them deliberately walking the best Rockies hitter, a wonderful double led the Rockies to an enthralling victory. I was becoming good luck for the home team, with 2 wins in 2 baseball outings.

After some dinner, I headed back to the hostel as I had an early train to catch the next day.

Day Twenty-Five: Art, Michelangelo, And Mud

Just down the road from the hostel was the Denver art museum which I paid a visit to to try and get a little more culture. The gallery itself was very large, consisting of a four-story building connecting to a seven-story one. Although the gallery as a whole was not my complete cup of tea, there was a few very good sections. The English art exhibit included the very famous painting of Edward VI as a child (the one that whenever a history programme talks about him, they show).  The other piece I loved was an interactive one, in which you got to walk and play about in. It was essentially a bouncy castle but with bean bags instead of air. You could easily fall asleep in there as anywhere you fell became a comfy bed. After seeing some more great Asian art, I left the museum and headed back to my favourite haunt- 16th street. 

I managed a Skype chat with my parents and grandparents using the wifi in Starbucks, but it is what happened next which was the most exciting part. I was sitting listening to my NFL podcasts, when I turned around to see standing near me, 4 cops carrying a variety of weapons including an M4 Carbine, and a SPAZ assault shotgun. They confront a man sitting a few chairs away and arrest him. One of the officers goes to the guys jacket and pulls out a 5ft rusty steel sword. I didn't break sweat and just carried on listening to the podcast, knowing that if the guy did try anything, I would have just legged it through the exit next to me. Only in America I guess.

After the little excitement I headed down the road to what I thought was a Da Vinci museum. Although this turned out to be incorrect, what was there instead was probably even more interesting- it was the first day of a new Michelangelo exhibit. Inside the large warehouse were a number of sculptures by the great man.  What was special about these sculptures were that they were the official moulds made by the Florentine University which had until this point, never left Italy. They were identical copies of the original works, something that people normally have to travel to Florence and queue for hours to see. The first sculpture I saw was the first Pieta. Quite simply, it was the most impressive piece of art I have ever seen first-hand. The sculpture was so real that reality looked fake. It was beyond belief. I just stood there for about 20 minutes just looking at that one piece. If not quite as impressive, the other sculptures were also exceptional. There was also a chance to see some copies of his most famous paintings, including the Sistine Chapel. Despite his famous quote (along the lines of) "If you saw how much work I put in, you would not call it genius," if the world ever sees an artistic talent like his again soon, I would be very surprised.

I also managed to make a quick visit to one of the US Mints, where they print the paper money for much of America. I even got a souvenir of hundreds of shredded dollars in a bag.

Because I was again alone in the evening I decided to catch another movie- this time 'Mud', the story of two Arkansas boys helping out a runaway murderer, played by Matthew McConaughey.  It was an excellent, excellent film. The acting superb and the characters compelling. Its films like this that make me sorry that Matthew devoted a lot of his career to high-budget, low-quality films. I definitely advise you to go see it whilst you can.

Day Twenty-Four: A Close Shave, Denver, And Colorado History

We stopped for breakfast in the gorgeous Raton, New Mexico, high on the plains with hills and mountains in the distance. But I will remember Raton for a different reason. We were having a 30 minute rest-stop at a McDonald's to have breakfast. The queue was pretty long so it took a while to get served. Rather than go straight back to the coach I thought I would go to the end of the car park and have a look at the scenery. After about 5 mins my heart stopped. The bus was setting off without me. I threw down my coffee and sprinted after it. Luckily for me, rather than pulling straight away, the coach had to make a turn so it could leave the same way it cut in. I ran to head the coach off at the exit, arriving just in time and desperately flagging it down. I got on much to the amusement of my fellow passengers. If the bus didn't have to turn around, or I had not been looking, my bag with all my belongings would have left without me at 6am in the morning, still with another 6 hours of journey to go. Whenever I think about it now, I still feel physically sick. I would have really been in deep deep shit.

The ride through Colorado was extraordinary, passing valleys, rivers and mountains (and the Denver Broncos Stadium!). We eventually made it to Denver after 21 hours on the bus, and I walked down to my hostel on 11th Avenue. The city itself is beautiful, combining a number of skyscrapers with lots of restaurants and bars and public parks. To the West you can see the beginning of the Rockies, and the city is already situated at exactly one-mile above sea-level. Part of the reason I wanted to go to Denver was that: one, its perfect location next to the mountains; two, the writings of Jack Kerouac and his love of the city; and three, South Park is in Colorado (kind of).

The hostel was very nice and spacious although this also counted against it in some ways. It was set up almost like a hotel, so many of the guests staying there were far older than I. It lacked the atmosphere of the other hostels I had been at where it was easy to meet people and make friends. As such, I have spent all the time in Denver on my lonesome.  After a much needed shower I headed just 2 blocks up the street to the Colorado History Museum. Inside was a great exhibition on Jefferson's Bible, in which he cut and pasted what he thought were the important morals and lessons of Jesus. The rest of the museum focused on the establishment of the state, originally as a gold mining area,  Coloradans relationships with the Native Americans (nearly always negative) and then it's development into what it is today (winter sports featuring prominently).

With most of the museums closed, I went to the cinema and watched the new Star-Trek film. It was quite interesting although the sci-fi/action films are not really my cup of tea. Visually it was impressive but the ending (one bit in particular) bordered on film heresy. And anyway, I wanted Benedict Cumberbatch to be victorious. I grabbed a Philly Cheesesteak, went back to the hostel and watched a little TV before heading to bed.

Day Twenty-Three: Starbucks, Goodbye Texas, And A Long Greyhound Journey

Today was very unexciting as it was mostly spent travelling. I checked out of the hostel and spent a couple of hours in Starbucks, waiting for my departure time that afternoon. Although this wasn't too exciting, I did manage to get a few blog posts done, and I had a Skype chat with my family.

When the time came to leave, I got a bus uptown to the Greyhound station from where I left on my journey to Denver, Colorado. This was my worst journey so far on they Greyhound as all the seats were taken meaning I had very little legroom. We made stops in Dallas and Amarillo before eventually leaving Texas and crossing over into New Mexico where I eventually got some sleep.

Day Twenty-Two: Barton Springs, The Great Gatsby, And A Night in Austin

I said my goodbyes to Tim who was leaving for Las Vegas and decided to head down to Barton Springs, a natural spring outside of town. Looking at the map, the distance didn't seem to long so I didn't bother with public transport. Mistake. It was at least 35* and a good hours walk. At least the walk was picturesque, walking along Ladybird lake and passed the Congress Bridge underneath which millions of bats live. It is one thing I have noticed about America, that there is a lot more park space owing to the sheer size of the country. When I eventually did make it to the spring, several pounds lighter due to water loss, I was slightly disappointed. This was probably not entirely due to the spring, as it was pretty enough, but due to the fact that I didn't have any swimming trunks or towel. It probably would have been a good cure for my grumpiness.

I walked (I clearly hadn't learned my lesson) back towards town but I stopped off for lunch in the Shady Grove restaurant, recommended to me by Tim. I sat on a table directly facing the industrial-sized air conditioners and ordered a large ice-tea. The waitress told me it was the coldest table in the restaurant and that I could move if I wanted. I didn't. It wasn't cold enough. For my delicate rose skin, anything over 20* is unacceptable. I wouldn't be lying if I said i was either verbally or mentally complaining about the heat every 20 seconds for 2 weeks. To eat I ordered the days special, a chicken, bacon, avocado, salad and olive tapenade sandwich. When it comes to food in America, I have the same thought process. My favourite food are burgers so I always look towards ordering them, but then my traveller self says I should try different things, be adventurous, eat local food. However, I then think to myself, I am a connoisseur of burgers, what happens if this is the best burger in the world and I miss it! I never would forgive myself. So in always order the burger. And by god, was it worth it. I won't forget that one in a hurry.

After all the walking, I felt fairly tired so I decided to mentally relax a little, and I went to the cinema and caught a 3-D screening of The Great Gatsby. Overall I thought it was a good film, well worth a watch. The acting, particularly Leo and the stunning Carey Mulligan was outstanding. I did however feel that the party scenes were too extravagant, which made it more of a film about the visual, rather than the content. I do have to admit that it is a long time since I have read the book but I feel that the character development was lacking (although to be fair, that is hard to achieve in a medium as short as film). Despite this I did enjoy it and I look forward to reading the book again as soon as I have finished 'The Brothers Karamazov' by Fyodor Dostoevsky (if its anything like 'Crime and Punishment', one of my favourite books, I don't think I will be disappointed).

In the evening the hostel had organised a bar-crawl which I thought would be perfect to tag along to as I could meet more people from the hostel as well as getting the low-down of the best places to drink in Austin. In all there were about 12 of us, a mix of many nationalities (English, Australian, Danish, German, Turkish, Argentinian, and American). Over the course of the night I got chatting to a lot of them. Special mention to Erasmus, a Dane, for our conversations on tennis; Alistair, a Brit, for our mutual drink-buying (I had met him in New Orleans originally); and Charlie, another Brit, for her talks on ship-selling (and her looks). After some drinking and a few games of table-tennis we headed to a '60s club for some dancing to the Beatles. I tried to get the DJ to play some Velvet-Underground bunt apparently this isn't good dance music. I was angry at the time, but he was probably right. Eventually we ended up a bar called the 'White Horse' to listen to 'The Best Country Band In Texas'. After convincing a Texan girl to give me some dancing lessons (in which I thoroughly embarrassed not only myself, but the whole nation) I headed back to the hostel.