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Text and photos: Phan Quoc Vinh
A city with a… complex history.
Las Vegas is the most populous city in Nevada, the county seat of Clark County, and a city famous for its resorts, casinos, restaurants, and entertainment options that everyone dreams of visiting at least once. It's the 28th most populous city in the United States and has many "shocking" nicknames such as "Vegas - The Gambling Capital of the World," "The City of Sin," "The Capital of Second Chances," "The Marriage Place of the World's Wealth," etc. Some Americans jokingly call Las Vegas "Lost Wages." The casinos and hotels are so brightly lit with neon lights that many call this desert city the "City of Lights," and that's not an exaggeration.
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Las Vegas was founded in 1905 as a small train station. At that time, there were only a few buildings in the middle of the desert. Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. In 1946, a gambling-addicted gang leader with ties to the American Mafia named Bugsy Siegel established the first casino in Las Vegas, which remains famous to this day. For various reasons, he was killed in 1947. This made both him and Las Vegas even more famous.
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In the early 1950s, visitors came to Las Vegas not only to gamble but also to watch atomic bomb experiments in the desert outside the city. Back then, people didn't know how dangerous it was; they even thought it was exciting to watch. With subsequent development, Las Vegas became the most populous American city founded in the 20th century, a title previously held by Chicago in the 19th century.
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The city has been chosen as the setting for numerous films and television shows. Furthermore, it boasts the highest number of churches per capita among major cities in the United States. Therefore, Las Vegas is very famous for its wedding churches. Like all other places in Las Vegas, the wedding churches here are open 24/7. The wedding process is simple; couples only pay a few dollars for registration and they can get married immediately without any further waiting! For many years, Las Vegas has been the choice for the big day of famous movie stars.
Filled with magic, welcoming the distant god.
When it comes to the saying "The customer is king," Las Vegas is perhaps the entertainment paradise that every king would want to visit at least once. I myself have traveled to many places, but after coming here, I seem to have no desire to go anywhere else...
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Everything in Las Vegas seems expensive, but a room costs only half the price of other places, and in many cases, it's just the price of a buffet meal. This is because people know that once they're here, no one is going to hide in their room to sleep; they're definitely going out to eat, drink, and gamble. The massive hotels in Las Vegas are all very special; stepping inside is like entering another world. Some hotels resemble ancient Egypt with its towering Sphinx, others are like the tropical island of Treasure with its cascading waterfalls. Some look like the magnificent city of New York with the Statue of Liberty, while others embody a corner of Paris with the Eiffel Tower soaring into the blue sky.
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The Roman statues and the floating streets of Venice are recreated in various nearby hotels, connected by free internal trains. Therefore, simply visiting Las Vegas gives me the feeling of "around the world in…one day," rather than the 80 days described in the classic adventure novel first published in 1873 by the French writer Jules Verne.
The restaurants offer a wide variety of high-quality buffets at reasonable prices, and there are also many upscale restaurants specializing in international cuisine. However, they probably only make a small profit because the hotels primarily earn their money from the massive casinos scattered throughout the area, catering to the gambling needs of tourists.
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These hotels also consistently feature performances by world-renowned entertainers, such as major concerts by the Bee Gees, world-famous diva Celine Dion, pop princess Britney Spears, the band Human Nature, the 80s rock band Meatloaf, legendary singers Rod Stewart and Elton John, reenactments of the King of Pop Michael Jackson, The Beatles… Then there are comedy shows by famous comedians, Terry Fator's "The Voice of Entertainment" with puppets that once took America's Got Talent by storm, or jaw-dropping performances by magician David Copperfield. All tourists will feel like it's a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, so spending a few hundred dollars for a prime spot to see their idols is perfectly acceptable!
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Alongside the entertainment centers are famous luxury shopping districts featuring many high-end brands worth thousands of dollars. If you happen to wander into these large shopping areas, you'll be given discount vouchers and directions so you know how to get out if you run out of money. For example, the luxury shopping district in the Caesar Palace Hotel offers significant discounts, but only for total bills exceeding... a thousand dollars.
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After enjoying a hearty meal and some shopping, tourists return to their rooms to rest, and of course, they have to pass by the hotel's gambling center. The jingling of the machines and the joyful cheers of winning players are mesmerizing, making you linger and stay rooted to the spot. At every major hotel, tourists are greeted warmly by staff, and with a credit card, you get free entry to several large casinos, free buffet meals, hundreds of dollars in your gambling account, and free hotel rooms on your next visit. Just a tiny plastic card with your name on it is enough to instantly become a VIP in this Las Vegas! But if you don't have one, it's okay; just insert cash into the machines and try your luck, because you'll find slot machines everywhere, from the airport to the hotel, from the lobby to near the restrooms. Anytime, anywhere, you'll be invited to insert money without knowing the rules, then press the button and pray for the luck of the "Wheel of Fortune" (similar to the magic hat often shown on VTV3) to fall right onto your head! Who knows, maybe just 25 cents will make you a millionaire after just one click?
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I've also tried dozens of slot machines, and my luckiest time was when I put in $1 and won $50 after just two bets. Most of the time I lost, so the more I lost, the more I was tempted to keep playing to recoup my losses, because everyone around me was cheering, making me envious.
Finally, I returned home unharmed, far from that city full of temptations, yet still feeling a sense of longing. I was so dazed that even while eating, I could still hear the mournful sound of lottery tickets, the heart-wrenching sound of the lottery machine's horn, and in my sleep, I dreamt of flying over Las Vegas, preparing to arrive with suitcases full of money to become a millionaire in the city… Some mysterious, magical force continued to haunt me relentlessly.
| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In Las Vegas, it's difficult to determine how much time you should spend at each attraction because the space is so vast and it's easy to get distracted. Therefore, you need to strictly adhere to your time limits at each location and find your way out quickly if you don't want to spend an entire day in one place.
+ It's almost impossible to use Google Maps to accurately calculate travel time between hotels. + Note: Be careful in crowded places, especially when taking photos, to avoid being pickpocketed or being targeted by unsavory entertainment services along the way. Divide your spending money into daily allowances and keep it in a safe, only using the money for each day to avoid running out before your return.
+ Prices for tours of the surrounding area and the desert in Las Vegas can be found at: http://www.vegas.com. Buying a daily bus pass for city travel is cheaper than buying individual tickets, but the stops are longer than the monorail. A 3-day monorail pass is cheaper than buying tickets individually.
+ Don't miss Bonanza Gifts – the world's largest gift shop – and Stratosphere – the tallest tower in Nevada – for panoramic views of Las Vegas at night.
+ If you want to eat at cheaper places, you should visit the food courts along the road, which have a wide variety of food and drinks to choose from at much lower prices than in hotels. You can buy drinks at the supermarket and bring them back to your room because everything in hotels is expensive.
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