The grand Grand Canyon and Vegas trip

People: Vipul, Dsouza, Patil, Shanbhag, Korade, Kokate and myself.

Places: Vegas strip, Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

When: Nov 24th Morning - Nov 28th Morning

Experience:

- Vegas strip was beautiful. Bellagio and its water fountain show, rides on top of Stratosphere, going on top of the mini Eiffel tower, and pyramid casino were the highlights. Surprising as it may seem to others, I just spent five bucks in the slot machine. No gambling.

- Grand Canyon was maginificient. Layers of rocks spread over a vast and mammoth area in an orderly way makes the canyon look heavenly. There has been a lot of speculation as to why the canyon looks the way it looks now. Most heard of all is the course of the Colorado river. We took a helicopter ride of the canyon on Sunday. And its only then that I realized what I had missed. Viewing the whole canyon from top provoked me to explore the enormity of this seventh natural wonder of the world. I was envisaging myself in those undiscovered corners, away from the routine, unpretentious, just taking it easy. It should be worthy hiking the GC from south to north rim.

- Hoover dam is supposedly one of the greatest engineering examples America have produced. Needless to say it is not as attractive as Vegas and GC. I did not find anything extraordinary in the dam except that it was BIG.

My favorite moments in chronological order:

- Chilling at the pub in a casino (dont remember the name). We all had a good time.
- Hanging out in the country bar in Williams. I love those kind of rustic bars. And to have your best buddies with you in such an ambience feels great.
- The helicopter ride of GC. A truly awesome experience that urges you to believe in the beauty of nature.