Day 10: Bryce Canyon - Zion - Las Vegas

How can we sum up today? I thought my work in the crazy world of clinical trials with often crazy people and wishes had already toughened me up, but today two intense impressions were added in the real world - one called Zion and the second Las Vegas - Oh my!

The morning started again with sheep and cows, calmly having breakfast in our wooden house, packing up and off to the next place.

We had originally decided last night not to drive through Zion National Park, simply because you could only drive through it with the shuttle bus and this park is more for hikers. Well, the navigation system was on our side and guided us through the small part of Zion that can be driven by car. Suddenly we stood in front of the entrance and couldn't resist, so we went in. And suddenly we found ourselves on roads with huge red and white rocks with little trees, sand, and they kept getting bigger, these rocks. Hard to believe and even harder to describe. Again, photos describe the feeling of driving through this park only to the minimum. Eventually, we drove through a loooong narrow dark tunnel and a hilly curvy road and then we were out of the park again. After refueling and passing through the town (Springdale), a stretch with white rocks began and then a 200km long road to Las Vegas straight ahead. The temperatures climbed up to 42 degrees and the water bottles emptied themselves.

Finally, we passed Las Vegas, found our hotel after a little mishap, and stood with our car in front of valet parking. We had to quickly pack our things and instruct a concierge on which luggage should go to the room. Uli reluctantly handed over the car key and then the car was probably parked somewhere.

At check-in, the lady said that the tour operator had canceled the room. Huh? This hotel is one of the 3 hotels I booked through a tour operator. After the lady talked to someone in the back room, we finally got our little room.

After a short rest, we ventured out of the hotel - and you can describe Las Vegas in three words: loud, loud, and loud!

We are staying at the Vdara hotel, which does not have a casino (precisely for this reason). Through a passage, you can access the Bellagio Hotel with shops and casinos in the next hotel or in front of these fountains where those famous fountains with music and drumming are located. Looks nice but why do you need them every hour?

Uli and I were quickly overwhelmed. Although we have been to New York, we didn't understand the world anymore. You walk through hotels, casinos, endless luxury stores, you walk, walk, and walk again.... when you want to go to a new hotel or to the Las Vegas Boulevard, you go up escalators and then down again and then short passages outside where poor people sit and beg. It's almost unbelievable. In Caesars Palace, there is a huge shopping center with endless luxury stores. Here we looked for and found the Cheesecake Factory. It was loud, loud, and again loud. BUT the food tasted fantastic and was not only pizza but also burgers and sandwiches. The bill was accordingly high but why do I almost torture myself daily at Parexel? ;-) I didn't expect Las Vegas to be so expensive. At least 2 dollars are added to everything here just because you are in Las Vegas. That doesn't bother me as much as this excess that is lived here. Why do you need so many hotels, so many stores, and so many casinos on such a small area? What does that give the people? I haven't really understood the Las Vegas principle yet, I guess. The two of us quickly wondered what we would do here for 3 full days. But that was only the first shock! Tomorrow we'll go to the outlet, definitely check out one or the other hotel, and in the evening we'll watch a Cirque du Soleil show. And now we'll let these intense impressions sink in.