United States > Gambling in Las Vegas

Getting out of Los Angeles is not easy. Traffic is at a standstill five lanes deep on the freeway. Luckily, most of the traffic is headed downtown. Once we reach the junction, driving becomes smoother. We follow the road eastward. In Victorville, there is a Route 66 museum, but it is only open on weekends. Even from the outside, the building looks nice. In front of it sits an old truck. Old Victorville doesn’t have much going on anymore.

United States - The historic Route 66

Many of the shops in the old town are empty, giving it a rather bleak appearance. In the livelier, modern shopping center, we order a coffee. A man sitting next to us starts a conversation. When he wants to start reading from the Bible, we politely decline. Quickly, he finds someone else to talk to. From Victorville, we follow a section of the historic Route 66. Along the route, local businesses cleverly play on the old “Mother Road.” A Route 66 sign on the façade is sure to attract attention from the many travelers. At an antique shop, there are old Route 66 signs—a reason to stop. A few kilometers further, we come across Elmer Long’s Bottle Tree Ranch. An artist has filled his garden with poles topped with glass bottles. The entire yard is covered. It’s fun to walk through, but one wonders why someone would do this. In Barstow, we notice a ghost town nearby. We drive there. Entry is required, but it doesn’t look particularly spectacular. We expect to find more opportunities to see old Western towns later on the route. Before heading to Las Vegas, we fill up the car.

United States - The somewhat unusual Bottle Ranch by artist Elmer Long

How does the gas tank open, anyway? From the outside, we can’t manage it, and inside, we can’t find a button. The manual comes to the rescue. There is a small button in the door. We drive to Las Vegas via the highway. On either side of the road stretches a dry desert landscape, with small shrubs scattered across the sandy rocky ground. By late afternoon, the Las Vegas skyline comes into view. How strange it is that such a large city exists in the middle of the desert. I see the tall buildings. From a distance, I spot the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and a Disney-like hotel. I don’t know where to look as we turn onto the Strip—the main road of Las Vegas, lined with all the hotels and casinos. Our hotel, the Monte Carlo, is on the Strip. We park the car in the garage and check in at the reception. It is immediately clear that this is a huge hotel. We join a line to check in. I count more than twenty check-in counters, about half of which are staffed. We have a room on the 14th floor of the more than 30-story hotel. Everything here is enormous. There’s a full shopping center beneath the hotel, including stores like Starbucks. Of course, the casino is huge as well. To reach the Strip, we must walk through the casino. For over a hundred meters, we pass nothing but slot machines, gaming machines, and roulette tables. Even at the bar, you can place a bet. We try our luck too.

United States - Waves crashing on the shore

More for the photo than anything, we each put a dollar into a slot machine. We barely know what to do to influence the outcome positively. On the first round, the machine starts ringing. We win over twenty dollars. On the second machine, we also win a small amount—about three euros. We try to keep playing to increase our winnings, but the strategy doesn’t work. We lose our stake. With the winnings from the first machine, we step onto the Strip. The light advertisements and noise designed to grab attention are overwhelming. I don’t know where to look. Meanwhile, people are also trying to hand out coupons for hotels, casinos, and even paid sex. It seems anything goes here. A massive motorcycle juts out from the Harley Davidson Club. In front of the Bellagio Hotel, a fountain show takes place every fifteen minutes. Twelve hundred fountains move and spray water to the rhythm of the music—a magnificent display. Across the way, bars and restaurants sit in a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower. At the New York Hotel, the atmosphere of the American city is recreated. Everywhere, there are opportunities to gamble further, with halls full of slot machines. We end the evening with a drink at our hotel’s casino bar. In bed, I reflect on tonight’s experiences. What a bizarre city Las Vegas is.