Las Vegas Travel Notes
It took me about 9 hours to get here from San Diago. I bought the ticket from Greyhound company, but I do not recommend it, if you find another company, choose it.. We stopped in the city once in a while and they said the bus would change. Of course, since there is no seat number on the ticket you buy, whoever comes first gets on the new bus.. More than half of the bus was full and I couldn’t get on this bus and waited for the next one.. It’s a very stupid system.. I had heard that public transportation and road transportation in America were bad, but I did not expect this much.. Anyway, I landed in Las Vegas and I’m going to the hostel I’ve arranged.. Hostel 17 usd per night and breakfast included. Don’t come here and ask if you can stay at the hostel because I’m single and I can find a friend at the hostel.
Note: Beware of credit card usage in Las Vegas get it. 2 months after I finished my trip and returned to Turkey, 1,200 USD was spent on my card.. I got rid of paying this money by objecting to the bank. Please check the link for the details of this event and the use of credit cards abroad.
Let me give you some information for those who want to stay at the hotel.. You can find nice hotels in Las Vegas for 15-20 USD per night from hotel finder sites.. But to this 20 usd hotel, probably 15-20 usd city tax and the same amount of service fee can be added.. In other words, the hotel you see as 15-20 usd can suddenly become 50-60 usd.. I say don’t skip this detail when making a reservation.
After resting for a while at the hostel, a French girl like me walked into the room with her bag alone.. When the conversation went well, we went out and toured Las Vegas together.. One of the most important places in Vegas is the Boulevard called The Strip and the other is Fermont Street.. We’re going to Fermont Street first.
If you’re without a car like me, you can use the city buses. 24 hours valid bus card 15 usd. You can ride as much as you want, but I think the number is unnecessarily high.. 40 usd if the same card is for 3 days. Since the hostel we stayed in is right in the middle of these two important areas, you can go to both within a 45-minute walk.. That’s why we didn’t buy tickets for the city bus.. But if the weather is hot, it is not possible for you to walk because the heat I am talking about is the desert heat you know.. Even though it wasn’t too hot when I was there, walking in the sun at noon wasn’t much fun.
Fermont Street is about 500 meters long.. It is possible to see a different street artist or a concert venue on every corner.. You can also see almost naked girls or boys. The girls are dressed as nurses or nuns and the boys are dressed in a style, some with just a leaf in front of them.. If you go and take pictures, you pay 1-2 usd, this is their livelihood.. There are also places where small concerts are held on this street.. I understand it’s like this every night. And of course, all of them are free.
Another feature of the street is that all sides of the street are chirpy with LED, LCD, lamp, laser and similar light sources.. There is so much light that even though it is night, everywhere seems like daytime.. But it’s a fun place. It is possible to come back in different days and evenings.
We were tired because we came from the road that day and we went to the hostel without hanging out at night.. We bought a menu for 7 USD per person at a hamburger shop on the road and got our fill.
The next day we went to use the pool of the big hotel next to the hostel.. Because it has an agreement with the hostel and it is free to us.. 8 of the hotel. It is also nice to be on the floor and in the open air.. After spending time and having fun there, we set out for the famous The Strip.. If I remember correctly, it’s 4 km from our hostel, but the road ends when you can chat.
There are many hotels on this street.. Some have fun attractions inside, some in front of them.. I’m not going to write things like never go to that hotel, but don’t come without seeing this one.. I suggest you spend at least one full day or two days depending on the situation and travel comfortably here.. If there is a hotel that you love or that you absolutely want to go to, you can find the map of the hotels here.
If there is a paid show or show you want to go to, discounted tickets are also available on this street. there is a seller or small kiosks. In some cases you can find tickets up to 70% cheaper than a regular ticket. It also stems from: For example, the seats in the back are empty for the show and there is half an hour before the show starts.. In such cases, tickets can be found very cheaply so that the seats are not wasted.. I didn’t want to spend extra money on such shows as America was already an expensive place than I had hoped, so we went to the nightclub there with the free admission coupons we were handed while inside a hotel.. Then that’s yours, this is mine, wherever we found free entry, we dived in.
If you want to come to Las Vegas and attend those pool parties you see on TV, this type of thing in general it happens on weekends. I say plan accordingly.. Of course, remember that this time hotels will be more expensive on weekends.
One or two local people I met here said that Vegas is one of the cheapest places in America.. You can buy a house for very low prices.. But as far as I can see, there is not much to do in the city other than gambling and entertainment.. And when there is a place in the middle of the desert, one can’t help but think about what to do here.
There is also the famous saying “the city of sin” Las Vegas. I think whoever said that didn’t go to Bangkok. I haven’t seen the great sin city from Bangkok yet. The only difference is that Vegas has casinos.
There are a few big outlet stores around Vegas, but I couldn’t go there because I didn’t have a car.. Actually, I wanted to leave the shopping side to New York.. You can find the article I wrote about shopping in America here.
Not without coming to the heart of the casinos and playing a black jack. But everywhere the minimum stamp price starts from 5 usd.. Places that play 1 usd are very very few. Of course, the black jack I’m talking about is real, live board game, not computer or arm machine.. You can play black jack for 1 usd at the beginning of The Strip and at the entrance of a hotel on the left.. But it is difficult to find an empty table because of the high demand.. If you want to experience the excitement of gambling that you see in movies, even if you want to try it, I say try it.. I bought 10 usd stamps. I gradually increased it up to 45 usd. After playing for about 2 hours, the game started to get very boring as the money never increased.. Then I bet it all in one go and lost 🙂 But it’s free for whatever you drink while playing. It even happens to those who say toast etc.. So you can give 10 usd and enjoy the game and drink whatever you want.. It’s fun.
Now let’s support this with a video 🙂
Grand Canyon
I’m going to the Grand Canyon in the morning. I bought a tour online yesterday. Picks it up from downtown Vegas at 6am and brings it back in the evening.. Takes a short break at the Hoover Dam bridge then heads to the South Rim side of the Grand Canyon. There is also the West Rim side, but I chose the South side because I heard it was better.. The fee is 80 USD all inclusive.. It was a smooth tour and the most affordable I could find. If you want to take such a tour, you can book online like me here.
When you see the majesty of the canyon, you say it’s really big. There are 5-6 different viewing points and you have to visit all of them.. But you can’t spend 2-3 hours like that because you go with a tour.. If I remember correctly, you only had 1 hour for this place.. I joined the tour alone.. I met Karen while taking the picture. He came alone with his car.. When the conversation went well, I left the tour and continued on with Karen.. I’m glad I did because he took me to the place where the photo you see below was taken.. If I had continued with the tour, I probably wouldn’t have had time to get there.
To or near Las Vegas If you go, I say try to come to the Grand Canyon.. Maybe you will go for at least one day but I think it’s worth it. I gave a lot of space in the video below. See and decide for yourself.
Another surprise is that I would normally take the bus from Vegas to San Francisco. At that time, when I found a plane ticket to Seattle for 140 USD, I bought a direct ticket for the next morning without thinking.. I said I’d see it there too, then I’d get down to San Francisco by road somehow.. But I didn’t even do the slightest research 🙂 Anyway, I bought the plane ticket, but there is not a single hostel in Seattle.. No matter how many times I searched the internet, I couldn’t find anything.. Hotel prices were too high for me. Around 100 USD per night. I tried to find someone to host me on Couchsurfing.. I found someone at the last moment, he said come and stay, but I got on the plane to Seattle before I could get the address.. Watch the video, then continue from the link.
Seattle Travel Notes
I got off the plane but it is not yet clear where I will stay. Because I couldn’t find a hostel in Seattle, probably not.. I did not make a reservation as it is very expensive in hotels. At the last moment, I found someone from couchsurfing, he said come and stay with me, but I got on the plane before I could get the address.. Thank God, my friend Abdullah, whom I found before leaving the airport, sent an sms to his address, and now I’m going there.
How did the house turn out, let’s continue with the video, who was there and who was not.
Thanks to Abdullah, he came and picked me up from the subway stop and we went to his house. He had his girlfriend and Moaiad from Saudi Arabia at home. All beautiful people. I don’t know how to describe Abdullah’s hospitality and those 5 beautiful days I spent in Seattle.
After settling in, we had a dinner together and went out for a walk alone.. Since the house is already in the center, you can go almost everywhere on foot.. This place is more lively than Los Angeles, its streets are full of people, and as far as I understand, it seems to be of a higher quality.. But of course, everything remains the same in terms of cost.
I came back home after understanding what’s left and right, what kind of place it is.
After Abdullah’s work was done, we went out and started to travel together.. We went to Pike Place Market, the oldest market in America that is still operating in the center.. This is one of the most touristic places. It’s like you have both clothing and food inside.. But the most striking part is there is a fish shop inside.. You show the fish you want to buy to the seller at the counter, and he takes the fish and throws it to the man at the cash register.. If the man can’t catch the fish, you get the fish for free, no matter how much it costs.. If the man can afford it, you pay whatever his normal money is.. They called this attraction “flying fish”.. Of course, because this event is so strangely famous, the front of the counter is always crowded.. But of course it’s a fun crowd 🙂
When you exit here, you can see the first Starbucks store in the world, 50 meters to your left.. Its logo and interior design has been completely left as before.. The truth is that the first shop opened a block away in 1971 but later moved here.. If you want to get a coffee, you have to wait too long. Again, because this place is very famous, there is always a queue.
Gum Wall, which is also close to here, is a very fun place.. Although there are many urban legends for this wall, the truth of the matter is as follows; There used to be a theater here, and those who entered began to stick it to the wall with chewing gum in their mouths while waiting in line.. Later, when the wall became colored, they glued the gums in a more shape.. Then the business went crazy 🙂
Then we went to the tower, which has become the symbol of Seattle and whose photo you can see below. We toured the park and garden around it.. Neat, beautiful, decent places with lots of greenery and trees.
Then we went to Kerry Park for the view you see below.. I say take your time and come here.. It’s a quiet place and a beautiful city view.
The next day Abdullah and Angelica We went to the lakeside for a little swim with. He plucked blackberries from the branch and passed in the mood for a little picnic.. I never thought that I would come to America and experience such an environment in Seattle.. You don’t know what life will show in this job.
Then we went to the statue under the bridge called Fermont Troll. Pretty interesting places. The way men look at art is really something else.. From time to time, events are held in front of this statue, and they paint the statue according to their heads.. I wouldn’t mind coming to Seattle and not stopping by here.
In general, I spent my days walking around the city like this. Sometimes we traveled with Abdullah, sometimes with his friends, we had fun.. In the evenings, Seattle is a very lively place.. Of course, when it’s 02:00 again, everywhere is closed.. They continue to hang out even after it’s closed.. Places where nightlife revolves around Pine and Pike Street.
Places are generally places like Los Angeles that will be expensive for a backpacker.. Especially on weekends, there is an entrance fee to most of the venues and an average of 10-20 USD.. The young population is quite high and people have fun in the streets as well as in the venues.. Even if you stand on your feet and watch the strange cars passing by, you will have a fun time.. Since Abdullah is a master of these places, we traveled and had fun in the evenings thanks to him without thinking about where to go.
Another aspect of Seattle that draws my attention is that there are a lot of gay people in the city.. So it’s not a little ice. But everyone on their own. No one ever gets confused or even looks strange at anyone because they go beyond these types of issues.. So at least that’s what I saw.
Finally, if you’re a Jimi Hendrix fan, they put up a solid statue of the man on Pine Street in the center.. You can stop by there and then have a good hamburger at Dick’s Burger, which is very close to here and will be popular with its interesting name.
I’m going to take the bus to San Francisco after a super super 5 days in Seattle. Ticket 125 USD. yes very expensive. Unfortunately, last-minute tickets can be very expensive when traveling without a route and unplanned.. I chose the bus because the plane tickets are at least 250 usd.. Under normal conditions, the road should take 22 hours, but due to the problems, I could go to 27 hours.. Anyway, let’s continue with the link.
America Travel Notes -5- San Francisco
America’s Shopping Guide
