Exploring Las Vegas - A picturesque walk along the famous strip

We visited Las Vegas second time last week, and this time we had a better camera and better photography skills to capture the essence of this beautiful man-made wonder of a city. It is awe-inspiring to see how this luxurious and vibrant city holds its stand amidst an acrid and dry desert. For the benefit of those who might not be familiar with the history of Las Vegas, let me give you a brief introduction about th origins of this city.

It started as a place to gamble for the miners in the desert who stayed there in the smoldering heat day-in and day-out, looking to strike rich. They started a simple gambling group to pass time, and slowly it picked up among the gangsters as Mafia crawled in to build hotels to enable people to gamble with each other. Thus was born the "Las Vegas Strip", with names like Toni Cornero and martin pretty famous in the "Mojave Desert". For a long time, the mafia controlled the betting and gambling world of Vegas, until one day in the 1960's, the famous Howard Hughes moved in here to make movies and started buying hotels left and right, in an attempt to eradicate the Mafia influence and turn Las Vegas into a "Classy Tourist Attraction". As more and more people learned about this, they supported Hughes and Las Vegas began to attract film and show producers, young and aspiring actors, and savvy entrepreneurs who saw a lot of money in the gambling industry. The infamous Strip now turned into a legit and classy strip lined with magnificent, grand and extravagant Casinos which still attract thousands of people from all around the world to indulge in fun, gambling and architecture that makes Las Vegas one of the highly-coveted destinations in USA. For more history, visit here.

I thought it best to describe the famous Strip in pictures, as no words could capture the essence of this artificial wonder! Here are my favourite casinos and a brief view into their world!

Bellagio - Still the reigning King among all the Casinos, and more famous for Oceans's Eleven-the Movie!

Venetian - Undoubtedly the best casino in terms of architecture and craftsmanship. I really felt I was in Venice! Remember the movie The Italian Job!!

Luxor - The casino based on the theme of Egypt! It is believed that there are only 2 objects that can be seen by spaceshuttles from the earth's orbit: The Great Wall of China, and the Blue Skylight beam from Luxor. It is sure to take you to the world of sphinx and the Mummies...oh, did someone say "The Mummy" or "The Mummy Returns".


Ceasar's Palace - This tribute to the great warrior Julius Ceasar is a hourney into the italian heritage. beautiful status of Ceasar and inviting interiors mark this casino.

Paris - The beautiful roman architecture, the arches and curves, and the giant actual-sized-based replica of the famous Eiffel Tower with a revolving globe in blue marked Paris forms a major attraction on the strip. The view from the top of the Tower is fabulous.


Other noteworthy casinos include the "MGM Grand", "New York New York", "The Mirage" and the "Treasure Island"

Hope you enjoyed this picturesque journey along the famous Las Vegas strip!! There are many more that I haven't covered in this post, but I think I've done a decent job of including the top casino picks for their vistor appeal:)