The Strip

The Las Vegas Strip

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  But Vegas will always stay with you."

I've been going to Las Vegas since I was 2 years old.  Back then I would cling to my mother as we walked through the casino.  Trying to avoid Caesar and Cleopatra since I would start crying anytime they tried to talk to me.  Then a few years would pass and I'd be in Circus Circus playing video games with my Grandpa while my Mom and Grandma played nickel slots.  I got to be pretty good at driving games that year.  A few more years would pass and I'd gone from video games to slots and slots to poker tournaments.  

In all those years as I was growing up, so was Vegas.  It's true Vegas hit its stride long before I was born, but it has evolved.  Vegas never stops rebuilding itself.  New casinos spring up on top of the old.  I remember when the blinking sign of the Stardust Casino was big news.  My mom and I would stand outside and try to count all the lights.  Then the nightly eruption of the volcano at the Mirage was big big news, followed by pirate battles at Treasure Islands.  Everything bigger and more epic than its predecessors.

While I know Vegas is Sin City, and as far as a moral compass, it's pointing straight to hell.  But to me their is a redeeming lesson that Las Vegas can teach us.  Really Vegas is a reflection of our own spirit, to outdo ourselves.  To best our previous attempts.  In the same way an Olympic sprinter works to get a faster time, every time.  Las Vegas shows us that even when we think we're at the very top, we can go higher.

Like a climber on top of Everest looking to space, we can all travel higher.

Greg Inda

World Class Traveler

-The photo was shot at ISO 400 1/50th f/2.5 through a 35mm lens.

-For more information on traveling to Las Vegas visit http://www.lasvegas.com

-To see more of my photography visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/trefrog66

The Long and Not So Winding Road

The Long and Not So Winding Road, Northwest Arizona

This photo, taken as a memory of where I was, reminds me more so of the journey to.

Destination Sky Bridge!  I was excited as the Sky Bridge had just opened and is quite an amazing structure.  A glass bottom bridge jutting out and over the rim of the Grand Canyon.  This was just too cool to pass up, and coupled with my fear of heights I knew it would get my adrenaline going.

I rolled out of Phoenix bright and early, ready to tackle the 8+ hour drive ahead of me.  I usually don't drive long distances solo, but convincing my friends to drive out to a bridge proved to be impossible.  I prepared my Dodge Caliber rental with a portable GPS Navigation system, an iPod, and lots of strawberry flavored water.  My destination was a ranch 10 minutes from the sky bridge along a dirt road.

In addition to my GPS I had a Google map and the directions listed on the ranches webpage.  So feeling confident in my abilities I drove hard and fast.  Peddle to the Metal.  Going through cities and major highways I was cruisin'.  I had gone through one gas tank and was halfway through another, so I pulled over for gas.  That proved to be my first life saver.

Had I not pulled over to fill up, which I considered waiting to do, I would have run out of gas in the desert.  That gas station turned out to be the last bastion of civilization that I would see until returning too it on the way home.  Pressing forward I started losing the signal on my cell phone.

The picture above is the road just past the gas station.  It marks the beginning, my journey into oblivion.  Technology all around me started to fail.  My cell phone had no signal.  My GPS repeatedly told me to make a U Turn.  My iPod remained as my only link to the 21st century.  My paper map told me to continue on this path and so I did.

The path through the desert is straight.  No turns.  Not even a gentle weave.  It was an arrow, straight and narrow.  No sign of life, save for herds of cattle.  No road signs.  No friendly Sky Bridge This Way.  The road was straight yet uncertain.

I admit I was afraid.  My GPS didn't really know where it was going.  I didn't know if the Google map knew where it was going.  I didn't know where I was going.  All I knew is that the gas station I passed was now far far away and if I didn't keep going forward I would never make it by sunset, and the thought of spending the night in the desert was not a pleasant one.

Finally I found my sign.  A right turn onto a dirt road.  A windy, dirt road.  By this time the sun was beginning to set.  It was a race against the sun.  I started driving like a rally racer, darting in and out of turns.  Kicking up dust as my back tires slid across the dirt.  I sped along until I finally came to a ranch house.  I was relieved as the sun was 10 minutes from setting.

I entered the property and found a staff member.  I showed her my reservation and she very clearly pointed out that this was not where I was staying.  She explained that the ranch I wanted was another 30 minutes down the road and that I couldn't miss it.  So back my car I went.

I sat in the car and watched as the sun set over the horizon.  This was uncomfortable and dangerous.  I slowly started back on the road, trying not to lose my trail.  Their were moments when I didn't know which way to go, or where I had been.  I pressed on for 40 minutes, which turned into 50 minutes.  I found an airport, in the middle of the desert!  But no ranch.  I was stopped by airport security and asked what I was doing there so late.  I explained my situation and was told I missed the turn off.  "Look for the end of the fence and a big patch of land with all the trees cleared.  Follow that road."  Great.

I found the turn off and continued down this new road which was more bump than dirt.  I swear this is the most excitement that Dodge Caliber had ever felt.  I passed by what looked like a miniature town.  It had no signs, but I took a gamble.  I found a bunch of cowboys hanging around by the corral.  They confirmed that I was in fact in the right place, but the head cowboy explained that they had no more reservations that night.  He then cracked a smile.  He was joking...  Perfect time for it.

He took me along to the woman in charge of bookings and she got me all squared away.  The following day was spent in a helicopter, a boat, a bus, and walking on the Sky Bridge.  A trip not to be forgotten, and a lesson learned "If your heading into the desert, you can never leave too early."

Greg Inda

World Class Traveler (though you may call me Sky Walker)

-Picture was shot at ISO 100 1/800 f/6.3 (I was in landscape mode and didn't know any better)

-For more information on visiting the Sky Bridge visit http://www.destinationgrandcanyon.com/skywalk.html

-To see more of my photography visit www.flickr.com/photos/trefrog66

 

Jama' El Fna At Night

Jama' El Fna At Night

Marrakech, Morroco

Known by tourists as the "Main Square", the Jama' El Fna of Marrakech is a true Jekyll and Hyde.  By day it's littered with snake charmers, acrobats, and tourists.  By night the square transforms into a fable, of myth and mystery.  

I'd spent the morning at the square with my mother, and most of the day I was terrified some snake charmer would sneak up and put a snake around my neck, insist I take a picture, and then charge me 20 dirham.  The square, full of  tourists looking for a great deal on a knock off purse, is interesting.  But not what I'd call drop dead amazing.  It's where a pivotal scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" was shot, which delighted the film buff in me.  But sadly, the square felt like a scam.  

I knew we'd be going back in the evening, for what our guide said was "... Not to be missed."  But how excited can you get over seeing something you already saw... with less light?  If I'm looking to buy a new car and I don't like it, am I supposed to like it when the lights get turned off?

We took the bus into town and got within three blocks of the square.  Truth be told, on the bus I sort of zoned off into my own world.  This was one of the last nights of the trip and I had a lot on my mind.  So when the bus stopped I was caught off guard.  I started walking to the front of the bus and peered out the windows.  The streets were FULL of people.  Not full like lunch hour in New York.  Not even full like shopping malls on "Black Friday."  No, these streets were filled like New York, Chicago, and L.A. combined on New Years Eve.  Marrakech has a population of 1,035,000 and they were ALL in the square.

The Square changes.  What was a wide open area filled with fortune tellers and snake charmers turns into row after row of food stalls.  It's like a nightly "Taste of Chicago".  I mean literally hundreds of little restaurants, with the smoke of freshly cooked chicken and veggies rising through the air.  Every one of your senses becomes aroused.  

We walked to our guides favorite food stall and sat down for dinner, consisting of a goats head, shish kabobs, and french fries.  Sitting there it was easy to be overwhelmed by the people walking by, occasionally projecting upward and thinking of myself as an ant in an ant farm.  You feel your true place in the world when your surrounded by a million people.

After dinner we walked around the square.  We listened to Berber storytellers spin there desert tales only to reach the climax, take a collection, and then promise to finish on the following evening.  A never ending cycle to keep your audience.  We saw magicians dazzle us with their sleight of hand.  But the most impressive magic to me, was how over the course of the day, just how much this place changes.  It's ironic to me that in some translations Jama' El Fna means Assembly of the Dead, because to me its filled with life.

Greg Inda

World Class Traveler

-This photo was taken at ISO 1600 f/10 at 1/80 through a 35mm lens.

-For more information on visiting Marrakech and other Moroccan cities, visit www.oattravel.com and tell them Greg Inda sent you for a discount.

-To see more of Greg Inda's photography visit www.flickr.com/photos/trefrog66