Write before the story
For the second trip to the United States , I chose Las Vegas .
When it comes to Las Vegas , the first thing most people think of is the nightlife, gambling and various performances. In fact, what attracts me more is Las Vegas Surrounding national parks. Surprised, strange, dangerous three words can be a good summary of the natural scenery here, relatives who love nature must go, relatives who can drive will not regret choosing self-driving!
Originally, the purpose of this trip was to participate in the exhibition in San Francisco, but because South Korea is closed on March 1st, Independence Day, plus two days on the weekend, it happened to be able to take a stroll in the surrounding cities of San Francisco, so I began to carefully plan the itinerary for these three days and four nights .
The candidate destinations are Los Angeles , Las Vegas and Yellowstone Park, and finally I chose to go to Las Vegas See the Grand Canyon , Antelope Canyon and Death Valley.
The driver’s license is only occasionally used as a proof of identity. I am sure I can’t drive by myself, and I don’t have a companion, so it is the most sensible choice to report to the United States in this vast river source!
However, there are many skills in reporting groups, and this time I also encountered many twists and turns. I will introduce the skills in the final strategy part of the travel notes.
this time in vegas During the trip, the group that did not form a group at first finally formed a group, and the group that formed a group early in the morning told me to cancel the twists and turns the day before the trip; one day I saw the luck of four different rainbows; there were walking in the early morning The heart palpitations of being “greeted” on Russ Avenue; the warmth of the Lass guy who waited with me for more than 20 minutes for the return bus because the bus stopped in the middle of the night; one day only sleeps for three or four hours and suffers from jet lag; There is also the helplessness of choosing to get off the bus halfway and run all the way for 30 minutes to catch the KA show.
Approximate itinerary
Day 1 Seoul Incheon to Las Vegas , see the night view of Las Vegas
Day 2 South Canyon bus + helicopter day tour
Day 3 Death Valley + KA show
Day 4 Antelope Canyon + Horseshoe Bend
Day 5 Las Vegas to San Francisco
Day 1 Las Vegas never sleeps
In time to get off work, and the day before the statutory holiday, I took the airport bus from my home in Seoul to Incheon Terminal 2. It took only one and a half hours to travel, but it took two and a half hours. I was nervous along the way. The back row of the bus was changed to the first row of seats, staring at the driver as he drove. Finally arrived at the airport one hour before take-off, even the driver uncle heaved a sigh of relief and said to me: “Look, let’s catch up with you!”
Incheon Terminal 2 is a new terminal building, only Several airlines take off and land here, and few people pass through customs. It also caused controversy because of the introduction of a full-body naked detector.
The entire flight lasted more than 11 hours. I took the evening flight of Korean Air, woke up, watched a movie, and had two meals before arriving.
I highly recommend the Korean Air bibimbap flight meal, the best flight meal I have ever eaten.
While waiting in the long queue to pass through the customs, I suddenly received a WeChat message telling me that the one-day tour of the South Canyon tomorrow will not be a group! What a sunny day and a thunderbolt ! I was startled! After repeated confirmation, it is indeed the very popular South Canyon, not the unpopular Death Valley.
It’s all here in Las Vegas , it’s not a big loss not to let me go to the South Canyon, so I hurriedly contacted another store of Mobao, but they told me that tomorrow’s tour has ended, let me think about it in the next two days Yes, try to book two days in advance; in a hurry, I quickly Googled the Scenic Airlines I saw before to see if there were any tickets for their small plane to and from the South Canyon. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there was exactly the same bus + helicopter on their official website One day tour! The price is about 100 RMB cheaper than the previous quotation.
So I quickly booked and received a confirmation email within a minute. I read the instructions very carefully, and after booking, I need to call a certain number 24 hours before travel to reconfirm. So I hastily called the two numbers on the website and the confirmation email respectively, and confirmed again and again that the group has indeed been formed tomorrow, and they have indeed added my order to their group up.
So if you want to sign up for the South Canyon tour, go to the website of the United States to sign up, it’s cheap and reliable. The ground pick-up of the company I reported before was too heartless, and I only told them that there was no group on the first day. Later, I saw their bus in Las, and I didn’t feel very good. I strongly condemn them here.
I felt like I had gone through a battle in the past ten minutes, and I thought I should be relieved now, and it was finally my turn to go through customs.
Standing in front of me was a Korean girl. She was asked a lot of questions by the customs staff. She said she came to the United States The purpose was to see her boyfriend. Customs asked him if he was American , and she said yes. So the customs asked all kinds of people to look at her boyfriend’s photo and her business card. As a result, she took out two business cards when she took out her wallet, and the customs asked her why she had two business cards, and she said the other one belonged to a friend; the customs continued to ask why you brought your friend’s business card, and so on. In the end, she was asked to wait on the sidelines, probably because other staff members came to continue the “investigation”.
After applying for a U.S. visa twice, I became even more nervous when I saw the situation before . When it was my turn, customs asked me to come to the United States
The purpose of my stay, how long I stayed, why I came from South Korea , why I lived in South Korea , and after bringing a lot of dollars, I was very happy to let me go, hahahaha . anyway, america
The immigration policy has really been tightened a lot, and an entrepreneur I met in San Francisco later said that it is very difficult to apply for a work visa for the company’s overseas employees.
Took a Lyft ride to the Stratosphere Hotel, where I will be staying for one night.
If you happen to be in Las Vegas , it is highly recommended to stay here for one night. Because the weekday prices here are almost a quarter of the weekend prices. for example I stayed here for one night on Thursday, the accommodation fee plus resort fee is about 350 yuan, and the weekend price is almost 1,300 yuan.
The advantage of living here is that you can go up to the Stratosphere Tower to see the beautiful night view of Las Vegas for only 5 dollars, instead of spending 20 dollars for the guests here.
Day2 South Canyon + Helicopter Tour
At 6:30 in the morning, wait for the bus to pick up directly at the Stratosphere Hotel, and then the bus will be sent to their tourist center for another vehicle allocation.
The four seats in the first row of the bus are empty, because the scenery on Meixi Road is particularly good, and the first row is the best place to see the scenery, so you have to pay to buy it to sit~
I feel that most of my travels are lucky It’s still pretty good, for example , the aurora seen in Russia last December , met St. Petersburg For the rare blue sky and warm Moscow , you can check my Russia travel notes.
In Las Vegas , it was still snowing the previous week, and the temperature was very low. On the way to the South Canyon, we could still see the snow from last week, but this week it was around ten degrees, very warm.
The most anticipated thing today is the helicopter. I look forward to being able to sit by the window and take more photos overlooking the sky. However, the positions are allocated by the staff according to the weight of the passengers. In order to maintain the balance of the helicopter, the seats cannot be changed without authorization. There are pairs of tourists in the same helicopter For newlyweds in South Korea , the wife even complained that newlyweds are not allowed to sit together.
I was placed next to the pilot. Although I was not by the window, I was very happy to be able to watch him take off and land at a very close distance~ Especially this pilot is so handsome!
Day3, thinking about Death Valley and the thrilling night of Las Vegas
What I want to go to this day is the Death Valley that I have been thinking about.
I could have reported a two-day tour of the South Canyon + Antelope Canyon, but because Death Valley only has one-day tour groups on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, I forced the South Canyon and Antelope Canyon to be dismantled.
Death Valley is not as famous as South Canyon or Antelope Canyon, and it doesn’t have much publicity in China. So it is a relatively unpopular attraction. Then you have to ask, why did I choose to go here? Because I saw its pictures on Instagram, its landform is very special, and its name is very awe-inspiring, I feel that it is a particularly mysterious place! And because there are not many people going, it is even more worth looking forward to. In addition, I also heard that Star Wars and some other movies have been filmed here.
But many times, many things are not as smooth as you think. For example , this time in Death Valley, the group I reported on a certain treasure did not form a group for many days at the beginning, so I thought about trying other stores, and then I contacted the one that signed up for South Canyon. I say. Help me ask about Death Valley on your side. Is there a group? If there is a group, I will cancel that family and report to your family.
Then he confirmed it and told me that if you sign up, you will form a group, and now one person has already signed up. I was very happy, so I quickly canceled the first one, and then reported to theirs.
The next day, a thought suddenly crossed my head. I asked weakly on WeChat, do you want to check with your address again, is the person who first reported Death Valley still there? Because I suspect that the quota is the first one I applied for.
Not long after, he sent a sentence. Well, you are too smart. . .
So, many Chinese tour groups are actually from the same company, so be careful when applying for a group~
Until three days before my departure, I plan to cancel the Chinese group and sign up for the English group if there is no group. but you know what? It’s different from the South Canyon. The English tour in Death Valley is twice as expensive as the Chinese tour, and the tip is $30 ($10 for the Chinese tour), which is really not worth it.
Before going to bed, I told my contact person on WeChat about my thoughts, and he said he would try again. As a result, I woke up early the next morning. I received his WeChat. He said it was finally a group! I am excited that the bed is not bad in the morning.
Unsurprisingly, it was only me and another Chinese friend Mike who signed up for the group, plus Alex, the driver and tour guide, and another friend he brought with him, let’s call him the little prince (explain later), the four of us I personally set off towards Death Valley in a Cadillac car, but it was like a VIP tour with a small group of boutique cars.
It was raining when Russ set off, and it got heavier and heavier on the way. I kept thinking in my heart, hoping that Death Valley would clear up after 11 o’clock as the weather forecast said.
The temperature in Death Valley is about 5 to 10 degrees higher than that in Las Vegas. Because the altitude is very low, the surface is hot and dry in summer, so winter is the best time to visit Death Valley.
When I entered the vicinity of Death Valley, the sky really started to clear up. I was so excited and excited when I was driving on the straight road. There were still dark clouds behind me, but the sky ahead was really blue and blue! It feels so good to go from darkness to dawn~
Day 4 Colorful Antelope Canyon + Amazing Horseshoe Bend
Another day trip starting at 5:30.
After going out, I was lucky enough to catch a bus and arrived at Circus Circus at 5:10. According to the habit of Americans, I went to McDonald’s to buy a breakfast burger + coffee (these days I suddenly fell in love with McDonald’s latte), and then waited for the car to pick me up.
There are about ten people in today’s group. When I got on the bus, I saw that the seats were almost occupied, so I told Danny, the driver and tour guide, why don’t I take the co-pilot. He seemed to have the same intention, so I was very lucky to get the seat with the best view.
Really, don’t be too excited if you can drive by yourself in the west of the United States~ I will definitely find opportunities to practice driving again.
Danny is really a very knowledgeable tour guide , he seems to know everything about Las Vegas! He immigrated to the United States , before living in Los Angeles After living and working for many years, I came to Las Vegas .
Sitting next to him is not sleepy at all, I just listen to his stories all the time.
For example , he said that Utah is Mormons – United States The base of the third largest sect. Here Sunday is not called Sunday, but family day. Everyone does not work on this day and only spends time with their families. He also said that many people died during the previous war. Mormonism was considered a cult because of its practice of polygamy. They do not allow alcohol and caffeine, and no gambling. Danny also said that there are still some polygamous marriages in remote areas. Of course, this runs counter to federal laws.
He said that there is a legal hospital in Mesquite where we passed by. In the past, the hospital could only be opened if the population was less than 10,000. Now although the population has exceeded, the hospital has not been banned.
He also said that people from each country have their own national characteristics when doing business in the United States. For example , Chinese people have three knives—cooking knife (restaurant), scissors (tailor), razor (beauty salon), Koreans like to open gas stations, and Vietnamese like to open photo studios and laundry rooms.
When approaching the Antelope Canyon, he told us that this area is an Indian reserve, and the housing prices here are very high. There are two main reasons, one is because it is a tourist area, and the second reason is that the Indians want to protect their pure land. Blood species, because Indian blood species in Indian reserves can enjoy government subsidies.
The Antelope Canyon, where Internet celebrities check in, has a very peculiar landform, which is super suitable for taking pictures~ But first you have to have a good guide.
A friend who went there later asked me why there was no one behind you when you took pictures, because there were so many people when she went. I said no, our Indian guide took pictures of each of us, “You, go!” Click, and then let you get out of the way, and then the next person continued, click. Super good at taking pictures~
After coming out, Danny said that Indian tour guides always have a straight face, and I have never seen them smile. I said no, today our guide is smiling. Danny said, that might be because we tipped him in advance, haha.
Look! Didn’t lie to you, our Indian guide would laugh~
The second attraction, Horseshoe Bay, is also super shocking and beautiful! Just upload the picture~ Again, everyone should pay attention to safety when taking pictures~
On the way back to Rath, Danny said that everyone should go to Yellowstone Park as soon as possible, because it is said that it is approaching its outbreak period, and if you don’t go, you may never see it again. May and September are the best seasons to go to Yellowstone
Park~ He also said that if you have the opportunity, you must go to San Francisco Look at the huge parade of tongxinglian (TXL), it’s really huge. He also detailed how if you are a TXL and want to blend into a new TXL group, how to implicitly express yourself as a TXL. Let’s say that Levi’s has 505 jeans, and TXL likes to wear them. If you wear them, they will recognize you. He also said that the TXL bars in San Francisco generally have seats close together and the seats are small.
I arrived in Dallas earlier than expected, and it was the last night. I thought about going to the casino to try a few dollars, and it was also an experience.
I used to think that casinos are like in movies, there are security guards at the door, and you have to look at your clothes before letting you in. Inside the casino, there are also security guards to maintain order.
It was only when I arrived in Russ that I realized that the real casino was not like that. The real casino is that the first floor of the hotel is full of slot machines and various gambling machines. There are staff but no security guards; the real casino is that there are slot machines everywhere, including 7-11 convenience stores, gas stations, and even the airport.
fter walking around the casino several times and quietly watching others play for a while, I dared to start a slot machine that looked simple and easy to play. During the period, points were lost and points were scored, but after the game, I was still in a state of confusion, not knowing the rules and scoring methods. But after all, I have experienced it~~ Go
back to the hotel to pack up, and the plane will fly to San Francisco . There is still a whole day to go shopping in San Francisco time, make up a day trip to San Francisco.
