TRAVEL SPECIAL ....................- VEGAS BEYOND SIN

VEGAS BEYOND SIN





There's so much more to the Sin City than poker, showgirls and nightlife

Picture this. A parched, arid strip of land tucked in the west end of the United States. A desert that borrows its name from a meadow.Do not chuckle as if it were an oxymoron. The desert once was littered with artisanal wells that fed green areas. The water dried up. Then, one day a gangster strutted into the desert with pots of mob money, built a hotel, named it Flamingo after his leggy girlfriend. The man called Bugsy Seigel turned a desert strip into paradise. Some call it Sin City. Its official name: Las Vegas. Gambling became legal in 1931, slot machines started whirring, showgirls threw in the glam. A paradise sprang up and people started thronging.Today, Las Vegas gets nearly 300,000 visitors every day.Enough reasons for the footfalls: Lissome showgirls. Countless casinos. Biggest singers crooning. Best comedians prompting guffaws. Musical fountains. Raddest entertainment. A city that never sleeps.

Wait! You think this is what Las Vegas is all about. Then you ain't know nothing. There's so much more to the Sin City than the cliched adult sins on the Strip.

Here's a look at an unusual Las Vegas.

Neon sign boneyard

You sure have heard of graveyards. Ever heard of a boneyard for neon signs? Naah?
The shimmering Vegas really needed one. Introduced in Las Vegas in 1929 at the Oasis Café on Fremont Street, once upon a time, neon signs were everywhere. However, with the arrival of LED and LCD, many old neon signs were removed. And they all came to Neon Sign Boneyard & Museum (770 Las Vegas Boulevard North) to die. Spread over six acres, discarded, rusted, broken neon signs chronicle the history of Las Vegas until the time in the 1980s when neon signs ran out of fashion. When done with the boneyard, head to the iconic `Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada' sign at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Designed by Betty Willis, this sign has been greeting visitors since 1959.

Helicopter ride to Grand Canyon

Rub sleep off your eyes early morning and get away from Sin City into nature's sculpted masterpiece. Book a seat with Papillon Tours, the world's largest aerial sightseeing company for a chopper ride over the Grand Canyon. Buckle yourself, wear the headphones, peep out of the red helicopter for breathtaking panoramic views of the Hoover Dam, Grand Wash Cliffs, Grapevine Mesa and Grand Canyon West. And then have the breakfast of a lifetime ­ 4,000 ft below the rim at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Settle for a champagne picnic in the belly of the canyon with mountains staring at you. This is one breakfast you'll never forget.

The showstoppers

Walk through the casino of Wynn hotel but do not get tempted by the Blackjack. Keep walking into the well-appointed Encore Theatre for The Showstoppers, a Broadway musical which was recently voted the best new show in Las Vegas. Stunning sets, spectacular costumes and 66 talented singers, Steve Wynn's The Show stoppers gets the foot tapping and the heart humming. If music is the food of love... This one is a real showstopper.

Container Park

In Downtown's Container Park (707 Fremont Street), shipping containers are stacked into an open-air shopping hub for an assortment of small boutiques, galleries, bars, eateries and outdoor spaces.

Cheffini's has the best hotdog in town. At night, a gigantic praying mantis spits fire. Step out into the streets to admire some of the best murals graffitis painted by artists from across the world. The painted walls take art to another level.

High Roller

The High Roller (at The LINQ) stands tall on the Las Vegas Strip. Exactly 550-feet tall, it is the world's largest observation wheel. Step into one of the 28 air-conditioned pods for a half hour you won't soon forget. The pods can seat 40 in each, so you can have the entire gang in one. Skip the morning ride, take an evening - night ticket. Las Vegas shimmers at night with a billion lights and the High Roller has the window with the best view.

DID YOU KNOW?

Seventeen of the 20 biggest hotels in the US are in Las Vegas

Preeti Verma Lal

TL26APR15