Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel...
We see it all the time in travel brochures, movies and magazines, the city that represents the peak of entertainment and debauchery, where you can satisfy all the seven deadly sins in a day and still have time left for a martini. That’s Las Vegas, aka Sin City, and I went up there with the same group of companions.
For the record, they were generally more into the tourist side of things and we had only one car, so I didn’t really get to check out whatever I wanted to check out (I'll leave you to guess what those are). It was still an enjoyable trip though, and for a start I'll talk about the drive:
It was a 240 mile, 3-4 hour drive through the Mojave desert, spread between 3 drivers. For someone who lives on a small tropical island, the big open stretches of interstate freeways were immensely liberating. The sight of concrete and tar snaking across the terrain into the mountainous horizon would have probably been a grumpy indication of how long the trip would take for most, but to me it was a joy to behold.
If I were to close my eyes and imagine, I’d be driving a convertible and playing ACDC, Rolling Stones or even country (hey, it IS the desert) on the stereo, but for now I had to make do with a 4 door saloon car with the windows up, air-conditioner blasting and the sappy love songs on the radio station that my companions chose. Ah well, rock and roll isn't for everyone.
This drive was very scenic as well. The earlier part was a winding path through a mountain, affording a panoramic view of the valley on one side which was even more glorious in the sunset on the way back. Later on it went into flatter terrain which became progressively drier, with the occasional rocky outcrops and hills breaking up the monotony. A few of them had their darker coloured stratified layers lined up nicely to resemble a random stroke of a paintbrush across the canvas, against the varying hues of brown. The constant theme throughout was the backdrop formed by the distant mountains together with the clear azure sky.
The terrain transitioned from green to brown as we cruised through the desert. One of my companions bemoaned the lack of trees (understandably, since he used to study in Canada), but it didn’t matter to me. I get enough of those back home and it was refreshing to see so much empty space for a change. The dulating nature of the terrain was mighty tempting too. If I were driving a real off-road vehicle (not the plush, oversized, gas-gulping monsters called SUVs that inhabit the urban streets) and traveling alone, I would have loved to take her for a spin off the highway, give her a good rough time and get some real earth dirt on her face. Not necessarily legal, but surely a lot of fun. I’ve always been one for the road less traveled, if there is a road to begin with.
We passed by a region totally devoid of vegetation, a huge brown expanse of sand surrounding a family of mountains. The bare sand shimmered in the relentless sunshine like a lake in the middle of the desert brush, and it’s not hard to imagine how mirages could have hoodwinked past desert wanderers. That’s the allure of the desert for me; beautiful from a distance, fascinating yet mysterious and dangerous if you’re not prepared.
It then occurred to me that though they may be total opposites, the ocean and the desert are rather similar. They both visualise the prospect of freedom (especially if you’re in Alcatraz or Abu Ghraib) and represent the borders of civilisation. Their beauty lies in their vastness and just looking at them frees up the mind to wander. The apparent simplicity of the landscape belies the inner complexities that run deep, a trait which I value in many aspects of life, be it music, aesthetics, engineering design or people.
In a past life, I must have been a claustrophobic.
Vegas Road Trip Pt II coming up next, stay tuned folks.
For the record, they were generally more into the tourist side of things and we had only one car, so I didn’t really get to check out whatever I wanted to check out (I'll leave you to guess what those are). It was still an enjoyable trip though, and for a start I'll talk about the drive:
It was a 240 mile, 3-4 hour drive through the Mojave desert, spread between 3 drivers. For someone who lives on a small tropical island, the big open stretches of interstate freeways were immensely liberating. The sight of concrete and tar snaking across the terrain into the mountainous horizon would have probably been a grumpy indication of how long the trip would take for most, but to me it was a joy to behold.
If I were to close my eyes and imagine, I’d be driving a convertible and playing ACDC, Rolling Stones or even country (hey, it IS the desert) on the stereo, but for now I had to make do with a 4 door saloon car with the windows up, air-conditioner blasting and the sappy love songs on the radio station that my companions chose. Ah well, rock and roll isn't for everyone.
This drive was very scenic as well. The earlier part was a winding path through a mountain, affording a panoramic view of the valley on one side which was even more glorious in the sunset on the way back. Later on it went into flatter terrain which became progressively drier, with the occasional rocky outcrops and hills breaking up the monotony. A few of them had their darker coloured stratified layers lined up nicely to resemble a random stroke of a paintbrush across the canvas, against the varying hues of brown. The constant theme throughout was the backdrop formed by the distant mountains together with the clear azure sky.
The terrain transitioned from green to brown as we cruised through the desert. One of my companions bemoaned the lack of trees (understandably, since he used to study in Canada), but it didn’t matter to me. I get enough of those back home and it was refreshing to see so much empty space for a change. The dulating nature of the terrain was mighty tempting too. If I were driving a real off-road vehicle (not the plush, oversized, gas-gulping monsters called SUVs that inhabit the urban streets) and traveling alone, I would have loved to take her for a spin off the highway, give her a good rough time and get some real earth dirt on her face. Not necessarily legal, but surely a lot of fun. I’ve always been one for the road less traveled, if there is a road to begin with.
We passed by a region totally devoid of vegetation, a huge brown expanse of sand surrounding a family of mountains. The bare sand shimmered in the relentless sunshine like a lake in the middle of the desert brush, and it’s not hard to imagine how mirages could have hoodwinked past desert wanderers. That’s the allure of the desert for me; beautiful from a distance, fascinating yet mysterious and dangerous if you’re not prepared.
It then occurred to me that though they may be total opposites, the ocean and the desert are rather similar. They both visualise the prospect of freedom (especially if you’re in Alcatraz or Abu Ghraib) and represent the borders of civilisation. Their beauty lies in their vastness and just looking at them frees up the mind to wander. The apparent simplicity of the landscape belies the inner complexities that run deep, a trait which I value in many aspects of life, be it music, aesthetics, engineering design or people.
In a past life, I must have been a claustrophobic.
Vegas Road Trip Pt II coming up next, stay tuned folks.
# posted by BloozeGit @ 1:37 pm 
