I entered the Greyhound bound for Las Vegas on a warm, sunny Santa Barbara afternoon. Ahead of me was 9 hours of fun on this bus filled with strangers travelling mostly to an from Los Angeles.
In LA, we had to go through security to get on the bus. This was even more thorough than airport security. They told me that no alcohol was permitted on the bus, neither in the hand luggage nor the luggage underneath the bus, and confiscated my Captain Morgan that I’d bought to bring back to France. Awesome.
The percentage of poor Hispanics crowding the bus seats was definitely higher than that of rich, successful people, so I decided to watch Machete.
My seat buddy Juan was on his way to Denver to start a new job as a road worker. His sister lived in Las Vegas, but he never had time to visit her. He obviously loved her and wanted to make sure she was all right, because he gave me her business card and told me to contact her. I liked the guy, so I’m gonna check how she is today.
It was us two occupying three seats, and after some time there came a third fella and sat next to us. He sat there, looking very much like the typical Mexican in the back of a lorry trying to sneak into the US. F.ex. like in the beginning of Men in Black. He was a quiet guy, a little unsure about himself it looked like, always with a suppressed look in his eyes.
We were kinda squashed together, so when there was an open seat next to a black man, I quickly switched. He greeted me with: “What the fuck was wrong with the other seat you were sitting in?” This made for a wonderful relationship the next 4 hours until Vegas.
The air condition was broken on the bus, it was pumping hot air like a motherfucker, so the bus driver had to open the security hatches so that the heat wouldn’t make the ride even more unpleasant. The cold air even made a Norwegian like me cold, so I’ve seldom been more glad then when I saw the top of the Mandalay.
I jumped off the bus, trying to catch a cab. I was only going a couple of kilometers, so two taxi drivers ignored me when I told them where I was going. I just catched a friendly taxi driver, when the pleasant guy from the bus came over and apologized for being an asshole.
Now it’s morning in Las Vegas. I’m staying at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel. I should leave this king bed soon, and discover this town.