The last time I was in Las Vegas, I watched the implosion of the old Aladdin from my hotel window at the Las Vegas Hilton. Who would have thought I'd be back 4 years later walking around what used to be rubble??
If you missed the event, you can see the implosion on their official website at:
link
Well it seems that this baby is more expensive than Mandalay at almost 1½ billion dollars...what's a few dollars here and there? The main attraction for me is the Desert Passage which is a sinewy corridor with shops and restaurants abounding, but with an overall theme of a little Morocco, a little Arabia, carved chairs and a strip of water in its center, where it rains at designated times.
In one of the entrances, there are some statues and carvings which are reminiscent of India. There is an enormous elephant which seems to be coming through one of the walls. I spotted a Starbucks while we were strolling around. They have their roster of impressive restaurants, including New Orleans' Commander and P. F. Chang's. I was somewhat disappointed not to have been able to see a reproduction of a "souk" or an open air market. We went through the passage twice, and admired a lot of the facsimiles of the architecture of North African cities and villages.
Guess what? No Middle Eastern food anywhere to be found! This should have definitely been the venue for it. It's nevertheless quite an enchanting stroll.