When I hailed the yellow cab and asked the Las Vegas taxi driver to "take me to the Hilton" I didn't realise that the journey would end in another galaxy.

There was quite a buzz in town  the National Rodeo Finals were taking place but it was not cowboys glued to bucking saddles that grabbed my attention it was one of America's newest theme rides, The Star Trek Experience has opened at the Hilton.  It was time to 'boldly go' in the footsteps of Captain John Luc Picard.

We entered through 'The Star Trek Museum' which was so good that at first I thought it was the main attraction but it turned out to be a display designed to occupy your attention as you waited in the 'line.'

The queue snaked along past showcases where technological gizmos, outlandish costumes and makeup that have been used in the series were on view close to hand for detailed study along with panels explaining such details as The Ferengi's 'Rules of Acquisition' alongside stacks of gold pressed Latinum bars. We moved on and every few moments during pauses we’d learn about things like the Planet Bajor, or the complexities of the 'Worm Hole' that connects the galaxies of the Alpha and the Gamma quadrants. It was a 'trekkies heaven. Another move of the line and we were immersed in the cultures of the Cardassian and Klingon empires. An enormous amount of 'sci-fi' that has been spawned and a lot of strange and wonderful characters have flitted across the television screens of the world since Captain James T. Kirk first issued the command 'beam me up Scotty!'

One of the most sinister and scariest is the Borg collective which frighteningly assimilate other the beings who inhabit the galaxies into the one common intelligence.

Eventually we reached the ride and crew members in Startrek costumes led us to a transporter that 'beamed us up’ to the bridge deck of the ‘Starship Enterprise.’ We arrived in the midst of a battle and were sent off into space in a shuttle craft. The simulator that you ride on can move in six different directions at one time. It is 'state of the art' and was used to train astronauts at NASA. This is the first time that the public can get that kind of experience without getting blasted into space for real. Unlike other rides it has 360-degree screens, so as space ships fire lasers and photon torpedoes, you see explosions bursting overhead and from side to side.

We enjoyed an exciting ride which ended with us swerving around and above the brightly lit streets of Las Vegas before appearing to whiz through the walls of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

After "coming back to earth" I had lunch at 'Quark's Restaurant.' There was no sign of the familiar small Ferrengi with the big ears but a friendly 'earthling' took my order for a "Sisko's Sirloin,"

(a 12 oz steak costing £10.) I asked for a small side salad ‘on the side’ but it arrived as a full-blown delicious construction the size of a mountain. (In America you can't have something on the side that won't be noticed, eve former President Clinton knows that!)

The illusion of being in space was aided by an eerie blue light swirling at the table-side window and suspended overhead, were massive spaceship models of the USS Enterprise and a 
Kligon 'Bird of Prey.’ They were a bit too big to take home but outside, in the gift boutique, a range of 'collectibles' included a desk top version on offer at £91. There were also some limited edition paintings and a rather disturbing life size model of Patrick Stewart, as Captain Jean Luc Picard appearing as a half-assimilated alien Borg with a mechanical eye. The figure looked lifelike and rather threatening, certainly not what most folk would like to find standing at the end of the bed.

I did not have the £3,000 handy to buy it, although to date seven others had been purchased.

The souvenirs that came back to Scotland were a Startrek key ring and a communicator badge that beeps when pressed. I've tried to beam the wife up with it, but the transporter doesn't seem to work at this range.

Adjacent to the shop I found a booth where people were handing over dollars in a bid for a measure of immortality. It was a project in which samples of your DNA could be sent out into space on a shuttle launch scheduled for the year 2,002. To take part you have to provide six human hairs with the roots (You also part with £21, or £42 for a family of four.) You can also send your photo and a personal message.

Keeping my hair on, I headed for the exit and returned to reality of Las Vegas and just how ‘real’ that is I will tell you another time.

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