As we stepped off the plane in Las Vegas, the 44 degree heat was a bit of a shock, and we thought San diego was hot! The airport was fairly quiet so we picked up our bags and got a taxi, or "Cab". Although the driver was quite entertaining this proved to be an expensive ride, as we later found out she charged us over double the going rate. We expected to lose a few bucks here, but not quite that quickly! Anyway, we arrive at the Monte Carlo resort, and decided to explore the resorts shops and casino. This took up most of the afternoon, so after another chinese dinner, we hit Las Vegas Blvd. The hotel is linked to the Aria, Crystals, Vdara and the Bellagio by a monorail, which was to be very useful in avoiding walking around in the heat. We watched the Bellagio fountain show which was amazing, and then headed south on the strip back towards our hotel. Along the way we stopped off at a fair few shops, including M&M world (they do like their candy). We finished up at the MGM Grand casino to spend a few dollars playing the wheel of fortune, which was about the only game we could afford, as most have a $10 minimum bet.

It ended up being a fairly late night so after a very late pancake breakfast, we spent the day at the pool. As it was so hot we were mostly in the water, except when ordering cocktails!! There was a wave pool, and the lazy river was more like a party river with the music blaring and almost everyone drinking the day away, making a great atmosphere at the pool all day. In the evening we planned on sampling the famous hotel buffet's. (This is where we continue our food themed travel blog). We had been told by a few people that the buffet at Rio was the best, so thats where we headed first. After taking the tram to the Bellagio once more we were pointed in the direction of Rio, which didn't look that far. However it turned out to be quite a trek in the heat, best part of 2 miles! and with empty stomachs it took a lot longer than we had liked :(. Once we made it through the buffet queue we figured we would go for the 24 hour pass at $50, as we could get a good 4 meals each out of that, and at different resorts. After overeating we decided against walking back to the strip, and found a free shuttle service to hop on instead. Back on the main strip we saw the Mirage volcano, before exploring the Venetian resort along with the indoor second floor river complete with gondola's, amazing! We also checked out the Bellagio casino, and after a few free drinks we both had a bit of luck.Aimee on the slot machines after spending just $2, and I did well on the wheel of fortune but probably still finished the night about even!

Yet another very late 11am breakfast, and another buffet, this time at Caesars Palace! Aimee was very close to asking if Caesar really lived there! Determined to get our moneys worth, we enjoyed some tasty pastries, muffins and fruit but still left room for lunch which wasn't very far away. We had a good look around the pool which was stunning, but again it was scorching hot so we ended up spending the morning inside at the forum shopping mall at Caesars. Our lunch buffet was at the Paris resort where the food was so good, including seafood, roast beef and then crepes, it was difficult to leave room for dinner!

After a chilled out afternoon at our hotel, we headed to Planet Hollywood for our dinner buffet and a show. At dinner we got talking to couple from Texas who provided some good free entertainment and a few funny stories. Later we saw Las Vegas the Show, which included some history of Vegas itself, as well as tributes to some of the stars it has hosted over the last 50 years, such as Elvis and Frank Sinatra. There was also some magic, comedy and not forgetting the showgirls of course! Overall a great entertaining show but probably not the biggest you could see in Vegas. After exploring the casino at Planet Hollywood we decided it was more for the younger crowd, with young half naked lady dealers and table dancers decorating the casino floor. It was a little more trashy and in your face than the other resorts, but still a good experience. We again returned to the Bellagio casino which was where we enjoyed losing our money the most! The waitress's were also the quickest with the free drinks there! This made for another late night which finished about 3am, but we thought there's plenty of time for sleep when we get home.

We were just about up in time for our check out the next day, and our lunchtime flight to San Francisco.