Had a 7.30am flight so I had to get up really early as the airport shuttle pick up was at 4.30am. I had less than 4 hours sleep the previous night. Arriving in LA, the weather was cool and cloudy. Took a shuttle to the hotel in downtown LA. Since I was checking in so early and I wanted a room with a view, there were none available at that time. Left my luggage at the hotel and took my 5-6kg backpack with my valuables and started walking around. LA is a lot dirtie...

Took the 2.30pm trip using Papilon. They are based in Boulder City which is 30-40 minutes drive out of LV. There are some operators based in LV who give you a ride over the strip as well when you do the tour. Boulder City operators do not do this. The helicopter ride was probably around 45 minutes to the canyon passing over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and some extinct volcanoes first. The helicopter lands at the bottom of the canyon and you have a 30 minute picnic ...

Temperatures during the day are between 35 and 40 Celsius. The Strip is about 4 miles long I think. Each property (consisting of casino, hotel, shops, entertainment including signature theme entertainment) is roughly one block and some might share a block. A block is massive here and the properties are deep so a small front does not mean it is small inside. These place are 3 to 4 times the size of Sun City Entertainment Centre. Traffic is really heavy and the in...

I went clubbing for 3 consecutive nights starting on Thursday night. The Vdara concierge arranged a VIP pass for me for the Haze nightclub in Vdaras sister property across the road, the Aria. I walk in for free as long as i went in between 10.30 and midnight, and no waiting in queues. Americans call them lines, they don't use the word queue. Concierge said dress codes usually mean shoes and a collar, and trousers are preferred over jeans. The club got quite busy...

Landed in Las Vegas around 10.30pm. At the airport, you can use a taxi cab, shuttle (which I used for $13 one way), or hire a limo. LV is full of limos as anyone can hire one. Had to wait for shuttle to fill up and then dropped off all the other passengers at their hotels first. I was feeling really bad at that point that my hotel Vdara was not on the strip and the driver said it was better to stay on the east side of the strip like the other passengers. By the t...