Bora Bora has been a bucket list destination that I never thought we'd be able to afford to travel to. This was a destination we planned to save for the future when we are older (and have less energy) and have more money. However, events over the past 3 years have been a good reminder to do the things we want while we can.
Since all flights departing from our city require an overnight layover, we intentionally chose to route through Las Vegas. It's been 16 years since my last visit to Las Vegas, and hubby hasn't been to Vegas before so this was a good opportunity to see Vegas for almost free. What better city to spend an overnight layover than Vegas, the city that never sleeps right? =)
Read on to find out what we did on our 9-hours overnight layover in Las Vegas. I've also dug out some old photos from my last visit to Las Vegas with the family in 2006. I wasn't blogging yet at that time so this is a good time to share some photos from that trip.
Our trip was only for a week so we packed fairly light and only needed 2 cabin-sized luggage + backpack for my laptop and camera stuffs. Eating in Bora Bora is expensive so we packed some 'camping' food. This is how we splurge and save at the same time...lol!
Aug 31 (Wed): Huntsville - Denver - Las Vegas
Thanks FIL for dropping us off at the airport for our 3.50pm flight to Denver. Now that most countries have dropped their Covid restrictions, traveling is much easier and all we needed to travel to Bora Bora was our Covid vaccine certificate. The best thing about departing from this small airport is that it's never crowded and takes less than 15min to check-in, go through security, and get to our boarding gate.
Our long 45-hours journey to get to Bora Bora...4 flights on United + 1 flight on Air Tahiti. Huntsville - Denver - Las Vegas - San Francisco - Tahiti - Bora Bora. Our 4 flights on United costs 35,000 United miles + $11.20 per person. Not the best value but still much better than paying $700 one way out of pocket. We printed all our documents and put them in our itinerary 'booklet' just in case our phones don't work.
Flight #1: 3 hours from Huntsville - Denver. Mask is no longer required in the US so most people are not wearing masks anymore. Both of us and our neighbor to the left were the only people wearing masks.
Flight #2: 2 hours from Denver - Las Vegas. The flight was pretty full but we managed to secure a row of 3 to ourselves. Travel tip: If you're traveling with your partner, choose the aisle and window seat for each of you and pray that the middle seat remains empty. Worse case, one of you swap seat with the middle person so you can still sit together. =P
We landed at Las Vegas 30min ahead of schedule around 8.00pm. Las Vegas welcomed us with an excessive heat warning of 44°C (111°F)...felt like we walked into an oven. Fortunately, we were doing our sightseeing at night. Couldn't imagine walking around during the day under this heat.
It took about 15 min after getting off the plane to walk to the rideshare pickup area. From the baggage claim area, we took an elevator up to level two, cross a skybridge to the parking lot, and took another elevator down to Level 1. Upon reaching the pickup area, our driver pull into a numbered parking spot and alerted us where to find him. We timed our request perfectly and the driver pulled in just as we arrived at the pickup area. =) Everything went smoothly and we were on our Uber getting out of the airport by 8.35pm.
We decided to start our sightseeing at The Mirage and make our way down along the Strip through the night. Our ride from the airport to The Mirage took only 12 minutes and cost $23.72 due to higher demand at that time. However, I had a $20 voucher from work so the ride only cost us $3.72. Thanks Rubi for letting me know about this perk! =)
We arrived at The Mirage around 8.50pm, just in time for the 9pm Mirage Volcano Show that runs every hour from 8pm - 11pm. We didn't realize we were waiting at the wrong spot until the show started so we only saw the show from the side. Oh well, it was already hot enough that day and we didn't need to be close to the fire to feel more heat...haha!
Throwback to 2006...so much have changed, so much have remained the same.
The Venetian was located right across the street from The Mirage.
Exterior of the Venetian is a replica of Venice. For those who've been to the Venice, you'll recognize Piazza San Marco, St Mark's Campanile, and Rialto Bridge here.
Interior of The Venetian hotel is grand and lavish.
This indoor canal, fake sky, and gondola ride at Grand Canal Shoppes are definitely the highlight of The Venetian resort. The gondoliers were signing as well.
Throwback to 2006...camera quality is soooo much better now.
Tried our luck at the slot cash deposit machines in The Venetian's casion...no luck...lol!
Our next stop was In-N-Out Burger at the Linq for late (10pm) dinner. We don't have In-N-Out in Alabama so this was a good opportunity to try it.
After filling our stomach and resting some (it was 12am Alabama time already), we walked through Caesars Palace casino and tried out luck again at the slot machines. Still no luck, so we 'paid' for the air-con and chair to sit...lol!
Throwback to 2006....couple photos for the 'sponsors' of our trip back then. <3
The quickest way to 'travel' from Venice to Paris is to visit Las Vegas...lol! Our next stop was 'Paris'...Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.
Throwback to 2006....the Eiffel Tower lights are so much fancier and nicer now.
The Bellagio was located right across 'Paris'. We arrived just in time to catch the 11.15pm fountain show. The Bellagio Fountain display is every 15 min from 8pm to midnight. The songs used in each show is different and the one we saw was Uptown Funk.
Throwback to 2006...I was obviously not ready for photo at that time...haha!
Final stop for the night...Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. This place was still pretty crowded at 11.30pm. Our original plan was to keep walking until MGM but we were both feeling tired at this point (it was already 1.30am in Alabama) so we decided to call it a night and took an Uber back to the airport.
We waited for our Uber at the Rideshare pick up area at the Bellagio. There is designated rideshare pickup and drop-off area in every hotel in Las Vegas so you can't simply hop on/off an Uber on the street. The ride back to the airport took 11 min and cost $14.11.
We made it back to the airport at 12am and was glad the security checkpoint was still open. We found a quiet spot near our boarding gate to get some rest for the night. Unfortunately, all the chairs had arm rests so we couldn't lay down. There is free wifi in the airport so I spent most of the night browsing the internet.
That's it for our quick 3-hour tour of Las Vegas. Next stop...Bora Bora!
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