Macau

Tuesday 07 Apr Overcast with some sun 22C

The day seemed somewhat brighter and we had breakfast at the hotel again before taking to the trams. Conveniently, the tram from outside the hotel went directly to the Western Market where we wandered down to the Macau ferry terminal.

It was bedlam in the terminal with lots of ferries leaving all at the same time as well as the helicopter service to Macau. The helicopter takes 15 minutes and costs $HK2300 each on way, whilst the ferry takes an hour and is $HK230 each return! The transfer from the terminal onto the boat was a bit hairy as the swell was huge and everyone was being thrown around. The boat, a twin-hull hydrofoil, goes very fast. The journey, about 60km, takes you around some of the other Hong Kong islands before following the Chinese coast west to Macau.

Macau, previously a Portuguese dependancy, is now also a Special Administrative Region of China, the same status as Hong Kong. This means that British passport holders do not need a visa (unlike mainland China) and can stay for up to 6 months. This didn't stop us having to leave Hong Kong and have our passport stamped and then immigrate into Macau and get our passports stamped again. Needless to say, we had to go through the same procedure on the way back to Hong Kong later in the day.

On our arrival in Taipu, the city of Macau, I thought I saw some of the old Portguese quarter of the city, so we walked toward it. I was mistaken, what I had actually seen was a mini Las Vegas. Built next to the ferry terminal, is an artificial journey around the world. We could stroll through ancient Athens and Rome before walking past a Inca Temple, a Volcano and then Dutch and Portguese houses before ending up in New Orleans. All of this was artificial and built to entice visitors into the many casinos that exist in Macau.

We got somewhat lost at this stage, but a kindly gentleman pointed us in the direction of the city centre and we strolled there. In the centre, the new Hotel Lisboa is a stunning building built in the shape of a flower. The stem is OK, but the flower perched on top is quite odd and hangs out over the side of the main tower.

From here, we strolled up to the fort and gardens above the city which gave us a good view. The down side to our walk was the lack of footpaths or pavements. The route we took followed part of the Macau Grand Prix route; this years race is in September.

Finally back in the touristy area, we managed to find some lunch, a very good steak, fries, salad a coffee or pastry to finish all for about £10. Macau has its only currency which is tied to the Hong Kong dollar, so we didn't bother to exchange any money as the $HK is accepted everywhere.

We caught the 1600 ferry back to Hong Kong, passed through immigration again and then returned to the hotel. Once back there, I went down to Causeway Bay underground station and returned our Octopus cards and got $HK130 back - a great deal!

As we have an early start tomorrow, we eat in the hotel and head to bed early.