Macau and Farewell to Hong Kong

5th May 2012 18:50

I'd read that a trip to Hong Kong wasn't complete without a visit to Macau. A big reason for this is the vast number of casinos in the place, but frankly that doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've never really understood gambling, the house will ALWAYS win - what's the point? It's just a guaranteed way of losing money... Anyway, the casinos aren't the only draw. There's some nice Portugese architectural sights to enjoy if you're into that kind of thing.

So up at 6 (I thought early starts died with leaving my job!) to hop on a ferry to Macau and catch up on an hour of much needed sleep.

I picked up a tourist map from the ferry port, jumped on a bus and before I knew it I was at my first stop, Senado Square:

This is right in the centre of Macau and has nice wavy patterns in the pavement. I'm not sure if the Portuguese were drunk at the time or not.

The ruins of St. Paul's, destroyed by fire in 1835:

A-Ma Temple, pre-dating Macau itself. Apparently the naming of Macau originated from the temple:

Macau is a very pretty place and so clean as well. That's something I've noticed both here and in Hong Kong - they're hard to miss - an army of street cleaners everywhere, sweeping up rubbish and hosing down pavements etc. It makes for a very good first impression of the places you arrive in.

In terms of food, I saw two things always mentioned that should be tried, egg tarts (a bit like custard tarts back in England) and beef jerky. Both were consumed, and both were delicious.

I was about ready to move on, having seen pretty much everything I wanted to in Hong Kong. I made one last stop off at Kowloon Park - this time during the day - to get some photos of the birds there.

If you're a twitcher, let me know what these birds are! I should have checked on the signs, but I didn't. I'm an idiot.

So long Hong Kong! Next stop, Guilin.