Macau

18th Jul 2016 - 19th Jul 2016. 1 night.

The ferry across the Pearl River Delta to Macau cost around €15 and took about an hour.

There didn't appear to be any hostels in the city so I had to book a cheap hotel.

Macau is very small and is the most densely populated place in the world if you consider it a separate country. A lot of the regular streets are narrow and are lined with eight storey buildings. Caged balconies seem to be very popular.

Macau was a Portuguese colony and was handed back to China in 1999 as a Special Administrative Region (similar to Hong Kong). There are some streets that still have the old colonial style buildings.

Ruins of St. Paul's

Na Tcha temple

Fortaleza do Monte is the fort on the top of the hill. It has some nice views of the city. There was a museum at the top but it was closed on Mondays.

Senado Square

A-Ma Temple

In 2002 the government ended the gambling monopoly and international firms (as well as local ones) have been building casinos as fast as they can. Five times more gambling now happens in Macau than Las Vegas and 70% of government income is from the gambling industry. There are two main areas, one is downtown near the lake waterfront and the other is the new Cotai strip they've built on reclaimed land to rival the Las Vegas strip. You're not allowed to take photos inside the casinos. All the casinos had the same machines and games with a few exceptions.

The Grand Lisboa probably has the most memorable exterior. Of the three I visited, it was the least classy on the inside. There was a huge diamond on display in the lobby. I forgot to bring my passport the first time I tried to get in and they didn't ask the second.

The Wynn is aimed up market and was the nicest. There was an area where the ceiling opened and a large chandlier came down and then a tree came up from the floor and people threw money at it. There was also a fountain show outside.

I got the bus over to the Cotai strip to go to The Venetian. It's the largest casino in the world and seventh largest building in the world by floor space. Like most places, it is a casino, mall and hotel. The shops are laid out on fake outdoor Venetian streets complete with the sky painted on the ceiling and canals you can go for gondola rides on. It got a little boring after a while. Everything is made of plasterboard (not sure what I was expecting when I checked).

There is lots of apartment blocks and casinos under construction.

The Grand Prix Museum was closed on Tuesdays.