14. Hongkong and Macau

After seven days at sea it was a relief to see the Chinese mainland come in to view followed, as it was already late evening, by the bright lights of the Hongkong skyline. We were out on deck as the ship berthed at the terminal which is situated where the old Kai Tak airport used to be and then as nobody was allowed to disembark until morning we retired early because an early start was required next day.

Having been in Hongkong only a year ago and seen the major sights, we had decided to spend our day in Macau. So, after breakfast we fought our way through the rush hour traffic and caught a ferry for the hour long journey along the coast to this SAR (Special Administrative Region).

I had always thought of Macau as being "the poor man's Hongkong", but it is of similar size and almost as built up. It remained a Portuguese colony until 1999, two years later than Hongkong, at which point it was returned to China and then the dollars and investment really began to roll in. As a result, there are now 42 casinos within 33 square kilometres and a colossal gambling industry. The Chinese, who can come over for the day are addicted. All this money has attracted the high end retailers and for the locals, it means that they have to pay very little or no income tax. Street names, signs and notices are all in Chinese and Portuguese and there is much evidence of colonial Portuguese architecture amongst all the steel and glass high rise hotels and casinos. Therefore Macau feels like Hongkong, Las Vegas and Funchal all rolled into one.

Our tour stopped for an early lunch at the Macau tower, a sixty story tower reminiscent of Seattle's space needle and which boasts panoramic views over the city, a revolving restaurant and (allegedly) the world's highest bungee jump. So, after taking lots of pictures of the city and of the Chinese mainland just a few hundred metres away across the river, we had the most delicious lunch (Chinese, Japanese and Indian dishes), although it was rather disconcerting to be tucking into some green tea flavoured cheesecake and glimpse a jumper hurtling past the window attached to a bungee cord.

Following lunch we had a visit to a Tao shrine which was full of Chinese worshippers who were on a day trip and then a look around a fortress, originally built by the Portuguese but now the national museum. It also afforded more scenic panoramas. Lastly we had a short time to wander the streets where well known luxury brand names sit a little uneasily beside markets and traditional Chinese medicine shops. (Yes, there were shark fins and birds nest for sale in the latter's front windows.)

A little reluctantly we soon had to head back to the port area to catch the ferry back to Hongkong. How much longer the ferry will run is debatable as a huge engineering project is due to open next year; a 50km series of bridges and tunnels that will link Hongkong, Macau and the Chinese mainland together. We saw part of the bridge structure and it really is engineering on a massive scale.

It had been a very full and fascinating 12 hour trip by the time we got back on board Diamond Princess. The only disappointment of the day was the light and laser show which lights up Hongkong harbour every evening. It was no more than a few flashing lasers and neon lights changing colour.

The following day (today, Saturday), the ship was due to sail at 12.30 pm but due to sketchy transport links and the fact that most shops don't open until 11am, it was not really worth going anywhere from the port terminal. Besides, with the traffic, a taxi journey could take hours and we couldn't afford to miss the ship so we just enjoyed the extensive roof gardens on the terminal and a free, reliable wifi link!