15th November: Hong Kong SAR, China
So, what was meant to be a non-travel day became our worst travel day of the trip! We set out for a day trip to Macau, which everywhere says takes about an 60-90 minutes for the journey from Hong Kong. Well, it took us 4 and a half hours to get there and 3 and a half to get back! I don’t want to moan too much but it was such a comedy of errors that I’m going to see if I can remember the journey there.
Firstly, I spent ages looking for info online and couldn’t find anything remotely useful. All mapping software says to get a ferry, which is both expensive and not really something we were keen on given the typhoon which was off out to sea. The are direct buses but the HK transport website doesn’t list times or locations of departure, just a list of 108 companies who are licensed on the route and their phone numbers! In lieu of useful info, we decided to get to the airport as that’s definitely a spot they leave from. We jumped on the metro, changed once and then needed to change again but there was some kind of issue in the line. After going up and down enough escalators that I felt like I’d completed a level of Sonic, we ended up back on the same platform we’d come in on! Getting to the bus station for the border from the airport (these are apparently different) wasn’t made easy either and we had no idea which bus. I asked a member of staff, and she just tutted at me and shrugged. I asked again and she did the same again. I saw something useful on the front of one bus, so asked the driver. He also acted as if he’d never heard of Macau. We hopped on anyway, hoping that we could get off one stop later at the border port and find out more information and were charged nearly £5 for a 4-minute journey. At this point, we entered a big border crossing building but had been dropped at arrivals and there appeared to be no way inside or outside to get up to the level we could see we needed! Eventually, we found some fire escape stairs outside and made it upstairs. This cannot be the way people usually make this journey! Finally, we were able to cross out of HK and buy a ticket for a shuttle across to Macau. Except we couldn’t as the machines only accepted AliPay or WeChat. We have both but were rejected because, apparently, they’re different versions here to in the mainland? Finally, we found a member of staff to sell us a ticket with an actual credit card. Phew!
The journey across the 55km bridge – the world’s longest sea crossing – was uneventful given the low cloud and fairly poor visibility, although nonetheless a cool thing to have done. We entered Macau through passport control and, after some confusion, found the bus we needed. When it turned up, we are told that we couldn’t buy tickets or pay with a card. Damn it! We returned to the border centre to get some cash. Obviously, the only currency exchange place was closed for lunch. After hunting high and low we found one cash point which inexplicably refused to issue cash on any of the cards we’ve been using. Out of desperation, I put in a card that has been blocked by the bank. Somehow, this was the only one which did work. I don’t understand any more! Anyway, back out to get the next bus. We boarded with cash and asked for two tickets – which were 12 of the local currency – only to turn be told that they don’t give change. The only cash machine wouldn’t give us anything less than a 100. I gave the driver a maniacal laugh and we walked off again in search of a shop to break the cash. Finally, we got on the next bus, only for it to be diverted because of a motor racing event in the city. We arrived in Macao at 2pm, about the time we’d assumed we’d be leaving to head back to HK. It felt like one of those days where you’re a character in a hidden camera show and that someone is trying to see how much bullshit you can take before you flip!
We were both really hungry, so found a couple of good lunch options online. The first place turned out to be a clothes shop. The second place had a kiosk which was shut with a sign to go to the main shop, which was then closed itself with a sign and map for a new location, which of course didn’t exist either. Every other place seemed to just have fish or chicken. We both wanted to cry but went for laughing instead. There was one other veggie place listed online but the closing time had passed. We tried it anyway and it was open after all. Lunch, finally! It was really good and cheap too – a selection of 4 dishes of tofu and veggies, a big portion of rice, and Cantonese soup for about £3.50. Everything suddenly felt manageable again. It’s amazing what a bit of food can do!
I was very surprised to see that a former Portuguese colony drove on the left, especially as the coach on the bridge from also left-hand drive HK had driven on the right! It was also slightly surreal to see Portuguese architecture and churches intermingled with southern Chinese architecture. Most Chinese visitors were taking endless photos of, what to us, were quite boring churches. A linear part of the old city is UNESCO listed and is pretty, but this is entirely colonial architecture and not anything local. This on its own probably tells you all you need to know about the aims and objectives of the people behind that organisation.
I climbed up to the top of the old fort to get a bird’s eye view. There were so many dragonflies! Hundreds and hundreds soaring above the trees and near the ramparts. Looking out, the city below looked claustrophobic and uncomfortable, especially on a warm and oppressively humid day (and knowing it gets a lot worse in summer). How must it have been to live here before air conditioning?!
We cooled ourselves with a delicious lemon and passionfruit iced tea and wandered the streets some more until sunset came and before another frustrating journey back to Hong Kong. Ignoring the transport, our visit to Macau was an interesting little aside.
