Day 23: Macao: Long Senate Street, San Pablo Ruins, Fortress of the Mount, Senate Square, Holy House of Mercy or Church of Santo Domingo, Rua da Felicidade - Taipa Island: The Venetian - Hong Kong
It's 6:30 in the morning when the alarm sounds. Today we have a promising day and we have many things what to see in Macao, which will be our destination today, after spending yesterday enjoying Hong Kong.
It is also our last full day of this trip to China for free, since tomorrow night we have our flight back home.
We are not going to lie to you. This trip is one of the most tired we have done so far and we are really at a time when we would need to stop for a couple of days. But since this trip is with a return ticket and for a certain time, it is time to squeeze the days to the fullest, just as we will do today with everything we have what to see in Macao in one day.
The first thing we do after leaving our hotel in Hong Kong, the Innsight, is to go to breakfast at the McDonald's next door where we ask a couple of Americans plus two sweets for $ 50, which give us energy for the rest of the morning .
From here we go directly to the Star Ferry and after paying $ 2.80 per person at the box office, where they give us a ticket to enter (weekdays are $ 2 per person), we ride the ferry that will take us to Central for from there take the ferry from Hong Kong to Macao.
Ferry to Central in Hong Kong
No doubt this is an experience for a price. ridiculous, so you can not miss it! Ferries depart every few minutes and on the way we will be lucky to enjoy different views of the Hong Kong skyline.
Hong Kong
The journey does not last more than 10 minutes and once in the port you have to go to the right, until you reach the end, which is where we will find the terminal of the ferry from Hong Kong to Macao.
Ferry Terminal from Hong Kong to Macao
Once inside the terminal we have a couple of options to go from Hong Kong to Macao, the Turbo Jet company or the Cotai company.
As we have not read great differences between them, we go to the latter and at the box office they tell us that tickets in Economy Class only have for the next departure of 12 in the morning (the first ones have about $ 400 per person / journey), So we go to the Turbo Jet ticket offices where they confirm that they have tickets for 10:05 in the morning, one hour later, in Economy Class for $ 177 per person / journey.
Hong Kong to Macao ferry terminal
The truth is that we had not thought that it coincided with the weekend and that there are many people going from Hong Kong to Macao.
We recommend that if you come on the weekend you reserve your seats online and so you secure the place at the time you want since although they leave every 15 minutes, the seats run out quickly and it can happen to you like us, which we had to wait an hour to find places in economy class.
We walk around the ferry terminal, where you can find all the offices of Macau hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes ... waiting for our time and punctual arrival as always on this trip, at 10:05 in the morning, after passing passport control, especially do not forget it since Macao is another country and you have to pass passport control, we are leaving for Macao.
The Ferry takes 1 hour to get from Hong Kong to Macao, which we take advantage of thanks to free Wi-Fi getting lost between flights and possible destinations for this Christmas (we believe we have already decided).
Upon arrival at the Macau ferry station we follow the corridor that takes us to the passport control zone and we cannot forget, as we said before, that we are entering another country with a different currency as well.
In Macau, the pataca is used, more or less with the same value as the Hong Kong dollar, but if you only come for a few hours or a couple of days you do not need to change currency, since the Hong Kong currency is accepted without problems and even in some casinos it is the only currency they accept, even if it seems a lie.
It's almost 11:45 in the morning when we leave passport control and we can already say that we are in Macau!
The planning of what to see in Macao in one day It begins in the historic area, the one we are most interested in, so we walk towards the historic center, to the Fortaleza do Monte, which is 1.7 kilometers from the Hong Kong to Macao ferry station.
We have read that the taxis here are quite cheap, but for now the idea is to move on foot to start knowing Macao losing us through its streets, one of the best ways to do it. Another good option is to book the tourist bus that stops at the main attractions of the city.
Macau streets
And as soon as we leave, the Portuguese spirit takes over the streets and moves us to that Portugal that we like so much and where we are looking forward to returning.
Cartels and street names in Portuguese in Macao
Although we have to recognize that in the first section of the promenade towards the historic area, we crossed some constructions, such as the Great lisbon, that leave us stone.
Lisbon Casino What to see in Macao in one day
Here we also see a large number of jewelry stores that dot the streets and most surprisingly, they are all full.
After about 30 minutes we arrive at the Senate Square and this is where the part of Macao we were looking for really begins, with that Portuguese air that contrasts so much if we think about the part of the world in which we find ourselves.
Macau Senate Square
From the Senate Square and before entering the historic center, we turn left to find the Rua da Felicidade, famous for going out in the Indiana Jones movie that we wanted to reach, if only to take a picture and see what was the scene of one of the scenes of the movie.
Rua da Felicidade in Macau
From here we return on our steps to reach the Church of Santo Domingo and this is when, by magic and when we go to the st paul ruins, Chinese begin to appear as if by magic. And we know what happens when this happens: shouts, shoves and more screams that accompany us or rather drag us to the st paul ruins.
Church of Santo Domingo. What to see in Macao in one day
Once we reach the ruins of San Pablo we can not help but stay with our mouths open and it is that we are facing one of the most characteristic images of Macao and one of the most eager to see.
San Pablo ruins in Macao
Another perspective of the ruins of St. Paul
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Hong Kong by travelers:
- Boat trip and dinner at Jumbo Kingdom
- Excursion to Macao
- Symphony of Lights cruise
- Hong Kong sightseeing bus
- Private tour in Spanish in Hong Kong- More excursions and tours here
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Hong Kong by travelers:The st paul ruins they belong to the Mother of God Church that was destroyed by a fire in 1835, after which only an imposing facade and the 68-step staircase to which it gives access are preserved.
Profile of the ruin of St. Paul. What to see in Macao in one day
After a walk around the area we noticed that all the bakeries, you will find many in Macao, and shops are bursting with people and they are giving their products to try for free, so you can imagine the queues that are formed in the narrow street, giving rise to plugs that are difficult to pass without having to push.
It's almost 1:30 pm, so we stop at a fast food place, where we eat a couple of menus, more ice cream and coffees for $ 110 that allow us to cool down a bit and make a kat kit, although brief of the crowd we've found in this area of Macao.
Macau streets
With the energy already renewed, although bursting, we will not deny it, we go to the Church of San Lorenzo, passing again through the Rua da Felicidade and from here we continue to the Wynn hotel-casino, the first hotel that we have the idea visit.
Wynn in Macau
For a moment we have met on the trip to the West Coast of the United States, where we spent a few days in Las Vegas and where now we were left here, with our eyes closed, we would have thought that we have returned.
We meet again with the same luxury and the same passion for the game that we saw years ago in Las Vegas and that we honestly understand little. After walking around the common areas and the casino, we go back to the doors of the hotel, where we see a mini showof music they have in the fountains outside the hotel.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Hong Kong
- 50 things to see and do in Hong Kong
- 10 essential places to visit in China
- 10 essential tips for traveling to China
Knowing that Taxis in Macau They are quite cheap and we decided to take one at the Wynn gate to take us to The Venetian across the Friendship Bridge.
We pay $ 60, the man tells us that in patacas it is the same price, and leaves us after 15 minutes at the same Venetian door.
We are not going to cheat you. When we raise this Trip to chinaWe planned to spend a night here, since in Las Vegas, when we stayed at the Luxor we regretted it for being very far from everything. Now, seeing the mogollones of organized groups entering the hotel, as if there was no tomorrow, we are glad we did not do it.
And it is that The Venetian is an attraction in itself rather than a hotel. A shopping center, for some something shabby and for others, beautiful, but that undoubtedly is still a magnet for organized groups, which undoubtedly make what an interesting corner of Macau could be.
The Venetian Interior
The Venetian What to see in Macao in one day
5 o'clock in the afternoon and we decided that the time has come to return to Hong Kong. Although the idea was to return when it was dark, to see Macau illuminated, we do not know how the theme of the ferries will be nor from what we have seen we believe it is very worth seeing the illuminated hotels, so we decided not to take a risk and prefer to return to Macau Ferry Terminal.
Upon leaving the Venetian we find the free bus that takes you to the terminal Hong Kong ferry (All hotels have a free bus, so for the return it is a great option and thus you save by taxi).
From the bus we see a different perspective of this area and we even see the skeleton of what will be the next hotel in Macau, the Paris, where the lower part of the famous Eiffel tower is already being distinguished.
We arrive at the ferry terminal at 5:30 p.m. and they tell us that we don't have a place until 18:45 in economy, so we don't doubt it for a second for not losing the two remaining seats, we pay $ 180 for person, something more expensive than this morning because it is already considered a night ferry and we stay in the waiting room, by the way with free wifi, until we pass the passport control again and embark on the ferry that will leave us in an hour again in Hong Kong.
We spend the journey reviewing an itinerary that will come to us fabulous for the next long trip of the year and we have already decided thanks to Sergio de Viajeropedia, that our next destination will be Guatemala and Honduras.
Viajeropedia itinerary of Guatemala and Honduras
We arrived a few minutes before 8 a.m. ferry terminal from Hong Kong to Macao, where this morning we saw in the same terminal a sushi place with very good looks and as the truth is that it is difficult for us not to be tempted with this, we decided that our dinner will be based on sushi.
We order an assortment of varieties, including some of salmon that are great, plus water for $ 300.
Having sushi dinner at the ferry terminal from Hong Kong to Macao
We are not going to deny that we are busted, so instead of taking the star ferry we decided that it is best to take the subway in Central that will take us to the stop that we have next to the Innsight, where we arrive almost at 11 p.m. to spend what will be our last night of this amazing trip.
Day 24: Hong Kong - Lantau: Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, Nong Village, Po Lin Monastery, Big Buddha- Hong Kong Airport
