Macao = Med?

After recovering from just too much mud we jumped on our elegant overnight sleeper bus bound for the Chinese Macanese border saying goodbye to sleepy Yangshou. The bus itself was a sight to behold and it was more like stepping onto an aircraft. Comprised of three rows of beds two bunks high with TVs at various intervals and air conditioning for each bunk - I thought travelling by Chinese bus was meant to be the cheap and uncomfortable option! Obviously not! It is a weird sensation after travelling on so many trains to be swaying left and right in our bunks as the driver screeched around corners (honking like mad obviously!) as opposed to rocking up and down as per the sensation on the trains - still it was a surprisingly comfortable ride!

We reached Zuhai at around lunchtime the next day and after being dropped off at the bus station we were left a little confused at the lack of 'Exit from China' signs! Eventually we found our way to the border crossing and after a short queue at the Chinese exit and Macanese entry points we were in Macao! Hurrah! And all of a sudden it was Portugal - no kidding! We could smell the sea - it was 26 degrees, humid, there were fountains and everything was written in Portugese! What a transformation having walked a few hundred yards across the border!

Macao is an ex-Portugese colony located on a peninsula extending into the South China sea. It's a SAR (Special Administrative Region) in much the same way as Hong Kong is now, but it retains its own currency, Patacas or MOPS, and has it's own visa position meaning we had a free visa on entry for 90 days as Europeans! Catching a very South American looking taxi to a cheap hotel laden district we set about searching for a place to stay, eventually settling on a dorm room in a Thai Hotel (?), far pricier than China but this was all to be expected. We eventually realised that the street where we staying, Rua de Felicidade - translated as 'Street of Happiness', was a buslting red light district thus explaining the groups of women loitering on street corners pouncing on men walking down the street - and they say I'm unoberservant! It also transpired that on the 'M' floor of our hotel there was a sign saying 'Men's Area' and 'Women Turn Back' together with appropriate diagrams, and also the empty room next door to us had rather a lot of mirrors etc - it was all becoming clear now....still it was a cheap and clean place to crash for a few nights!!

NOT a lady of the night!

Macao itself is a fascinating city with a stunning mix of Chinese and Portugese culture, cuisine and, most prominently, architecture. There are mediterranean influences everywhere from the churches, colourful houses and mansions all the way through to the cobbled streets and peaceful gardens. The sudden shift away from busy China really took my breath away, and together with the vast improvement in climate (the sun came out again, finally!) it made this a refreshing stop over on our travels - I would gladly come here again!

After a couple of relaxing days we jumped on the short ferry ride leaving Macao peninsula towards Hong Kong and after only just over an hour we were in Kowloon!