Hong Kong & Macau

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In the past we have travelled to Australia via Los Angeles and Hawaii - this time we decided to stop off in Hong Kong and Vietnam. It does not make the trip much longer and proved to be a very interesting alternative.

We found an excellent travel agent who helped us set up airport transfers, hotels and tours. The pace was hectic but we did get to see a lot in a short period of time. We flew Cathay Pacific - Toronto to Hong Kong over Canada's arctic, Russia and China. Clear skies gave us a glimpse of never ending ice - but no polar bears.

Hong Kong was a good intro. to Asia as all the street signs were in English (which is spoken widely because of the long English presence there) and the public transit system - trains, buses and ferries - are cheap and easy to use.

After a 1/2 day tour of Hong Kong on our first day we took a full day tour to Macau. - which was a Portuguese colony at the same time Hong Kong was controlled by the Brits. It is an hour, 100km, by high speed ferry from Hong Kong to Macau. Macau is the gambling capital of China and the Chinese love to gamble!

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Photos

Stanley Market
this group of school kids practised their English on Marlie while we were wandering around Stanley Market - they gave her a small gift as a 'thank you.'

flower market
just outside our Hong Kong hotel

scaffolding
ultra modern skyscrapers use bamboo scaffolding to support the workers - proving its strength.

bird market
this guy had a big inventory but many of the sellers only had one or two birds to sell

train to the top
we took this train up to a lookout at Victoria Peak overlooking the harbour and city

Victoria Peak
a typically smoggy day in Hong Kong - all the smog blows in from mainland China

nice fenders
only a hundred or so boats are left of the thousands that used to be the homes of local fishermen in Aberdeen harbour

Aberdeen
the liveaboards reminded us a little of our 7 weeks aboard Gust O'Wind in Marathon

cute!
typical tourists trying to pass as locals!

sampan
this was our tour boat around Aberdeen fishing village, Hong Kong

Star ferry
the ferry ride across the harbour is a great way to see the impressive skyline

subway
notice the continuous train - no apparent separate carriages - there are glass doors on the platform that don't open until the train comes to a stop

Chinese culture
the Hong Kong museum was fascinating - we spent 4 hours there and could have stayed longer

ferry to Macau
this flew along at 100km/hour - one runs every 15 minutes or so

Macau
the gold lotus was a gift from the Portuguese when they left Macau in 1999

Macau casino
Macau has 33 casinos with more $$$ taken in daily than Las Vegas - the high rollers are the new rich from mainland China and Hong Kong - it is the only place in China with casinos.

look out below!
billed as the highest bungee jump in the world - about 1000' from a tower in Macau - at $250 US a jump we weren't tempted

typhoon warning
this was posted near our room the day before we left; later it was raised to level 3 - luckily "Megi" missed Hong Kong but caused many deaths in the Phillipines and Taiwan

Comments

[Marg&ted]

WOW!
Spent the weekend with B&R and so knew of your itinerary...you sure know how to do it!!We are off to FLA via HHIsland next week...same old...But we have a lovely circle of friends in our HPark home and being on the beach over the holiday season with our memories and tears will be good for us..Love your blogs with the photos...and I enjoy the history comments along with them..thanx.Keep smiling!Love,M&T

[John Logan]

China travel
Wow, quite a whirlwind tour and a great idea to break up the long trip to Sydney. mWe just got back from 2 weeks in Egypt, expensive, but what a great experience. Great to hear from you. Hope you winter well. All the best, Joan and John

[Karen]

Wow! Again
Dear Marlene and Ian, I am so happy for your both to see the world and see it well! Looks like an exciting adventure! Excellent! Enjoy! Karen

[sue @ gary beacock]

wow!!
hi marlene and ian nice to hear from you and share your grand adventures. keep them coming. hope you had a nice visit with joy and an uneventful voyage. we are in south carolina, golfing. great weather, here until nov 14 and home on nov 17. hope we see you this summer. have a nice holiday season with wee luke. greetings from penelope jayne's captain and crew

[anonymous]

Hi Marlene and Ian. Thank you for the update. Connie and I just arrived home from Australia today. The 4 week trip wasn't enough time so we plan on returning in the future. We spent the last week touring the Blue Mountains and Sydney. We had some rain but lots to see and do! When will you arrive in Australia? Cheers Andy & Connie Poste