Arrival

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From Bangkok, I flew with Catherine to Macau on budget airline Air Asia. It was already raining as we arrived and we both got completely soaked while looking for a guest house. Hardly anyone spoke English and we had to rely on a small map and some luck to get us to where we wanted to be.

Macau is an interesting place for its architecture and Portuguese influence. The Chinese allowed the Protuguese to establish a settlement in Macau in exchange for conquering the pirates who plauged the area in 1557. Since that time, Macau had become a central trading point between China and foreign markets. Since the establishment of Hong Kong however, Macau has gone in to decline which is evdient through much of its run down and poorly maintained buildings, in stark contrast to the old style Portuguese structures which appear to have been better cared for, and/or restored. We spent our time in Macau wandering about the city and taking in the culture. It was overcast and dull for the entire time however we managed to get a few hours to walk around without getting rained on.

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Photos

The Eels
Most of the resturaunts in Macau had fishtanks like these to display the fresh fish, eels and other seafood they have on offer.

The Ruins of the Church of St Paul
According to the lonely planet: this church was built in the 17th century. Its engravings make up whats know as the 'sermon in stone' and some consider it to be the greatest monument to Christianity in Asia.

Monte Fort
Built by the Jesuits between 1617 and 1626. Unfortunatly the museum is only closed on Mondays, the day we were there!

View from Monte Fort
This lady was cleaning her windows in an apartment building opposite the Monte Fort

Public Dog Toilet
I'm not sure how the dogs are supposed to know to go here.

Lou Lim Loc Garden
This is the bridge of 9 turns, passed over by those wanting to escape evil spirits who can only move in straight lines.

Huge Lily Pads
Wouldn't want to see the size of the frogs that hang out on these!

Balance Beam
This was a very random exercise beam we came across on our way up the hill to the lighthouse

The Lighthouse
This was built in 1865 and is the oldest lighthouse on the southern Chinese coast.

The Dragon
This was some sort of procession marching through Macau, they had a band following them as well.