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Published: February 23rd 2016
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A free day in Hong Kong? You may be tempted to grab a tour into Macau. My advice? Don't bother!
As a solo traveller, doing a tour seemed like a good idea at the time. This view changed very quickly. After an early start, we were all picked up and dropped off at the ferry terminal, with tickets handed out and a general wave in the direction we were meant to go in. We then had to sit and wait for the ferry which was a complete waste of time.
Finally, the ferry arrived and suddenly hundreds of people all moved, en masse, down the gangplank towards it. It is the only time I have ever had a panic attack as I was completely crushed and couldn't move. I was just forced along with the crowd. Taking a breath was nearly impossible.
The ferry ride was quite rough and then we had to make our way through immigration. After 45 minutes we finally made it through and found a very surprised tour guide who said it usually took much longer. More time wasted.
Doing a tour was a good
Pollution
The view from the tower. idea in as much that I got to visit quite a few places. But most of them I wouldn't have chosen to visit. Plus the tour guide loved the sound of his own voice and spent most of the time talking about how other tourists had been rude to him or laid complaints about him.
So, what did I get to do and see? Obviously the ruins of St Paul's which are tricky to photograph because of the sheer volume of tourists trying to do exactly the same thing. We were then taken along one of the busiest streets I have ever been in. A dear little old Chinese lady was behind me and grabbed hold of top because I am tall and she was terrified of getting lost in the crowd.
The Macau Tower was a disappointment, probably because it is so like the one in my own country (New Zealand). The views would have been great if we could have seen through the pollution. There were various functions/photoshoots on while we were there and simply trying to get near a window was an effort. I managed to take a few (bad) photos
because of being able to hold the camera above the heads of those shorter than I am.
By 2pm, I was starting to feel very hungry as there hadn't been time for breakfast and lunch still hadn't appeared. We were finally dropped off at a hotel round the back of nowhere for lunch. This was NOT The Emperor Hotel shown in my photos and which was where the group was to meet after a small amount of free time. The food at the hotel was okay but certainly nothing very interesting. Once we had finished we were herded straight back to meet the ferry. By the time we arrived, I was starting to feel unwell. Let's just say that the 45 minute ferry ride was spent locked in a disgusting bathroom as I had food poisoning. A fellow traveller was amazing and made sure we got off the ferry as quickly as possible so I could find the next bathroom. The guide who met us and took us to the bus was no help at all. He did suggest I go back to my hotel in a taxi but there was a long queue and I was
going to be left on my own. The bus driver said it would be quicker to go with him. It was the longest 50 minutes of my life. My holiday was ruined as I had to spend the next day in bed before travelling to Taiwan. Having travelled extensively and eaten all sorts of food in all sorts of places, I was not happy that I became ill somewhere like this. And don't ask how the company reacted when they learned of my problem.
So, out of a 14 hour day, I spent several hours either on a bus to and from my hotel/ferry terminal, sitting in a ferry terminal or on a ferry, adding up to almost 8 hours! Would I recommend this tour to anyone? No! Even if you are brave enough to travel to Macau by yourself, you are still going to spend heaps of time sitting round doing nothing and working out how to get round Macau without being put on a bus and delivered to a casino. Options? Don't bother or spend a few days there and make it a more important part of your holiday.
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