Hong Kong & Macau - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget

Travel Reference

In-Depth Information

was gifted to Macau by the Chinese

government in December 2009 in

honour of its tenth anniversary of

reunification. On top of the nearby hill is

a 20m-tall white marble statue of the

goddess A-Ma who gave Macau its name.

Just below lies the impressive Tian Hou

Temple (daily 8am-7.30pm) with its

multi-tiered roofs and crowds of

worshippers lighting incense under

strings of red lanterns. he temple is part

of the A-Ma Cultural Village, which

includes a good vegetarian restaurant,

museum and retreat. Any bus heading to/

from Coloane Village will drop you here

(#15, #21A, #25, #26, #26A or #50).

From behind the small eating area

opposite the temple you can join up with

the Coloane trail , part of a network of

well-signposted, straightforward walks

around the peninsula. Follow the signs

and a half-hour walk will take you down

to Hac Sa Reservoir ; the path then

continues across the road and down to

the eponymous black-sand beach - the

most popular in Macau.

Beach to the south on your way. It's also

possible to walk most of the way round

the headland between the two. Both

beaches have good facilities including

showers, toilets and street barbecue stalls

as well as some decent, though pricey,

restaurants nearby.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE

By plane Macau International Airport is a mini-hub mostly

used by budget airlines operating limited routes around

Southeast Asia. It's perched on Taipa Island ( W macau-airport

.com) and connected by airport bus #AP1 (MOP$4.20) to the

ferry terminal and the Chinese border.

Destinations Beijing (3 daily; 3hr); Shanghai (8 daily;

2hr); Xiamen (2 daily; 1hr); Taiwan (10-11 daily; 1hr

30min); Bangkok (8-9 daily; 2hr); Chiang Mai (daily; 4hr);

Manila (2-3 daily; 2hr); Kuala Lumpur (4-5 daily, 3hr

45min); Seoul (2-3 daily; 4hr 30min); Osaka (4 weekly;

4hr); Singapore (1-2 daily; 4hr); and Tokyo (4 weekly, 4hr

40min), as well as an increasing number of other Chinese

and Asian cities.

By ferry Every day, large numbers of vessels make the one-

hour journey between the Macau Ferry Terminal (“Terminal

Maritimo”) in the Outer Harbour and Hong Kong - both

Central and Kowloon. The terminal is connected to the

budget-hotel area on Almeida Ribeiro by #3A, #10 and

#10A buses. Allow 40min before departure for queues with

luggage and passport control. Daytime tickets are valid on

all boats earlier than the stated time. The main boat service

is the 24hr Turbojet ( W turbojet.com.hk) route (every 15min,

7am-midnight, then roughly every 30-60min) from the

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal and the China Ferry

Terminal in Hong Kong. Tickets cost from HK$151 one-way;

prices rise at weekends, public holidays and on night boats

(5.45pm-6.30am) when you should book ahead. Cotai Jet

( W cotaijet.com.hk) also run high-speed catamarans from

the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal both to the Macau

Ferry Terminal and the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal near

the Cotai Strip (every 30min, 7am-1am; HK$151), from

where there are complementary buses to all the major

casinos. Carry-on luggage allowance is 10kg in economy

class but large bags can be checked in.

By bus You can walk across the Chinese border (daily

7am-midnight) at the border gate in the far north of

the peninsula, into Zhuhai Special Economic Zone; buses

#3, #5 and #9 connect the border gate with Avenida

de Almeida Ribeiro and Rua da Praia Grande. Once in

mainland China, you can easily pick up a bus to Guangzhou

or Dongguan; there also are direct buses to the two cities

from Macau Airport. Alternatively, cross via the Lotus

Bridge at the Cotai Frontier Post (9am-8pm) on the block

of reclaimed land joining Taipa and Coloane; take buses

#15, #21A, #25 or #26A.

3

Coloane Village

he buses all stop at the roundabout in

pretty Coloane Village on the western

shore, overlooking mainland China just

across the water. In the shore-side mud

you'll see old men fishing with nets, and

it's a pleasant spot for a coffee and a

scrumptious Portuguese egg tart from

Lord Stow's Bakery (see p.158). Wandering

along the seafront you'll also find the

unexpected yellow-and-white St Francis

Xavier Chapel (daily 10am-8pm), which

is fronted by a plaza flanked by appealing

alfresco European-style restaurants. A few

hundred metres beyond this is the

Tam Kong Temple (daily 8.30am-6pm)

housing a metre-long whale bone, carved

into the shape of a dragon boat, to the

right of the main altar.

Beaches

Coloane's beaches are pleasant and not

usually crowded. Tree-lined, black-sand

Hac Sa Beach on the eastern shore is the