Macao Trip

Macao was awesome. I got a package deal from a travel agent here that included 2 days 1 night at the hotel plus airfare for 350 US. The original quote was for 200 US but they taxed the hell out of me in airport taxes. They do that to everyone, but I thought it was pretty ridiculous that the airport taxes were almost as much as base cost for the plane ticket.

There was also an issue with Immigration leaving the country. I left on the 60th day (or 61st) depending how you counted. The immigration guy counted on his fingers a couple times before realizing I didn't overstay and then just gave me an exit stamp.

Flying to Macao was easy. It was about an hour and a half flight and then I landed. Immigration gave me no trouble and neither did Customs. The cab took me straight to my hotel (supposedly a 5 star hotel) and I got checked in. The cab fare was about triple what I expected and this was foreboding of what was to come. On the weekends, Macao institutes a "tourist tax" where everything increases in price dramatically.

I took a shower at the hotel and went exploring. Unbeknown to me, my tourist map was incorrect. It showed streets as running straight when really they all went in circles. I got lost and found myself a couple of times before ending up downtown. I saw the casinos there and then walked up to the San Leonardo square. After figuring out where I was and taking some pictures, I went to the Saint Paul Cathedral. Right as I was going to take a picture, my camera battery died. I trekked back to 7-11 and bought a disposable camera. Took some pictures of the Saint Paul Cathedral and then the fort protecting the Cathedral.

Walking around for 2 or 3 hours really tired me out so I went back to the hotel to shower and sleep. I got up in the morning and walked around some more. I was looking for a bakery that opened up early to buy some Portuguese egg tarts. I found one but it wasn't very close. I walked to the store, bought a box and took a cab to the airport.

Customs and Immigration were easy, and the boarding didn't take very long. They started boarding passengers late but we still took off on time. Boarding looked like it was out of the 40's, walking up a gangway to get into the plane. 2 hours later I was back in Taiwan, and shortly after that on a bus back to Taipei.

Here are the pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/67kjnz