Macau Part II: Guia Fort, Coloane, Taipa
It was 10.45am when i eventually tried and failed to open my eyes properly. The reason been that i appeared to have contracted an eye infection and looked like i'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson! Not to let it get the better of me, i packed my bag, checked out and left my stuff with reception so as i could go off on another hectic day of walking! Macau Cathedral was to be my first piece of eye candy and then it was back climbing hills again! This time i ascended the hill that was topped by Guia Fort, lighthouse and Chapel of our lady of guia, for some wonderful panoramic views. From high above i spotted a pretty little blue church and cemetery and decided that i would try and find my way there, once i got to the foot of the hill.
After 10 minutes of walking around the base of the hill, i stopped to show a local lady my picture and see if she knew which direction i should walk in. She spoke no English and had no clue, but stopped 4 school children who spoke a few words of English. Between the 4 of them, they decided they could point me in roughly the right direction. I set off up the street they pointed at, but after 5 minutes had still come across nothing. As i was about to show the picture to someone else, i got a tap on the shoulder and 'we help you'. 2 kids had come back and they had brought a GPS device with them, so we could find our way! It took us nearly 20 minutes to get there and i couldn't beleive how kind they were.
Time was ticking by and i decided it was time to make a move for the southern tip of Macau and jumped on a bus to Coloane. I told the driver twice where i wanted to go and sat basically next to him, but he still never told me when i shuould get off and i ended up missing my stop by about 2kms! Somehow i always seem to get lost on buses and thats why i always either walk or take the subway, which has a fixed line! 40 minutes along a hilly road and i was eventually where i wanted to be! Coloane itself is a peaceful little fishing village and i spent an hour walking the narrow streets, which contained the Chapel of St Francis Xavier and Tam Kong Temple, before jumping back on a dreaded bus to go to Taipa.
This time i managed to work out where i was and got off at the impressive Venetian Hotel complex, before walking to Taipa old town. The Church of our Lady of Carmel and Taipa Houses Museum are both housed here, along with the pretty Tin Hau and Pak Tai temples. I enjoyed an ice cream whilst sitting in the sun infront of the latter. Another bus journey took me back across the bridge to Macau, where i had a quick look around the casino district before grabbing some food, collecting my bags and heading to the ferry terminal around 8pm.
Although i'd only been in the country for a little over 50 hours, i felt like i had got a pretty good look at it and had fallen in love with what i had seen. Apart from my early misfortunes and inability to get off the bus at the right place, i have nothing really negative to say about Macau. I loved the fact that no-one hassled me into buying things, most people went out of their way to be helpful and there was just a laid back serene air about it all. This is one place i don't want Julia to miss and will surely head back there at some stage in the future with her!
