Asia has always been a fascination of mine. The exotic food, the gentle spirituality, the diversity of cultures keeps drawing me back to the region. I have been lucky enough to travel at leisure throughout India and Southeast Asia. I have met many other backpackers during these trips, and asked and answered many times the questions that all travellers are familiar with: “So… Where have you been?” and “Where are you going next?”
Macau’s name had, until recently, featured as an an answer in precisely zero of those conversations. Backpackers through Asia seem, if they consider visiting at all, to disregard Macau as a comparatively expensive, small, and out of the way choice. At best it might be squeezed it in as a day trip from Hong Kong. When an opportunity arose for me to visit, I was intrigued.
Having just spent eight months in Southeast Asia, and knowing very little about Macau, I expected something similar to the chaotic and brilliant bustle, dirtiness, and hassle of Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. How wrong I was.
Macau revealed itself to be an unfamiliar combination of familiar atmospheres. The energy of Thai markets, the glitz of Vegas, and the calming pastels and balconies of a Mediterranean town (relics of Portuguese colonisation) mingled to create a whole greater than its parts; a clean and charming city of contrasts, where fine international cuisine is served on the same streets as cheap local treats, and where flashing, neon-lit, glamorous casinos are found around corners from quiet, cobblestoned alleyways of understated and dignified character.
In defiance of Macau’s status as a day trip from Hong Kong, I decided I would do it the other way around, spending ten days in Macau and stopping only briefly in its better-known neighbour before flying out.
First of all I headed straight to the Grand Lisboa Hotel, the flashy, pineapple-esque tower that dominates the downtown Macau skyline. Once I passed the smartly dressed security-men stationed at the entrance to the hotel’s casino, I made a beeline for the one game I fancied my chances at; Blackjack. Like everybody else there that night I thought I might beat the odds and walk out a winner. I did not. I did, however, buzz from the thrill of the gamble, the bright casino lights, and the chorus of machines, and I walked out a few hours later with a lighter wallet, a spinning head, and a grin.
I spent most of the next few days touring the old city; the shady Lilau Square, the cool interiors of Catholic churches, the last remaining façade of St. Paul’s ruins. I had been away from Europe for months, and found myself becoming nostalgic. The good coffee and sandwiches, rarities in many other Asian cities, also reminded me of what I would appreciate on returning home.
I visited Taipa next, an area connected to Macau via three long bridges. The grandeur and audacity of Taipa’s immense casinos put even Macau’s to shame. With the memory of my last gambling misadventure still fresh, it was with caution that I entered the Venetian casino. I needn’t have worried; the expansive indoor recreation of Venice (complete with canals, gondolas, and artificial blue skies), the exhaustive food court, and the hundreds of shops kept me occupied (and away from the gambling tables) all afternoon. The Venetian’s neighbouring casinos were filled with enough galleries, aquariums, cinemas and more to keep me entertained for another full day, without me playing a single hand of blackjack.
Macau is not just for urbanites either. Just south of Taipa is Coloane, a one-time island now connected to its neighbours through reclaimed land, and it boasts enough greenery, hiking trails, and beaches for nature-lovers to get their fix.
Daily costs are higher in Macau than in China’s cheaper ASEAN neighbours, but if one chooses not to gamble, books good-value accommodation in advance, and eats locally, they’re not that much higher. Flights from Bangkok to Macau were a reasonable €109, equal in value to country-to-country flights between southeast Asia, something that I (and many other backpackers in the region) might not have thought. Visa-free entry for a long list of nations and easy access to Hong Kong furthers Macau’s appeal.
The next time another backpacker asks me “So… Where have you been?”, I’ll tell them I came from Macau. I’ll recommend they add a week or two there to their Asian itinerary, especially if they’re long-term travellers who’d appreciate a touch of the developed world’s comforts. I’ll say it’s more accessible and affordable than people think, and offers cultural mixes and experiences very different to its neighbours. And, of course, I’ll remember fondly the peninsula’s relaxed, slightly eccentric, and undoubtable glitzy charm. Conor Haugh, traveler and writer
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