day trip to Macao

Thursday the 25th of April

Up early and off with Louise to Macao. Miss the early ferry and takes the jet foil. This fairly small craft re-as it prow out of the water on fins, but keeps its stern in, makes for a bumpy ride. Despite the insistent advice of the taxi touts, and a pedi-cabbies exhortations that there is no bus into town, we catch the number three a to the city centre. It’s like Chinatown with Hispanic street names giving it all the catholic flavour. The front of St Paul’s rises above the souvenir stores in the centre of town. Trudge out to the Bishops Palace which was hardly worth the effort. Nearby Ah Maa’s Temple was curious, winding paths around boulders, with Chinese characters carved on them. A few beggars in the nooks and crannies. As always a lovely sense of peace when you enter the Temple.
Bus to the north of town to a bigger Temple. This is a lovely affair a courtyards and rooms. Dark golden Buddhas, fortune sticks, vast incense coils smoking in the gloom, several feet across. Snooze in the Temple garden and get bitten to death by the mosquitos. Lunch on steamed tasty morsels rice and tea 50 P. each.
Catch the ferry home, 2 ½ hour trip, sleep most the way and/or late getting off as we were unaware a that the boat had docked 20 minutes before.