Macau is a wonderful day trip from Hong Kong with the combination of China’s boom on display as you wander through the lavish mega casinos, plus the Portuguese culture shinning through in the architecture, food and even street signs in Portuguese in the various spots that justify its UNESCO World Heritage status
Top 3 tips:
#1 Experiencing the Portuguese feel – there are various places which are great for getting your fix. Taipa Village is lovely and well located next to the main casinos. The area around the Ruins of the Church of Saint Paul is the symbol of Macau and does feel a bit like being in Lisbon around there. But my main tip is to head to the south of Taipa Island to either the South West for the classic restaurant of Fernando’s that is a bit of an institution in Macau, or to the South West in the area around the Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier which is far less busy and you’re able to sit having Portuguese food in the courtyard looking across the water
#2Enjoying the Casinos – whilst Macau sees x6 the revenue of Las Vegas passing across its tables, that doesn’t necessarily equate to the entertainment. Its more a reflection of the Chinese love / obsession of gambling and this is the only spot in all of China to do it – for example, you’ll typically see a minimum bet of around Macau $200 (USD25) on the tables in Macau combined with little entertainment. That being said, the entertainment that is on offer is great. I’d particularly recommend spending time walking the canals of the Venetian and booking ahead for the world-class Cirque du Solei show “The House of Dancing Water” in the City of Dreams. It is superb . If you can time it right and keen for the lash / partying, the Hard Rock Pool Party is also a must
#3 Transport – getting to Macau from Hong Kong is super simple. There are ferries leaving every 30mins or so from 3 spots across Hong Kong and it only takes an hour. Most realistically, you’ll aim to leave from the Shun Tak Centre on Hong Kong island. Just be aware though that there are two ferry spots in Macau – Macau Outer Harbour which is for the Macau Peninsular (the northern half) and Taipa (the southern half). Getting around though is a bit harder than Hong Kong as there isn’t the subway / MTR equivalent. Easiest to just get taxis
Overall, its a very easy and great experience from Hong Kong
My girlfriend and I went on a 6month trip around Latin America (excluding Brazil). Started in the far South in the Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and, broadly, made our way up the west coast to the Yucatan Peninsular of Mexico. Best large scale trip I’ve done, and wanted to share the overall itinerary and tips here to hopefully help those who are considering something similar
A few high level points:
- Other than the flights there and the first hotel, there were only three things we booked in advance: the Inca Trail (which we knew we needed to for permits); plus for Patagonia a trip through Torres del Paine National Park and a ferry through the fjords (as we were going at peak season and only a couple of weeks after we landed). Everything else, we booked when in Latin America and, in our opinion, that is the best way to do it – gives you the freedom to relax in the places you find that you love and be super flexible to do what you want to do
- Total costs – my girlfriend and I went in our 30s, with no kids and on sabbaticals from work. We’re not poor, but certainly not mega wealthy. We didn’t stay in super expensive hotels (other than for the occasional splurge), flew economy and used a bit of common sense for timings of certain expensive items, but never held back on doing the things we wanted to do. Some examples of big ticket items: US$5k for a week diving in the remote Wolf & Darwin Islands in the Galapagos; US$1.2k for 4 days in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia; US$800 for a helicopter trip to see the El Mirador Mayan ruins in the Guatemalan jungle; US$700 for the Inca Trail. Total cost of the whole trip was US$34k each. This included all flights, transport, hotels, activities, food, drink, guides, screwing things up, credit card fees – the lot. Expensive, but so are most Experiences of a Lifetime
- It’s not about trying to “do everything” – in a place as large as Latin America, you couldn’t even if you tried – so don’t think of things as a big tick box exercise. Brazil, for example, we knew we couldn’t do justice whilst also trying to enjoy all the other amazing places we’d heard of, so left it for next time
- In the similar vain, make sure you give yourself big chunks of time to chill out. Not only to recharge the batteries, but also because most places are enjoyed when you spend time to soak up the feel for the place. There were some places . . . like Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Isla Mujeres in Mexico, Bocas del Toro in Panama . . . where I could have spent weeks there just because the general vibe of the place was so wonderful
- Safety – we weren’t robbed, but many people do either having a bag stolen or, unpleasantly, get robbed face to face. Other than a couple of cities, we generally felt super safe the places we went and tried to just apply common sense to reduce our risks
- Learn a bit of Spanish before you go – the app DuoLingo was great for getting us to a basic level that made a lot of difference. But also don’t be afraid to pull out google for simultaneous conversation translations to really be able to have a conversation with someone – some long trips became some of our highlights just from being able to properly talk with the driver / locals. I particularly remember a long taxi ride in Colombia where we went back and forward for 2 hours with the driver on everything from his home town to politics to football to his favourite movies to his family problems- never could have done that without Spanish or google. In a similar vein, and using the right level of common sense, don’t turn down an invite for drinks / dinner / house visit with locals. There are some truly unforgettable natural and cultural spots to see, but similarly an evening with a local family will be something likely to be just as unforgettable
- Whenever checking out a place or must-do-site, its easy to get templed / churched / ancient site / beached out. Always do a very basic bit of research to see if there is a more out of the ordinary way to experience it – by bike / drinking tour / kayaking / helicopter / whatever. Thats what we tried to do, and I hope it reflected in some of the cool stuff listed below
Heard a lot about Cancun, and was keen to hit it hard with some apoco-lash (translation – go out and party, drink a lot etc), but was really disappointed in the end. I think the main problem with Cancun is that, if you look at it from a travel experience point of view, it is more on the package holiday end of the spectrum than the unique adventure end. This may sound like lofty expectations for what is effectively a party town, but the experience is to spend the majority of your time in one all-inclusive hotel and go to one venue per night, which is also all-inclusive. There is less of the wandering from one bar to the next and getting a bit of variety because the separate hotels won’t let you buy individual drinks (need to pay for the full package), which kind of rules out most of the rooftop bars too
Maybe I’m getting old, but would give it a miss. Nice beach though and obviously a platform to go exploring the likes of Chichen Itza (see Best way to see Chichen Itza for how to best experience this wonder of the world from Cancun), diving in crystal clear Cozumel (tips – Scuba Diving in Cozumel), the Mayan ruins and Cenote diving in Tulum (Exploring the Mayan Ruins of Tulum for the ruins and Scuba Diving the Cenotes of Tulum for the must-do otherworldly diving), and the far more peaceful Isla Mujeres nearby
If do stay in Cancun, we found the Casa Tortugas Boutique Hotel really nice and well located to the Hotel Zone
Chilling – Go Slow is on the street signs, used when people say hello to each other, and just the general culture of the place. Such a wonderfully laid back Caribbean beach town
Diving – some fab dive sites no distance from the shore, and of course access to the world famous Blue Hole
Drinking – the Spit, the narrow channel that splits Caye Caulker in two and with a series of beach bars to allow you to chill in the water whilst having your drinks, makes for one of the best drinking spots you can dream of
Caye Caulker – a must if in Belize
Wandering the historic city streets of Havana, feeling at times like you’ve been transported back to the old colonial Spanish capital yet with an otherworldly feel of being in a country that went on a different tangent to the rest of the world, siping mojitos as you move from one music filled bar to the next and sampling food from restaurants that in any other city would be a highlight for their architecture alone. When you throw in the sheer friendliness and positivity of the locals, Havana, if done the right way, is a truly unique experience and, in my opinion, the best Old Town to visit in Latin America
Luscious green mountains hiding little coffee village gems, treks deep into the jungle to see lost cities, a world-class old colonial town that lets you lose yourself in dreams of pirates and discovery, and a country that has recently / hopefully put a recent history of blood-bloodcurdling violence behind it. Colombia, cracking country to visit
Due to the spread out nature of many of Colombia’s highlights and the slow travel between each, you really need 2-3 weeks to do the place justice and I’ve listed out below which is a great itinerary for 3 weeks
The must see highlights (with links to their individual travel entries) are Hiking the Lost City Trek, Soaking up the Cartagena Old Town and Walking the Valley de Cocora and soaking up Salento. Also cool are hanging out in Tayrona National Park and spending a Couple of days in Medellin riding the cable cars are also cool. Further down the list of classic highlights are Bogota (see Cycle trip around Bogota), which makes sense to visit as you’ll likely fly into there (and its the same distance to the Valley de Cocora as it is from Medellin), and if you have a spare day check out the Guatape Lakes outside of Medellin
Wandering through the historic old town of Cartagena, it’s easy to let your mind wander and think back to the time of discovery, adventure and pirates as you soak up the cobbled streets and stunning architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage site. This, plus some great restaurants, make Cartagena one of the must visit sites of Colombia
Unfortunately, the downside is that it gets super busy with the sheer volume of tourists (I got the impression Cartagena is the #1 choice destination for people’s first visit to Colombia), and some of the most intense number of hawkers I’ve seen anywhere in the world. This also makes some of the plans for trips to the nearby beaches or those islands to the South West not quite the romantic paradise you’d have hoped for
Definitely worth the visit though as Cartagena has to be in the top 5 Old Towns in Latin America
Buenos Aires is one of the premier cites in Latin America and one that feels the most European – certainly has the same feel of a Barcelona or Milan – but with that Argentinian vibe that makes it so captivating. Its my favourite city in South America and in 3 days I’d recommend a combination of getting out and about, whilst giving the time to simply sit back and soak up all going on around you
Make sure you stay in the super cool Palermo, cycle about the key sites and along the North part of the city, and head into the central places like La Catedral to stare gobsmacked at all ages dancing the sensual tango
God I’ve been to Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui for full moon parties and general partying a few times and to be honest its always been a bit of a blur! So this is a very short entry!
My overriding memory though is that the whole experience, whilst getting now very commercialised, is great fun and, if you’re travelling through this part of the world, it is a must. The islands are surrounded by beautiful beaches, food is great, you have endless variety of accommodation options and its is the easiest country to travel in in SE Asia. Main tips:
- Full moon party and half moon parties – the famous Ko Pha Ngan full moon party obvious happens roughly every month, but you do also have the half moon party which can give you an option if your timings don’t work
- Ko Pha Ngan or Ko Samui – I’ve stayed on both Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui for the full moon parties. Whilst Ko Pha Ngan is obviously more convenient, there are heaps of regular boats back to Ko Samui throughout the night and the morning
- Mopeds / taxis – getting around both islands is very easy with the taxis and ubers available, but its also par for the course to drive around on one of the mopeds. Its great fun, just be careful – many of us have the scars from falls from mopeds on these islands!
- The bars and clubs on both islands have the full range from all-above-board to about as sleazy as it gets, so you’re kind of going to have to roll the dice to see what you get . . . and you can usually tell within he first 2 seconds of walking in. The most famous on is Suzie Wong’s (there are now 3 of them right next to each other), which gets a bit of a bad reputation, but I’d say give it a go because, whilst it is a strip joint, you’ll find its quite a tame one and you’ll see many couples in there checking it out for pure curiosity (and staying for several drinks). A good fun place and you can always leave if you don’t like it
A necessity for many who travel to the Philippines via Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila is good for partying and, if you have a spare day waiting for flights, the Fort and Intramuros area is worth checking out. But, bluntly, considering the traffic (up there with the worst anywhere in the world), dirtiness and general lack of any real highlights, I would sack it off and spend your time enjoying some of the other wonderful experiences to be had in the rest of the Philippines. Or, if looking for a big developing South East Asian city to explore, put the likes of Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Yangon, Phnon Penh ahead of Manila
