Going Solo.

I often have trouble getting friends to commit to a destination, price, or time off for a trip! If I waited to find friends for trips, I'd be staying home way too much! I decided years ago not to stay home if I had no one to travel with, and have gone on numerous trips alone ever since.

Actually, my two week trip to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong & Macau started with four friends. Three days into the trip, three friends had to get back to India for some urgent work (which never really was that alarmingly urgent, as they found later) and I decided to go solo! All my friends thought I was crazy to continue alone, that too abroad!

In the words of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart --- “They can take our cheap double rooms, but they can never take our freedom!” –-- Well, it went something like that, anyway. The liberty that one ultimately achieves from solo travel cannot be underestimated. Unfettered and free to go where you want, when you want. You don’t have to deal with someone else's mood swings, nor they with yours! No debates, no compromises. Amen to that!

By its very nature, traveling solo will also play a key role in your own personal development. Not only does the solo traveler have greater time to reflect and learn more about themselves, but this obligatory self reliance will engender a great personal confidence as you learn just how much you are capable of achieving. The element of risk and exploration on your own leaves you with a sense of achievement and tests your street-smart quotient or the lack of it. The best part is that the experience is all yours.

To some, the thought of setting off into the unknown with little more than the pack on your back and a good book for company may sound like purgatory, but not for me. Traveling alone can get addictive. It takes guts and open-mindedness to explore the world in a way that is uniquely you!

No other place in the world like Macau.

Actually when I made my itinerary I didn't include Macau. I was supposed to go to Hong Kong from Bangkok. The flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong was costing me $375+ and I found a ridiculously low fare of $200+ from Bangkok to Macau, with that kind of price differential I enthusiastically added this interesting destination to my itinerary as I can always catch a high-speed ferry across to Hong Kong by paying $15+ only.

Under Portuguese administration Macau flourished as a trading port until the British establishment of Hong Kong in 1841 forced Macau into a long decline as the English began dominating regional trade. Mirroring the recent history of Hong Kong, in 1999 Macau was given back to China and they made it a SAR (Special Administrative Region) allowing the Macanese to retain a great deal of autonomy over their affairs (except defense and foreign policy). So like Hong Kong, Macau also has its own government, currency, passports, postal system, etc., The entire territory of Macau is just about covering 17 sq km only.

After completing the immigration and withdrawing some Patacas (local currency) for the day, I headed out to discover Macau (You can get a map of Macau at the Tourist Information Counter at the airport). At the airport, most of the hotels offer a free shuttle bus service every 30 min; I took the shuttle service of Grand Emperor Hotel. On the way to the destination it was as if I was traveling 6000 miles back west and into Europe. The architecture is very Portuguese and fantastic. Macau is, I think, a bit of an anomaly within China. Due to the Portuguese influence of the city, it has a very Mediterranean feel. Some areas of the city feel more Portuguese than Lisbon! Large plazas, Portuguese influenced architecture and lots of catholic churches with a cool laid-back atmosphere. Then, in the other half of the city, there are exact replicas of massive Vegas casinos like the Wynn Macau, The Sands, Venetian and the MGM Grand. It's a weird and crazy dichotomy.

Most of the people here cannot speak English and they aren’t helpful if you have a question! If you take taxis in Macau and don't speak the language, a map with pictures helps. Showing the driver pictures of the location is much better than trying to give street names!

One will find a huge water fountain near the casino district that gives a performance four or five times a day set to music and lights. And, even odder, near the harbour, where most people arrive from Hong Kong, is a volcano and roman-themed amusement park / amphitheater / convention centre / monstrosity. Because of the Portuguese establishment, there are old fortresses, churches, temples and gardens to tour. Macau Tower, Moorish Barracks, A-Ma Temple, Lotus Square, Dom Pedro V Theatre, Guia Fortress, Cheoc Van Beach, Hác-Sá Beach, Leal Senado Square are must see places. The ruins of St Paul’s, which is the main photo opportunity in Macau is a building which was totally destroyed apart from the façade, but it still looks very very impressive. There are stairs up to the windows and I decided to climb them to see what the view was like, it was just breathtaking. There are over a dozen museums to see, including the Museum of Macau, the Maritime Museum, the Wine Museum, the Grand Prix Museum, and the Handover Gifts Museum. The Macau Tower, at 338m tall, is definitely worth a visit. This is currently the 10th tallest tower in the world and they have certainly catered for the thrill seeking market. There were banners all around boasting of the "worlds highest skydive"! I did however go up to the observation deck. Good views all round and an incredibly scary, at least for me, glass floor that lets you see the drop straight down. I'm not the best with heights, I found it pretty terrifying standing on a thin layer of glass that high above the ground. The bridges linking the five islands of Macau are to be admired. Every year, around November, the Macau Grand Prix car and motorcycle races happen.

Everything is mostly within walking distance (if you like walking!). You will be told by most people in Macau when you ask for directions to places, "ooh, that's a long way to walk...you should take a taxi!" when it will be around 10-15 minutes walk away!

There is much development underway in Macau, and I am sure this development will soon bring even more visitors. Many hotels, casinos, resorts and convention centers are currently being built. These developments are being planned by combinations of world class hotel chains and major Las Vegas casinos, so they are bound to be impressive. The goal of the developers is to turn Macau into an international destination for resorts and casinos, and you’ll often hear the term ‘Asia’s Las Vegas’.

I ended up going to a couple of different casinos in Macau, everyone here is pretty serious into gambling. Just a lot of people with some serious money to gamble. I think this helps to explain why last year Macau actually surpassed Las Vegas in terms of the amount of money earned from gambling despite less people coming to Macau to gamble vs Vegas. Even more impressive is that there are only about forty casinos in Macau currently. For non-gamblers there is nothing much in the casinos.

Macau may not be as well known as Las Vegas or other world cities but I can guarantee there is no place in the world like Macau!

A lot of useful information is available on Macau’s official tourism website http://www.macautourism.gov.mo