Saturday, January 26, 2008

Macau

I only spent a few, albeit cold hours in Macau. Air Asia, the discount airline I flew with operates flights out of Macau rather than Hong Kong since they have cheaper taxes and departure fees. So, I boarded a ferry in central Hong Kong and made the one hour trip to the neighboring S.A.R. (Special Administrative Region of China).

Macau, with a population of a bit over 500,000 is much smaller than Hong Kong. I had booked a room in a historic, i.e., run down hotel, but the location was great. Looking to escape from my bleak room, I spent a few hours walking around the city and taking pictures. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold, around 60 degrees and I had left my jacket back in Hong Kong (thinking I wouldn't need it in Bangkok).

Macau is the only location for legal gambling in China and that industry has led to it becoming a popular tourist destination. Macau recently passed Las Vegas as the world's largest gambling center. I actually was staying closer to the older Portugese section of town and not near any of the casinos, but did drive by some of them on the way to the airport, including the newly opened and massive Venetian.

One of the more interesting aspects of Macau to me, is the exchange rate racket. The official currency of Macau is the Pataca, but due to its proximity, Hong Kong dollars are also used and accepted on a one to one basis. In actuality, the Pataca is pegged at a rate slightly under the value of the Hong Kong dollar, so for each HKD you spend in Macau, you lose about 3 cents. An ingenuious plan to take advantage of the weekend crowds coming in from Hong Kong. I even saw a few places that accepted Renminbi on the 1 to 1 exchange rate, which would be even worse considering each RMB should be worth about 1.09 Patacas.

After a cold night in Macau, I was ready to board the plane (from an airport not too much larger than Tallahassee Regional) to reach Bangkok so I could thaw out a bit...

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