Macau makes a great day-trip from Hong Kong and believe it or
not, there is even hiking. Of course, if it's your only trip to Macau, you might
want to spend more time walking around the city because is it lovely for walking
and there's a lot to see. But even so, a trip to Coloane Island is very
worthwhile to get a glimpse of pre-gambling Macau and some real Portuguese
flavour.
Getting there: Most foreign nationals need just a valid
passport to enter Macau. Jetfoil and catamaran service is frequent and
convenient from Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan or from China Hong Kong City in
Tsimshatsui. On Sundays, you're advised to buy a return ticket because you'll be
traveling in the weekend gamblers' rush hour.
Once you've arrived in Macau, visit the Tourist Information
centre in the terminal where you can pick up the standard tourist map so that
you can find the destination names for what you cannot read on the map above.
You can also ask them to write your destinations in Chinese. Most taxi drivers
won't recognize the English names for hiking destinations.
You'd think that the Tourist Centre might have these hiking maps
available, but they don't. I'd recommend taking your own copy of the one posted
here.
The Hiking: As you can see from the map above, there is
one general area for hiking in Macau but there are many different options within
that area. The trails are well-labeled, there are no 'hard bits' apart from a
few steep steps, and you can quickly get to a road to flag a taxi or mini-bus if
necessary. When we went last time, we tried to make the hike as long as
possible. We started at Seac Pai Van Park (the yellow-green area on the map
above), wondered around until we found the trail that links with the Coloane
Trail and then basically followed the trails counter-clockwise taking as many
trails as possible, and with a detour to see the Amah Goddess on the road at the
top of the hill. We then circled the smaller reservoir and then walked along the
long Hac Sa Beach towards our final destination, Fernando's Portuguese
Restaurant at Hac Sa. The whole hike took about 3 hours.
The Eating: There are many excellent Portuguese
Restaurants in Macau but Fernando's is an institution. It's a medium-sized open
air restaurant serving casual, high quality Macanese food. When I go I always
order the salad and bread (I'm already happy with just that), the clams, the
garlic prawns, some chorizo, sardines and sangria. Others also swear by the beef
steak, roast chicken and fijuada. If you arrive at peak hours on the
weekends, you may have to wait awhile in the bar/garden area sipping wine and
eating snacks before you can get a table. Watch out, because it is closed one
day a week, but I'm not sure which one. Also, no credit cards but they do take
HK cash.
For an extra treat, stop by the centre of Coloane Village on the
way back to the city to pick up some fresh Portuguese egg tarts at Lord Stowe's.
