In 1962 the gambling industry started under a government-issued monopoly license. This monopoly ended in 2002 and several casino operators from Las Vegas entered the market. The first was the Sands Macao in 2004 and after that the Wynn Macau in 2006. Later giant buildings like The Venetian, the MGM Grand Macau and the Galaxy Cotai Megaresort followed.

Gambling revenue has made Macau the world’s top casino market, surpassing Las Vegas.

At night the city really comes to life with all the colors and lights.

Macau – Cotai

The culture, food and architecture is a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese. There a lot of historic streets, places and buildings which you can visit easily by a unhurried walk.

Macau Walk

Some of the famous buildings are the International Commerce Center (484m), The Center with its night-time multi-colored neon light show , the HSBC Building or the Central Plaza with its triangular top.

The images were taken from the Kowloon side so we faced Hong Kong Island from the front. There is another famous point to shoot the skyline and this is on The Peak. From there you have the back of the skyline but because of the height this view is also very impressive. I will post these pictures in a later article.

The weather was not that good this evening and there was almost no clear sky. But after the long exposure I used I have to say the clouds on the images look very interesting. One can see the movement and change of direction as they bend round the high structures.

Causeway Bay and Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong

In 1992, the First Lei Yue Mun Seafood Festival was jointly organized by several seafood restaurants, and its success has made it an annual event.

Lei Yue Mun Trip

The garden is built in the Tang Dynasty style (618 AD to 907 AD). Hills, rocks, ponds, plants and trees are arranged according to the Tang style and rules. It is a tranquil place surrounded by skyscrapers and roads.

The Chi Lin Nunnery is a Buddhist temple complex and also built in the Tang Dynasty style. It was built without any iron nails and uses special interlocking systems cut into the wood to hold everything in place.

There is no entry fee and a must-see if you visit Hong Kong.

Chi Lin Nunnery, Nan Lian Garden Trip

The markets are also known as “The Fab Five” and consist of The Ladies Market, Fa Yuen Street, Goldfish Street, Bird Market and the Flower Market. But the side streets and areas like Nelson Street (which I liked best) are also very exciting. We spent quite some time there to browse and take pictures of this local market life.

Hong Kong Markets Trip

We visited the St. Francis Church which is the oldest European Church in India. The body of Vasco da Gama (he discovered the sea route from Europe to India) was originally buried in this church.

Kochi was a fishing village and you can see a lot of Chinese Fishing Nets near the shore. They are shore operated lift nets. They are mostly found in the state of Kerala.

Huge mechanical contrivances hold out horizontal nets of 20 m or more across. Each structure is at least 10 m high and comprises a cantilever with an outstretched net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes as counterweights at the other end. Each installation is operated by a team of up to six fishermen. (Wikipedia)

And of course there are always a lot of birds near the nets to catch the fish before the fisherman gets it’s hand on them.

Kochi Trip

From the hotel you can book a lot of different tours to Alappuzha and nearby attractions. We visited Alappuzha to see how carpets are made from coconut fibers and to watch traditional gold smiths while they were melting tiny gold pieces together. Good to see that these traditional crafts still exist.

Marari Beach and Alappuzha

We started our journey directly from the Coconut Lagoon and made our way through the backwaters until evening. We had dinner on the boat near the town Puthanagadi and also stayed during the night there. The food was excellent and our crew very friendly and supportive.

Houseboat and Backwaters Trip