Latin
words “Carpe” means “enjoy, seize or make use of” and “Diem” means “day”, with this
motto in mind, I set for my long awaited trip to South East China.
I
felt a mélange of emotions as I sat in the cab: Apprehensive, as it was my
first solo tour abroad, Anxious, to know who are the unknown people I will be
exploring an unfamiliar place with, Worried, as I would be leaving my dear ones
at home for a long time and Excited as the day had come to witness and
experience a new world.
The reporting
time was 10:30, we reached the airport one hour prior, due to miscalculation of
time. However, it gave me some time to grab a bite as I had scarcely eaten a
meal that day, due to the last minute packing and trip arrangements. The tour
organizers with whom I was going with, organise tours exclusively for ladies. These
ladies fall under the following categories: “Grey hair, Green hearts” or “I
want to break free” or “”Single women travelers”. One feeling that gathered us
here was our love for traveling. While I was waiting for the others to arrive, I
got acquainted with two of my fellow travelers, although my eyes kept searching
for the girl who would be my room mate.
It
was ten thirty, our tour executives handed us our air tickets and some munchies
and bidding a final goodbye to our family we began our voyage. Lugging along
the two stroller bags and completing all the formalities, I set out to the
waiting area. The waiting area looked like a mini dormitory, with a lot of
travelers having a siesta. More fellow passengers started pouring in, I spent
my time conversing with the two fellow passengers, who shared their previous travel
experiences with this tour operator.
The
flight was a five and a half hour journey, catching a sound sleep was in vain due
to the freezing temperature and not so comfortable seats. Still I managed to
catch a few winks. It was ten in the morning when we reached the Hongkong
International Airport. As I walked into the airport, I felt enthralled being in
a new place and seeing new faces around. The airport was humongous and sparkling.
Our
first stay was at Macau, after lunch in Hongkong, we were to take a jet foil to
Macau. To get to the jet foil we had to go through a herculean task, the port
had huge passages and a number of escalators to climb down and what made it
challenging were the huge bags we were traveling with. After a few mishaps, minor
cuts and bruises we managed to board the jet foil on time.
Floating
over the pristine waters of the South China Sea, we reached Macau. A bus took
us to Venetian, one of the best hotels in Macau. Macau is a gamblers paradise,
it has got a chain of high class luxury hotels which we saw on our way to
Venetian. The hotels looked splendid with the unusual colorful light works and
billboards with motion pictures. Venetian was one such magnum opus. It was a huge
edifice with each corner very well crafted. Each room was 750 sq metre, with
lavish space and exquisite interiors. After changing into our party clothes, we
headed for a scrumptious meal and for exploring the interiors of Venetian
further. Inside Venetian, there were many artificial lanes created which had
many flamboyant restaurants, sophisticated shops, ponds and bridges. Each lane was
wonderfully decorated, welcoming Christmas eve. What was unique was all the
lanes had a ceiling which resembled the sky at night, so one would get a
feeling that its night even if its broad day light outside. It is something to
see in person.
Day
2 in Macau we visited a few famous sites, one was “A MA Temple” a Buddhist
temple and another was the St. Paul Cathedral Church. The other main highlight
of Macau other than Venetian was the observatory deck, one of the tallest
building which is at an altitude of 338 meters. It was a delight to have a
panoramic view of the entire city of Macau, from this deck. We stood on a floor
which was fitted with glass flooring through
which we could see the ground beneath, few ladies were terrified to even step
on this floor. For people with an adrenaline rush, there were activities like
bungee jumping, sky walking and many others. Although, due to constraint of
time, we couldn’t indulge in any of them. With some sweet memories, we bid
adieu to Macau.
 |
| The glass floor on top of the "Observatory Deck" |
Macau
to Shenzen was again in the jet foil, it was also the only journey in the entire trip where I had a sound sleep,
feeling all rejuvenated for Shenzen. We reached Shenzen by early evening. After
resting for a bit, we went to “Louohu Market” a place you get anything under
the Sun and it is an apt place for bargain hunters. It was a different
experience, firstly, as I was shopping
alone in a place where people don’t understand English and secondly, although I
don’t possess the skills of bargaining, it was quite easy here.
Next
two days in Shenzen, we visited two theme parks. One of the theme park was
called “Overseas Chinese Town East”. It is at an altitude of 400 meters and is
freezing cold. A spectacular theme resort which is a culmination of natures
beauty and man-made artifacts – like waterfalls, adventure rides, fancy
cottages, monuments, statues, live human statues etc. It is an absolute camera
friendly place, in fact one highlight of the place is that couples come here
with their wedding outfits to be clicked at various scenic spots with different
artistic and creative poses. Another theme park we visited in Shenzen was “Windows
of the world “. It doesn’t take 80 days to travel around the world, at Windows
of the world it takes just one day. It has miniatures or replicas of all the wonders
Hongkong is a highly civilized place. It is the only place among the other two places where the local people can speak English. When you are in Hongkong you cannot return without a trip to the “Disneyland”. Our visit to Disneyland unleashed the kid in all of us. We witnessed the Disney Parade where all the fairy tale and cartoon characters came to live, sat on some thrilling rides and watched some exquisite performances and 3 dimensional shows. The cherry on the cake was that our funfilled day ended watching breathtaking fireworks splashing over the dark night, to the sound of music. It was indeed a day worth ruminating over. In our last destination, we also visited the Madame Tussuads museum, the local shopping area and the “Repulse Bay” – which is a beach surrounded by buildings inhabited by the rich, much alike our waterfronts in Mumbai. Speaking of Mumbai, as it is said “Home is where the heart is”, my heart was longing to return home with a baggage full of wonderful memories and an enriched self confidence. Although, my thirst for traveling and exploring the Earth remains insatiable, a lesson learnt from the trip was “Do it when you have the strength and energy, don’t push it for “Someday”.
Ashwini
Joshi
