The Great Wall
Pictures: Craig's / Mary's
Oh what a wonder! Words can hardly describe this place and the pictures only provide so much justice. We avoided the tourist trap section of the wall (Badaling), opting instead for a hike from Jinshanling to Simatai. We were rewarded in excess as we walked this 10 km section of the wall, through 30 watchtowers, up and down the steep and stony path. It took us just less than 5 hours to complete the hike (we took our time to enjoy the scenery).
A bus from the hostel took us to the area where our hike was to begin. It took us 3.5 hours to get there. The bus was quite uncomfortable, seats were folded down the middle and had no support above mid-back, making sleep impossible. The drivers here are relentless on their horns - honking when overtaking, being overtaken, about to hit or be hit by another vehicle. The drive there and back were the most unpleasant parts of the trip.
Once released from bus, we had to walk through some bush for half an hour. Along the way, we 'picked up' the locals (rather they attached themselves to us). They decided on their own, that they would follow us to Simatai. For half of the wall, they were very friendly telling us about parts of the wall, counting the towers for us, and pointing out the half way point. When we reached the half way point, their manner changed drastically to that of a pushy sales person. They were trying to sell us t-shirts, drinks, and scroll pictures of the wall. Of course, we wanted none of it; one, because we don't want to carry anymore across the globe than needed and two, because it was souvenir junk. The only thing they provided that was useful, was drinks at nearly every watchtower along the way - which we bought happily. Fortunately, they stopped following us after the half way mark; we can only imagine what the touristy sections are like.
Despite some uncomfortable buses and local hawkers - nothing could overshadow the spectacular views of The Wall and surrounding countryside. It was a great relief to escape the city for a day and enjoy this truly magnificent wonder. According to the Chinese: 不到长城非好汉 "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall."
P.S. You can't see the wall from space; that's an old myth propagated even in textbooks.
History about The Great Wall at Wikipedia
Oh what a wonder! Words can hardly describe this place and the pictures only provide so much justice. We avoided the tourist trap section of the wall (Badaling), opting instead for a hike from Jinshanling to Simatai. We were rewarded in excess as we walked this 10 km section of the wall, through 30 watchtowers, up and down the steep and stony path. It took us just less than 5 hours to complete the hike (we took our time to enjoy the scenery).
A bus from the hostel took us to the area where our hike was to begin. It took us 3.5 hours to get there. The bus was quite uncomfortable, seats were folded down the middle and had no support above mid-back, making sleep impossible. The drivers here are relentless on their horns - honking when overtaking, being overtaken, about to hit or be hit by another vehicle. The drive there and back were the most unpleasant parts of the trip.
Once released from bus, we had to walk through some bush for half an hour. Along the way, we 'picked up' the locals (rather they attached themselves to us). They decided on their own, that they would follow us to Simatai. For half of the wall, they were very friendly telling us about parts of the wall, counting the towers for us, and pointing out the half way point. When we reached the half way point, their manner changed drastically to that of a pushy sales person. They were trying to sell us t-shirts, drinks, and scroll pictures of the wall. Of course, we wanted none of it; one, because we don't want to carry anymore across the globe than needed and two, because it was souvenir junk. The only thing they provided that was useful, was drinks at nearly every watchtower along the way - which we bought happily. Fortunately, they stopped following us after the half way mark; we can only imagine what the touristy sections are like.
Despite some uncomfortable buses and local hawkers - nothing could overshadow the spectacular views of The Wall and surrounding countryside. It was a great relief to escape the city for a day and enjoy this truly magnificent wonder. According to the Chinese: 不到长城非好汉 "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall."
P.S. You can't see the wall from space; that's an old myth propagated even in textbooks.
History about The Great Wall at Wikipedia
posted by Unknown | 11:49 AM
3 Comments:
brilliant! beautiful weather.
hey... how about those awesome yogurt drinks in beijing?? i know everyone drank them every morning when i stayed there.
Hi Craigie and Mary
so nice to see the photos of your trip so far and to hear of your travels. sounds like you are having a spectacular experience and thanks for sharing all is well here look forward to having you back here. also look forward to the rest of your trip hopefully we will get to talk to you before too long
love forever and always
mommy and daddy
Matt, is that what's in those little ceramic containers?
Thanks ma and pa, everyday we know we're getting closer to being home...though we're enjoying 'the ride' :)
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