The Great Wall of China
The alarm went off at 5:15am, but I had been lying awake since about 4:30am. I was anxious about sleeping in and missing the bus that was set to leave at 6:40am. Our adventure for the day consisted of a 3 hour mini-bus ride to Jinshanling, where we walked up on to and along The Wall to Simatai (booked at the Down Town Backpackers for 185Y ($31). We had were given 5 hours to walk 8km - which sounds like a long time, but The Wall is by no means flat!
Predictably, the road was asian caos. Our driver was very good, though a little daring in his overtaking (especially up the inside in the bicycle lane to overtake a slow truck). We managed to get the front seat, which though a little precarious if we had an accident meant we didn't get car sick. When we arrived we were given 2 tickets that would be checked along the way and sent our our way.
Our instructions before leaving the bus were simple: walk up to The Wall, turn left, walk for 8km passing 31 watch towers, and shortly after the suspension bridge turn right and walk down off the wall to the youth hostel. Despite this, everyone in our group except us went the wrong way - ending up on a shortcut along a road which cut off maybe 1/3 of the walk. We (and a French couple from a different group) headed up the right way and enjoyed a fairly secluded walk along the wall (as documented by about 80 photos and a couple of short movies).
We had been warned to bring food and water, so we were well prepared. We each had hydration packs with 2 litres of water, 500mL of frozen OJ, 2 tuna buns, 1 muffin, 1 banana, and 1 apple, as well as chocolate, nuts and a brownie loaf to share. We did not go hungry or thirsty - though we did enjoy a number of lovely picnic stops and made it through most of the food by the end!
The final thrill was taking a flying fox at the end to get down from The Wall at Simitai. For 35Y (about $6), we got strapped into a climbing harness and clipped onto a wire that ran down across a dam. It actually didn't go as fast as I though it might, but it was a cool way to end the day...ignoring the remaining 3 hour bus ride home.
Having made it back to the 'Jing we made a bee-line for the massage place and had another awesome Foot Massage (which lasts an hours and includes soaking your feet, having a neck and back massage, then feet and legs) for 38Y ($6).
After a shower and change, we ambled down the end of Gabe's street for a simple bowl of noodles and beer (28Y for three of us, $4.5)...and an extra 5Y for some skewered meat with a cucumber and peanut appetizer (the latter being a common and very tasty dish).
Predictably, the road was asian caos. Our driver was very good, though a little daring in his overtaking (especially up the inside in the bicycle lane to overtake a slow truck). We managed to get the front seat, which though a little precarious if we had an accident meant we didn't get car sick. When we arrived we were given 2 tickets that would be checked along the way and sent our our way.
Our instructions before leaving the bus were simple: walk up to The Wall, turn left, walk for 8km passing 31 watch towers, and shortly after the suspension bridge turn right and walk down off the wall to the youth hostel. Despite this, everyone in our group except us went the wrong way - ending up on a shortcut along a road which cut off maybe 1/3 of the walk. We (and a French couple from a different group) headed up the right way and enjoyed a fairly secluded walk along the wall (as documented by about 80 photos and a couple of short movies).
We had been warned to bring food and water, so we were well prepared. We each had hydration packs with 2 litres of water, 500mL of frozen OJ, 2 tuna buns, 1 muffin, 1 banana, and 1 apple, as well as chocolate, nuts and a brownie loaf to share. We did not go hungry or thirsty - though we did enjoy a number of lovely picnic stops and made it through most of the food by the end!
The final thrill was taking a flying fox at the end to get down from The Wall at Simitai. For 35Y (about $6), we got strapped into a climbing harness and clipped onto a wire that ran down across a dam. It actually didn't go as fast as I though it might, but it was a cool way to end the day...ignoring the remaining 3 hour bus ride home.
Having made it back to the 'Jing we made a bee-line for the massage place and had another awesome Foot Massage (which lasts an hours and includes soaking your feet, having a neck and back massage, then feet and legs) for 38Y ($6).
After a shower and change, we ambled down the end of Gabe's street for a simple bowl of noodles and beer (28Y for three of us, $4.5)...and an extra 5Y for some skewered meat with a cucumber and peanut appetizer (the latter being a common and very tasty dish).
posted by dan at 11:19 AM
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