Once I went to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, a breathtaking view of 700 ft cliffs on the Atlantic. I bring that up on a blog about The Great Wall of China because, like that day in Ireland, the fog was so heavy at the Great Wall that we didn’t get to see the whole vista.
Having said that, it was one of the most unbelievable experiences ever! The 6:40 AM tour bus took us to a small hostel where we had breakfast, picked up some more travelers and headed off for the 2 hour trip to the Wall. We knew that it was expected to be raining but when you have 2 days in a place, you stick with the plan. Our tour guide “Cactus” was a lovely young woman who spoke rather too quickly to be understandable. But she gave us the “history of the Great Wall for Dummies” lecture on the way there.
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| 🎶A Foggy Day in China Town🎶 |
Our group was a mixed lot mostly from Europe, a few Americans and a Brazilian who was traveling home from Burma. Of course being the last to jump onto the bus (and when I say bus, I mean glorified mini van for 13 passengers,) we got to squeeze down the back to the bench seat along with a grumpy Pakistani guy from Pittsburgh and his Chinese escort. Why do I say she was an escort? Here are some clues - she served his food, they barely spoke and she wore spike heeled boots the The Great Wall of China. I rest my case!
Of course I had read up on the where we were going The Mutianyu site, less crowded then the traditional Badaling site that most tourist go to. The reviews were great, but I was a little nervous about the cable car ride up, which one Trip Advisor traveller described as “scary” Of course that was all I needed to read and I was pre-scared when we got there. First let me say that the best way to experience the Great Wall is to be a 25 year old mountain-climbing marathoner. Which some of the people from our bus seemed to be, excepting a few key figures. The escort, the Pakistani, the subjects of this blog and maybe the Brazilian.
Of course I had read up on the where we were going The Mutianyu site, less crowded then the traditional Badaling site that most tourist go to. The reviews were great, but I was a little nervous about the cable car ride up, which one Trip Advisor traveller described as “scary” Of course that was all I needed to read and I was pre-scared when we got there. First let me say that the best way to experience the Great Wall is to be a 25 year old mountain-climbing marathoner. Which some of the people from our bus seemed to be, excepting a few key figures. The escort, the Pakistani, the subjects of this blog and maybe the Brazilian.
The climb to the ticket office was enough of a challenge for me and my knees. It was rainy and chilly and the Pakistani had on a sweatshirt and no umbrella, so Svend gave him his own umbrella.
The choice was a 45 minute steep and wet hike up to the Wall or a five minute cable car ride, which suddenly seemed less scary. There was an uphill climb to the cable car, however there was an elevator for handicapped, old, pregnant, American and Swedish people. How lucky was that? An added benefit of the fog was I was less scared on the ride above the trees.
OK, so now after a few steps to climb, we are at the base of The Great Wall of China! Seriously cool! We get a few photo opportunities and then the tour guide said, “OK, here’s the real stairs to the Wall, see you in a few hours.” We were then faced with a real flight of steep, uneven, wet stone, 500 year old steps. It was a challenge, but certainly doable - one step at a time. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, right? So now we are really, truly, 100% “on the wall” Foggy as it was everyone was pumped, taking pictures, chatting with each other, - selfie sticks were everywhere. Of course we immediately run into a group of Swedes and Danes, a group that worked for the United Nations. My friend Elsie and I always joke that wherever you go in the world, you run into Danes and Swedes and this proves it.
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| This man looks suspiciously like Genghis Khan trying to sneak into China |
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| Ancient Graffiti - Mongols go home! |
Needless to say it was an awesome day, rain, fog, and all.
We went far enough to feel we "experienced" the Great Wall of China" which means to two of the guard towers. One of which we had to turn around and walk backwards down the slippery steep stairs. Overall the Chinese Great Wall builders intentionally made the stairs uneven so that any invading enemies would be thrown off and therefore easier to catch. They apparently didn't give a hoot about "mature" tourists in the 21st century.
They also angled the wall toward the Chinese side and added drainage so all water would go into China. Very clever, but my understanding is that Genghis Khan conquered most of China, a minor point.
Needless to say we were among the first back to the warm restaurant for the included lunch, although the man from Philly and the escort with high heeled boots did beat us. We sat and chatted for a while and thawed out as the marathoners trickled in. Of course I admired and envied them, but the report was, the other 7 gates that some of them got to were pretty similar to the 2 we made so we didn't feel we missed anything we needed to experience.
So the lunch was fine, the ride back was quiet due to the exhaustion of many of the traveller. Traffic in Beijing is crazy (like many of the other places we inhabit) And we returned to the Chinese Faulty Towers quite happy with our adventure.
We went far enough to feel we "experienced" the Great Wall of China" which means to two of the guard towers. One of which we had to turn around and walk backwards down the slippery steep stairs. Overall the Chinese Great Wall builders intentionally made the stairs uneven so that any invading enemies would be thrown off and therefore easier to catch. They apparently didn't give a hoot about "mature" tourists in the 21st century.They also angled the wall toward the Chinese side and added drainage so all water would go into China. Very clever, but my understanding is that Genghis Khan conquered most of China, a minor point.
Needless to say we were among the first back to the warm restaurant for the included lunch, although the man from Philly and the escort with high heeled boots did beat us. We sat and chatted for a while and thawed out as the marathoners trickled in. Of course I admired and envied them, but the report was, the other 7 gates that some of them got to were pretty similar to the 2 we made so we didn't feel we missed anything we needed to experience.
So the lunch was fine, the ride back was quiet due to the exhaustion of many of the traveller. Traffic in Beijing is crazy (like many of the other places we inhabit) And we returned to the Chinese Faulty Towers quite happy with our adventure.
