Sarah is being a lazy bones today, so as usual it’s up to Alan to write the blog. :-P
After our exertions of walking miles and miles and miles yesterday we weren’t really looking forward to a big day today. However, we already had a tour booked so another long, tiring day was on the cards. We started off with some rice bubbles which we had bought in the supermarket last night before going down to the lobby at 10 am to meet Jerry, our tour guide.
He was there waiting for us, so he showed us to our car and driver, who like our previous drivers, didn’t speak a word of English. We took to the streets and began our long drive to a remote, less popular section of the Great Wall. We were going to this particular section because it is much less crowded and in relatively good condition compared with a lot of other parts of the wall. Plus it supposedly has the easiest access. If that was easy access, I wonder what the other sections are like.
After about 90 minutes of driving we pulled into the parking area and started to walk up a rather steep cobblestone path to the cable car which carries people to the top of the mountain. We climbed to stairs to the cable car and clambered in and soon enough we were at the other end.
Once again, we had to climb more staircases until finally we were at the foot of the wall. All that was left now was to negotiate the stone staircase leading onto the wall itself. Easier said than done. The risers on these very steep stairs were huge. It was darn hard to climb but thankfully there were only about a dozen stairs. I was concerned that I’d get up them and not get down and be stuck up there forever. Thankfully I did get back down again.
Sarah’s dad had opted not to make this last little climb, but in hindsight there is no way he could have made it up or back down those stone stairs. Sarah and I did it and bingo, we were on the Great Wall of China.
Naturally, being situated on the top of a mountain, the view was magnificent. I’m sure the colours would be prettier in Autumn, but it was still spectacular. We had to be very careful when near the edge of the wall looking over the side, because there was still some ice leftover from Winter on there and it was extremely hard and slippery.
We could see people walking up an extremely steep section of the wall far in the distance. That looked like very hard work and we were finding the going difficult enough just on the much less steep area that we were on, so we didn’t wander too far in that direction.
The other direction went down a lot of steep stairs. I went down about halfway before returning to Sarah at the top. A few more photos and we were ready to say goodbye to the wall. Back onto the cable car and soon we were back at the bottom. The walk back to the carpark was through the little market stalls. Every time we passed by one, the woman selling stuff would block the path, holding shirts and saying $1 each. That’s too expensive for us so we didn’t buy any.
Our next destination was lunch, at a restaurant just down the road. I suspect a lot of tourist groups get brought here. We had the option of going fishing to catch our own trout for lunch, but we declined. If I wanted to fish I could do it at home.
Jerry did the ordering for us and we ended up with a very tasty sweet and sour trout, pork ribs covered in grass or seaweed or something like that, and beef with green beans, although I’m almost certain that the beans were actually green chillies. A couple of fried rices as well and overall it was a delicious meal.
Back in the car for another hour drive through the deserted mountain roads until we arrived at the Ming Tombs. Also known as the underground palace, this is a tomb built some 600 years ago for some emperor dude and rediscovered in 1956. There’s a long walk from the carpark and then down a heck of a lot of stairs to get into the tomb. There are 3 huge thrones for the emperor and his 2 empresses plus re-creations of the coffins. The originals were destroyed when exposed to the air when the tomb was opened. Wasn’t really interesting to see but Jerry’s stories around the gate and inside the tomb about how the guides talk the very superstitious Chinese into giving money was funny.
Another climb out of the tomb and then we wandered back to the car. On the way, 3 elderly mean asked Jerry something. Apparently one of them had never seen a white man before and wanted to have his photo taken with Sarah’s dad. Either that, or they thought he was Happy Buddha.
We had already chosen not to do the shopping section of our tour. We’re really not big shoppers. We collect magnets and I buy the odd shirt here and there, but that’s about all really.
Our last stop on the way back here was at a place called Sacred Way. It’s a long walkway near the main road lined by huge 600 year old stone statues of military guys and animals. There were probably about 40 statues in all, I’d say. Some of the animals were real, some mythical, and they were in great condition for being so old and exposed to the elements.
So that was the end of our sightseeing for today. We had another hours drive back to our apartment through the heavy Beijing traffic.
On the way back, Jerry handed each of us a questionnaire to fill out rating how good the tour was etc. One question asked “How did you hear about China Guide”, to which Alan answered “My wife found it on the internet”. Very good, Alan. The next question was “Why did you choose China Guide?” To this he answered “I do whatever my wife says or else she beats me with a stick.” Honestly!!!! Jerry did have a good laugh about it though. Not sure whether whoever else reads it will understand his humour.
That was all for today. We’re all rather tired after 2 days of solid walking so we stayed in tonight. We have nothing planned for tomorrow yet and I suspect Sarah’s dad may spend the day here. Sarah and I will probably head out and do some Beijing sightseeing on our own. We have the Olympic site to explore, plus there might be an amusement park nearby worth visiting. But we’ll see in the morning what we feel like doing and also how cold it is. Luckily, today was warm compared to yesterday. Even at the top of the mountain was not unpleasantly cold.
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