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Published: April 5th 2010
My Good Friends
From left to right: Lavinia, Dou, Danbo, Wei, Ming, Amy and ShunApril 5, 2010
My new friends and I went to the Great Wall today. This is something I’ve wanted to do for such a very long time. I had it on my ‘list’. I have a list of all the places I want to travel to and visit in my lifetime. This was in the top 10. Amy, Lavinia, Dou, Wei, Ming, and Wei picked Danbo and I up at our hotel in a rented van. The drive took about an hour up into the mountains I mentioned in an earlier blog. They are very similar to the mountain around Salt Lake City. They are very tall and impressive, but sparsely covered with vegetation. The morning was misty and cool. . .a good thing because the section of the Great Wall we were going to visit is incredibly steep. On the way up we all chatted excitedly about our impending adventure. Lavinia offered me a hard candy made of the stinky fruit, durian, that I’d tried before in a dessert. About 1 minute after sucking on it, I decided that was the last stinky fruit candy I’d ever eat! I think it must be an acquired taste. I’ll bring some
Modern Stone Mural
This is at the front entrance of the Wall depicting the warriors of the era in which the Great Wall was built. back to San Diego for those of you brave enough to try one (Jim!).
After buying our entry tickets we began our climb. The wall wound itself up the mountain ridge with watch towers set along the way. These were used not only to protect the soldiers as they shot arrows down at invading armies, but also to light large signal fires to warn of attack. The Wall was crowded with tons and tons of visitors today because of the holiday. I thought it was so interesting to see all the different tourists from all over China. There were organized tour groups and families as well. There were only a handful of Westerners (this was the same as the day before at the Forbidden City). I think summer is a more popular time to visit these destinations. Because there were so few Westerners, I became something of a celebrity both days. I had people coming up to me and asking if I would pose with them for some pictures. It was fun and it was nice to feel so popular. Yesterday one girl even asked me if I would be her pen pal. I told her yes and introduced
myself, “Hello my name is Wendy”. She got a very confused look on her face so Sun (Sophia) told her what I said in Chinese. The girl laughed and laughed. . .it turns out her American name is Wendy too!
Back to our climb up the wall. We had decided to climb to the highest watch tower on the mountain. It was a good thing that it was a cool day. I can only imagine how difficult the hike would have been if it had been hot like the day before. The way up consisted of sections of steps and steep smooth areas, about a 45 degree angle (those were real fun to come down on the way back. . .note my voice is dripping with sarcasm. I teased the group that I was going to slide down them on my backside!). The views on the way up were simply spectacular. We could see other sections of the Wall stretching out along other ridge tops. One day maybe I will come back and spend an entire day hiking a long section of the Wall. But today the section we walked was long enough! I was pleasantly surprised to see
View of the Great Wall
This is the view of the climb we were going to do. We planned to go up to the tower in the misty distance. how much my marathon training had improved my endurance. I wasn’t breathing any harder than my friends (who are all a lot younger) and I didn’t need any more breaks than they did. I was really proud of how smoothly the climb went for me.
It’s funny. While we were descending the Wall, I recalled that when I was in my early 20s that I absolutely hated, hated, hated exercise. I clearly remember telling my friends at the time (who all loved to hike, bike, etc) that life was too short to do anything you didn’t like, so I was never going to exercise again. I laugh as I think back on my attitude now. A lot has changed. I enjoy being outside and working up a good sweat. And boy oh boy did I get sweaty today!
Alright. . .I’m tired and I have a long day ahead of me. Take care my good friends and my wonderful family!
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Camha Nguyen
non-member comment
Awesome pictures.
I am glad that you are having a wonderful time. Are you going to stay for 2 months instead of 3 weeks now? :) It seems like your trip turn out to be an awesome experience. Have fun! Should have stay longer because you don't get this kind of opportunity any time soon. love, camha