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Published: December 1st 2007
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The Great Wall - Absolutely Brilliant
Okay so as usual I will give you a rundown on the previous night’s events. As is the case the night started with some beers in one of the common lounge/computer rooms with a few people. I met a guy from Melbourne last night, it was his first night in the hostel, so we had a bit of a hcat about old times which was nice. We all headed over to the Mulim restaurant and gorged ourselves on naan, shasliks, spicy cucumber and more beers for a total price of 15 yuan each = $2AUD. Very good food and bloody great value. I am hoping that it is a taste of things to come as I move West through China and into the Stans.
Back to the hostel and passed the mini mart that has “everything at a super cheap price” where we bought some super cheap beers and some disgusting Chinese alcohol called Baijou which is like 50%!a(MISSING)lcohol. It is made from rice and has a very earthy, dirty taste to it. Not highly recommended by me. We played some pool and before we knew it the time was 2am and
Ryan and I had to be up at 630am to get ready for our Great Wall tour as Ryan had managed to get the last two places in the tour for us earlier in the afternoon. So off to bed.
Woke up very early, very tired and again with a sore throat. More disgusting powder. Grabbed some brekky and my big puffy jacket and we headed down to the other hostel which runs the tour. The tour only took 10 people so we had a shitty little minibus with no suspension and a driver who liked to break at the very last minute so the 3 hour drive from Beijing was quite fun. We passed tourist stop after tourist stop along the Great Wall, seeing buses and buses and then when you thought that was it, another carpark full of buses. We drove on passed them all watching the countryside change and getting more remote. We drove down this tiny little road into a tiny little village in a valley, dwarfed by the mounains that surrounded it, and we got out of the minbus and the wind was absolutely freezing. It was so much colder than Beijing and easily
the coldest I have felt it here in China so far. Then we met our guide who I think lived in the village, an old guy who spoke no English and walked with a bit of a limp and he motioned or us to begin our climb up one of the mountains, looking at it and them looking at him I wasn't so sure he would make it but we started to climb and he followed at a slower pace. At first we couldn't see the Great Wall but then it slowly came into view and got closer as we kept climbing and climbing. When we arrived it was fantastic, here we were ten travellers and an old Chinese man, standing on an unrestored part of the Great wall as both sides of it snaked their way up massive mountains, and no one else in sight. Pure Brilliance.
We spent the next 2 - 2.5 hours walking along the Wall, taking a crazy amount of photos and all remarking how unbelievable we thought it was that the Chinese actually built the damn thing. I mean there are many brancehs of the Wall, built over different periods of Chinese rule
and if you add them all together the total length would exceed 50,000kms. On the flight over here from melbourne I watched an episode of Pilot Guides (a UK travel show aimed at backpackers) and the presenter said that a guy walked the length of the Great Wall and it took him 3 years!
Anyway, after walking on the wall we headed back down to the village and hopped back on the bus and headed to te place where we were going to have lunch, Lunch was good, vegetarian dishes that were very tasty, plus a couple of beers as per usual. Lunch was fun, especially once the guy from South Africa started a heated debate with a girl from the UK about the situation in South Africa, I have come to realise that South Africans are the most passionate people when it comes to their country: he was a very interesting bloke. After we had finished lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed back to Beijing and once back at the hostel I was off for a nap.
Dinner was Beijing duck with Ryan as he missed out the other day, although Rogellio (I found
out how to spell his name) said that the Mongolian hot pot restaurant that they went to tonight was really good, so that might be tomorrow’s dinner.
Currently, I am sitting in the lounge/computer room chatting to two Israeli girls, two brazillian guys, a Mexican, a couple of Americans and a guy from Hong Kong - truly mutlicultural. We are all just sitting here chilling, having a couple of beers and swapping travelling stories. Good times. Because I am sitting here in the computer room I don't have my camera at the moment so unfortunately no photos at the moment but they will definitely be uploaded tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, going to some market in the mornig which is on only during the weekends from dawn until 12 so I guess I have to get up really early to make it there. Also planning on doing the Tenple of Heaven and some shopping at the Silk Market before I head to Xian on Monday.
Thanks for the comments and thanks for reading!!
Finally, a word from Uncy Mao about the Great Wall: "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man." -
Chairman Mao.
Back soon.
Matt out
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trish v
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A True Man!!
Wow - even reading about your Great Wall trip made it feel fantastic, so can only imagine what it must have been like for you actually being there! All these awesome things in such a short space of time - what does the rest of the trip hold??!!!