The Great Wall/Wail

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Saturday is here Bob and Nadia and Carlo are all free of responsibility and able to join us on the great adventure,The enbassy vehicle and driver have been conscripted/hired for out excursion to the Great Wall.Ann makes a quick cycle to the tailor to get her new jacket.It is lovely and everyone is pleased. After breakfast we load into the van and head off to the Wall.The drive is about an hour and a half.We have chosen to go to a place the guide books say is less of a tourist scene.Our driver is a little unclear near the end about the route but after a couple of passing opinions and the views of a group of navigators sitting around infront of a bar/restaurant we see signs for the Great wall and are back on track.The approach to the Wall is the first clue that we are not Neil Armstrong putting the first footsteps on the soil and the road becomes more and more an attraction.Restaurants and bars ,women standing on the road waving you into their favourite place. Also along the road are vendors on the side of the road selling nuts and vegtables.Walnuts,chesnuts and other things unidentified. The parking lot is full when we arrive,busses along the road and cars in the lot.The approach to the cable car which is our choice of conveyance is a line of souvenir shops and hawkers.As we pass and ignore they call out "you come back".Ann and I share a pancake thing made with a pancake and egg mixture rolled around some shallots and some sort of sweet honeycomb pastry,sort of a mille feuilles.We paid far too much without bargaining as we learned later in the day. The ascent to the wall is by cable car or chair lift ,your choice.We rode up and arrived in bright sunshine.The wall is great,absolutely well named. It was not as crowded as one would think with Wallers of various nationality walking along with us.It really is amazing snaking over the mountains.Much of what we walked has been reconstructed but still amazing. There were people hiking up the mountain side to the wall and arrived with great yelling and cheering.Bob Nadia and Carlo went to the end a loooooooong climb up very steep steps.Ann and I settled in the sunshine greeting wallers and being greeted. The Wall is beautiful and powerful and everything you may have heard about it.One of the great wonders of the world.
The sunshine was strong and it was warm and when the three muscateers walked down to us they were beat.We all headed down together through the vendors who shouted "I remember you" it was old home week on the wall.I bought a Polo shirt for 5 dollars.probably a knock off but who cares. The drive back was long with traffic of rush hour slowing us down. A shower puts us back on track and we are off for hot pot.

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