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Published: June 11th 2008
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Up bright and early today, as we had a 9am pick-up for the Great Wall, so we had ‘breakfast’ in the hotel. One thing to beware in the hotels is that their ‘Western-style’ breakfast might not be what you expect. They seem to overcook everything for some reason, and I missed my tea too. Dan was sceptical of the scrambled egg too, but I gambled on it. On completing breakfast, we headed to a tiny supermarket that was only a short stroll out of the hotel. If only, I’d known about this on the Sunday and Monday, I’d have eaten some decent food instead of junk.
To get to the supermarket we had to walk through the food hall, which was crammed full of every single type of fresh food you could think of, from raw meat (some of which absolutely stunk), to a bakery (I’m sure I saw Danish pastries!). They also had cigarettes, and fruits, and pretty much everything else you could think of. Knowing that the fresh food wouldn’t taste very nice at the Great Wall, after being in a rucksack all day, I just got myself some Chinese crackers, some crisps and some cashew nuts, plus
the essential big bottle of water.
We all met up in the hotel lobby for 9am, where the coach arrived to take us to Mùtiányù, a two-hour, 90-km drive north-east of Běijīng (made two hours by the horrendous traffic leaving the capital city). Marcia gave us an in-depth talk along the way, as we made our way out of the big city, and into the countryside.
We arrive at Mùtiányù late morning, and made our way up the 1,000+ steps up to the Great Wall. There was a cable car that took people up, but we all thought that doing the walk up the steps, like how the workers had, carrying the large stones up to the wall. Thankfully, we didn’t have to carry any bricks, as just walking up all those steps took a lot out of everyone. Especially me! The section of wall we were walking on dated back to the Ming dynasty.
It was much higher than I had thought, but not as wide. It was, however, an amazing sight. On reaching the top, we were greeted with lovely views across the rolling landscape. It was a hazy day, so the views didn’t stretch
Map at the Great Wall
We walked up to point 6, and walked all the way to point 14, where we caught the cable car back down. back as far as we’d hope, but the Great Wall could still be seen, if only as a daunting silhouette in the distance, many miles away.
We walked from sections 6 to 14, stopping every now and then to take photos, video, and to also catch our breath. On arriving at point 14, we found a nice flat, paved area where we could stop for lunch, and just enjoy the fact that we were at one of the Great Wonders of the World.
Some tobogganed back down, some went off to explore a little more, but Dan and I decided it was time to head back down. We got the cable car, which was pretty similar to the one I experienced last year on the journey up to Kuranda. This was a fairly quick descent, and pretty soon we were back on the ground, fighting our way through the persistent street hawkers and traders, trying to sell us the usual tourist rubbish.
Once everyone was back down, we headed back to the hotel in Běijīng. Once back at the hotel, we had a little free time. Dan was out meeting a friend that afternoon, and I just
On the way up
We passed the toboggan ride and the skyrail thing at point 6, on our walk up the 1,000+ steps chilled out for a bit, but the plan was that we may head out in the evening for dinner, and try and get a few of the group along also.
I got to Gulou Dajie, and I think I came out of the north exit, as I was walking around for ages, and didn’t see a lake. It was late at night, and as I walked and walked, I just kept going round in the circles. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I didn’t make it there in time for dinner, so got myself something. However, we finally caught up after dinner, at a place alongside Houhai Lake. Steph and Ros had joined Dan and his mate for dinner, but as I’d missed that, we decided to head on to a bar for some drinks.
We found a nice place, where we could settle for the evening, even though the girls were not impressed with their toilets, which wouldn’t be a rare thing on this trip ahead. It was a nice night, and we even got chatting to a group of lads over from England, one of which from Chelmsford. It was a really nice evening.
Useful sign
Nearly there! On closing time, we got taxis back to the hotel, which was no real hassle.
Houhai:
http://www.Běijīngguide2008.com/qianhai_houhai_shichahai/qianhai_houhai_shichahai_Běijīng.html
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