Climbing the Wall

Wow, wow, wow. The Great Wall of China is just remarkable. We hired a taxi for the day and the driver took us 90 minutes outside of Beijing to an area of the wall called Mutianyu. From our reading, it seemed like this section of the wall was a little less populated than some of the more tourist-heavy parts, but still in good shape for climbing--and really stunning. The tour books were right. Our reading also warned us that it was likely that our walk on the wall would be Interrupted repeatedly by would-be guides looking to lead us for a few RMB, souvenir and postcard sellers, or food and water vendors. We'd run into this at The Forbidden City, and it happened so often that I found it really bothersome. We felt forewarned about the Wall, at least.

We got there at about 9:30 and bought our tickets. This section of wall has a cable car that takes you up to the wall and, get this, a "toboggan" ride down a big open metal chute that brings you down. We bought tickets for both. before we caught the cable car, I was taking pictures, and I managed to get right in the path of an oncoming car--it whacked me good and hard in the back, and kind of pushed me out of the way. Not a great start. I wasn't really hurt, just a little bruised and embarrassed. We caught our cars and rode to the top. Here are some early shots.



Here's Cindy and me on the way up. Dwight is in the car behind us. Nice hair, huh?


Here's one of my first views of the wall, winding it's way up a mountain.



We were surprised and delighted to find that except for some water and snack sellers who sat discreetly at tables at various points along the wall, we didn't run into anybody trying to sell us anything. And the water vendors weren't doing any kind of hard sell, though the water was much pricier than it would have been elsewhere. In addition, the crowd was pretty thin when we started our hike, and heavier, though not bad when we ended about 3.5 or 4 hours later. This section of the wall was fabulous. There are places where the walking is easy, then we'd come to a steep part with dozens of irregular steps. Every now and again, we'd come to a watch tower. These were great. The shade in the towers was a welcome relief, and the wind blowing through the windows was like a blast from an air conditioner.












This was the worst section we came to, and it wasn't very long.



Here's Cindy, ready to defend the wall.






Just to prove I was there...



I think maybe this guy helped bring some of the water up.



Oh my. The stairs!



Sometimes we just had to collapse for a water break.



This shot cracked me up. Don't Dwight and Cindy look like they're doing some synchronized dance routine?



And here wre the three of us.



At the end, we got in line to ride the tobbogan down. It was a low, wheeled "sled" like contraption, with a brake/accelerator, and it carried one person per vehicle. I won't lie. I was scared. I didn't have to be, though. It was big fun whipping down that metal chute, though I did more creeping than whipping, I'm afraid. Here's part of the chute.



We ended the visit to the wall by shopping for souvenirs in the area below the wall. It's expected that you'll haggle over prices, and Cindy was a marvel. She did a great job of talking the vendors down on prices. Thanks to her, I got a nice "silk" tablecloth. Okay, it isn't silk, but I like it and Cindy helped me get it for a good price.

What a great, truly unforgettable day.

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