WOW! WOW! WOW! Im still buzzing from how great it was! Out of this world, one of the most amazing things Ive done so far, it was fantastic!
We arrived in Beijing yesturday morning and booked into a fantastic hostel, this time we managed to get one right in the heart of Beijing old town, and today we went with them on a tour called the "Secret Wall Tour." And boy were they right! It was a very remote location, just what we were looking for for that once in a life time experiance. We were up and out early this morning and had to drive about 3hrs out of the city, battleing the morning rush hour. We drove through the mountains where parts of the wall have been restored to their former glory but also indoing so have attracted HUGE crowds! So we drove further on leaving them all behind untill we reached a small village and the start of our trek.
Our guide was this tiny chinesse local woman who spoke no english but luckily someone in our group spoke very good chinesse to help us out. This walk was deff not for the faint harted, it was a hard slog even for us but for her at 70 years old it was easy! She told us she does this walk everyday and the trick to staying young is to never eat meat, she proclaimed that she has never been ill or gotten a cold even in winter when her home has no heating! I think im onto a winner then seeming Ive completly gone off meat out here, may be i'l stick to it! So we began the steep climbe up through the mountains to the Wall.
Wow! It was so high, perched on the top of the mountain, it was a long walk to get to it but well worth the effort. I cant imagine how they managed to build the thing up there! The section we were going to walk is really a 'secret' I mean there are no other tour groups that go there and you have the whole wall to yourself, its amazing. Its still in ruins, or its original state and hasnt been repaired but it doesnt need it, its more original as it is. The wall is still in tact as much as your need, we walked along part of it for about 2hrs, well I should say hiked really as it was pretty much up and down the whole way between watch towers.
It was a mad photo clicking moment and I think I could have filled my camera twice over, the views were great, the way you could see the wall snacking off in the distances. The weather was nice and warm and bright but the haze gave the mountains around us this kinda eerrie feel. I can now tell why the chinesse artists only paint the tops of the mountains as thats all you can see, just the outlines!
Although we had to turn back half way through as there was a girl in the group who was suffering a bit from vertigo we thought it was a brilliant trip. It was nice to get to see a part of the wall very few people probalbly visit and also good to see it in its original state, walking it sure gives you glimpse at the effort that it must have taken to build, and to think it streches across the WHOLE country!
