Shhh it's a Secret Great Wall
Trip Start
Oct 22, 2005
1
58
224
Trip End
Ongoing
Beijing,
China
Friday, January 6, 2006
We jumped into the Leo Hostel's mini bus with another 4 backpackers and headed NW of Beijing. After 2 hours we had arrived in a farming village in the middle of who knows where. At this stage we couldn't see the wall yet but were ushered (read forced march) along a goat trail by a local farmer. He sure was fit for an old guy but then again he does climb the Great Wall everyday. After a few minutes we had our first glimpses of the wall. It was magnificent. We continued on and eventually reached the base of a steep section. Climbing up to the first watch tower was hard work but worth it for the great views of the wall snaking across the surrounding hills. Luckily the weather was magnificent; cold but clear blue skies with no wind
01 - On the Horizon
. After the obligatory photos we continued along the crumbling wall and down into a gully where we crossed a frozen stream, then back up the steep wall again. We were walking on the remains of the wall, scattered bricks beneath our feet. It was amazing to realise that we were actually walking on the Great Wall of China. The only other people we could see were in our hiking party. At the next watch tower we could see the section we'd just hiked and really take in how hard it would have been to build this mammoth structure. After admiring the 360 degree views and getting our breath back (the farmer only stopping to have a cigarette) we headed off again. Megs was praying hard that we wouldn't be walking (marching) up any more steep hills and thankfully her prayers were answered. She was having trouble keeping up as she was the only girl among 6 fit young males and the super fit farmer.We followed the frozen stream back through the gully, traversing frozen waterfalls, passing prayer flags flapping in the wind and arrived at the farmer's house. Hanging from a post was a freshly killed rabbit; maybe our lunch? From the outside their shack looked very sparse, but inside they had a couple of beds, TV, surround sound system and a DVD player! Taking tourists up the wall must be paying off for this family. His wife then came in with all kinds of local dishes for lunch. We had rice, sweet potato, roasted nuts, onion and bacon, cabbage and other local cuisine. It was yummy and there was so much we couldn't finish it all.
