Just Another Brick in the Wall

  Beijing, China
June 10, 2009We were up at 5:15. Bill showered, we packed the rest of our lunch and snacks and picked up our boxed breakfast at the front desk. Our breakfast included a croissant, a chocolate pastry, a peach, some lunch meat, a yogurt and marmalade.

At 5:55 we were on the subway and exited at the same spot as our cooking class. We walked the remaining distance to the hostel (about 20 minutes). We arrived with plenty of time to spare. Thankfully they did not ask to see our receipt because I left it in my purse and I did not bring my purse today.

We sat on the curb and ate the croissant and pastry, some meat and an iced tea It is like the Engerizer Bunny. We met Swen and Claude, brothers from Switzerland. There are 14 others in our group. Along the way we met Peter from South Africa (currently living in Hong Kong), Ruth from Ireland and Veronique from Munich.

Our bus arrived and we loaded up. It was a long ride to Jinshanlin, around 3 hours. We napped on the bus and had a short bathroom break along the way. I had a snack of yogurt and shared a muffin with Bill.

We arrived at the Wall at 10:00 and decided to walk instead of taking the cable car. It turned out that it was too windy, so everyone had to walk up anyway.

It was a LONG walk up and I was breathing hard, but the reward for my efforts was instant. The view was amazing in every direction. It was a bonus that there were very few people around.

As we walked along the Wall toward Simatai, I think there were more locals selling things than tourists, so it was pretty cool Standing at the edge of the world. Shortly after we started out our group spread out to get good photos. Occasionally we would bunch up with some people and chat for a while.

The entire walk was amazing. There were great views and it was really neat that the Wall was not fully restored. The walk was made a bit challenging by the big gusts of wind. A couple of times I thought I was going to get blown over, especially in places were the wall was toppled over.

I almost lost my hat 5 times. Once Bill's came right off and landed on the top of the wall on the other side. A lady who had been trying to sell us water grabbed it for him. Good thing he did not lose his hat on the last day! He is already going to have to throw out his sandals!

In many places we had to climb up and then down the path of the Wall Has not been restored in a while. A couple of times we had to walk on the ground beside the Wall and then get back up on the path of the Wall.

Along the way we snacked on a Snickers bar, banana, peanut butter, bagel, bread, peanuts and lots of water.

We were able to see some birds and butterflies along the way. The sky was gorgeous too. What a great day on the Great Wall!

We took the zip-line down for 40 yuan each ($6+) and then a boat ride instead of walking down. It was a lot of fun!

We were back on the bus around 2:15 and were back at the hostel around 5:00


We walked back to the subway and went to Happy Hour at our hotel. We had vodka and soda, scotch and coke, wine, prawns, mystery balls, beef salad, peanuts and raisins and fruit.

Bill got a military haircut and I had my last Magnum and Snickers. We walked for a while to get some Gatorade for Bill.

After that it was back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep.
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