Thursday May 2 2013 12:00am
Sitting in Starbucks I am immediately transported home: the coffee, the smells, the music, it's all exactly the same. And for brief moment the familiar is so lovely.
We are in the airport, headed to Singapore. Our schedules are all out of wack. I've been hardly eating during the day, I have just not been hungry at all during the day but now I'm ravenous.
We spent yesterday at the Great Wall and it did not disappoint. Again reaffirming our theory that if something is a major attraction there is usually a reason why. Surprisingly though, considering what a major site it is, this Wall is not easy to reach.
We had just assumed you could easily book tours through the hotel and get there on a single bus, easily booked. Turns out not so much. So a 20 min cab ride, 2 hour bus ride another 20 min in a cab later we finally arrived. We left the hotel at 6:30 (and nearly left the battery for the camera in the room charging) and didn't get back until 2:30pm.
The wall seems to go on forever. Which makes sense because the Frommer's guide book says it spans an estimated 5000 km. it was build during the Ming Dynasty to keep out the Mongols, which it unfortunately did not accomplish. it stands 26 feet high, off the very high hills. we actually had to take a gondola (aka cable car) up. The wall is 30 feet wide. It's very impressive. Almost equally as stunning though is the mountainous landscape that surrounds it. The craggy hills that the wall runs along look just like an ancient Chinese ink painting. It's breath taking (partly because I was way too out of shape for such a long height and then also in the normal sense of the phrase, that the beauty makes your breath catch) .
We chose to hike a section of the wall a little less popular, probably because it is a lot steeper, but said to be more picturesque. It was exhausting but totally worth the view. Although at certain points I was unsure I felt that way after climbing mountains of uneven steps.
The whole time we were there we just kept saying to each other, "we're on the Great Wall!" It was a very surreal experience. I don't think my descriptions really do it justice.
We are so glad that we made the trip through Beijing! It was totally worth it! I did a cart wheel on the Great Wall of China, so I can cross that one off my bucket list.
Sitting in Starbucks I am immediately transported home: the coffee, the smells, the music, it's all exactly the same. And for brief moment the familiar is so lovely. We are in the airport, headed to Singapore. Our schedules are all out of wack. I've been hardly eating during the day, I have just not been hungry at all during the day but now I'm ravenous.
We spent yesterday at the Great Wall and it did not disappoint. Again reaffirming our theory that if something is a major attraction there is usually a reason why. Surprisingly though, considering what a major site it is, this Wall is not easy to reach.
We had just assumed you could easily book tours through the hotel and get there on a single bus, easily booked. Turns out not so much. So a 20 min cab ride, 2 hour bus ride another 20 min in a cab later we finally arrived. We left the hotel at 6:30 (and nearly left the battery for the camera in the room charging) and didn't get back until 2:30pm.
We chose to hike a section of the wall a little less popular, probably because it is a lot steeper, but said to be more picturesque. It was exhausting but totally worth the view. Although at certain points I was unsure I felt that way after climbing mountains of uneven steps.
The whole time we were there we just kept saying to each other, "we're on the Great Wall!" It was a very surreal experience. I don't think my descriptions really do it justice.
We are so glad that we made the trip through Beijing! It was totally worth it! I did a cart wheel on the Great Wall of China, so I can cross that one off my bucket list.
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