http://www.beijinghikers.com/hike-in-beijing/view/384/walled-village-to-huanghuacheng-great-wall-2
 |
| After a nearly two hour (nap) bus ride, I was so excited to look out the window and catch my first glimpse of the Great Wall. I can't even begin to give you a Reader's Digest condensed version of the history of The Great Wall, but if you want to know more, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China |
 |
| Our trek began in a remote and meager village. Population 10. Yep, there are sad, lonely, little villages in a country of 1.4 billion people. |
 |
| One lonely chicken in a pen. :( |
 |
| Another home was drying millet in the sun. It is a common breakfast porridge. |
 |
| But there were morning glories growing on the fence rows and in the cornstalks, just like I would see back home in Indiana. |
 |
| What is the purpose of this stone? For grinding something? I saw several of them. |
 |
| Every available space was growing something- I'm not sure what this vegetable is, either. |
 |
| As we left the village, we hiked through a chestnut farm. I like their idea of fertilizing. Just dump bags of manure. in piles. and leave them. |
 |
| Some farmers were already beginning to harvest their chestnuts. (I won't even touch that statement with the 10 foot lopping pole they were using!) |
 |
| Soon we could see the Great Wall in the distance- so excited! |
 |
| This is my friend, Kirsten and I with our bright smiling faces, looking 'fresh' before we began scaling the Wall. While we still had fresh legs. Before 10,000+ steps. Uphill. Both ways. As a side note, this gate is over 400 years old- essentially older than the USA; and this is a 'new gate'. |
 |
| This guy was peddling postcards and the Little Red Book for the tourists at the gate. After his smoke break, of course. |
 |
| As we passed through the gate, this was our first look up at the Wall. We had 30 minutes to scale the Wall to our east, before meeting the group up at the first tower you see here. From the tower, our trek was all westward. |
 |
| We were so happy and full of ourselves on that first jaunt up. Kirsten nearly jogged ahead for a photo op. :) |
 |
| And then things started to get a little tricky... |
 |
| But here is Hank, my German teacher friend, where we all made it to the top of our first restored tower. Hooray! |
 |
| Our view to the east... |
 |
| And back to the west...where we had less than ten minutes to meet up with the rest of our group which were waiting at the tower ruin, seen here in the mid-section of this photo. |
 |
| Quick pic while we're still 'fresh' :) |
 |
| After the mad dash down the Wall and back up the Wall to catch up with our group, I was a wee bit winded when I reached the top. After the tenth tower, pics were not even allowed! |
 |
| Looking out the tower at the trek before us...actually, you couldn't even see where our trek was ending. Oh boy, we got some serious walking to do again today :/ |
 |
| After a look at the hike we had ahead of us, it's best we get moving...nine more towers to go. |
 |
| Many of the portions we hiked were not restored, which made the footing all the more tricky, and the vertigo all the more dizzying- whew! |
 |
| But look at the view! |
 |
| Must. Keep. Walking. |
 |
| Another tower along the way; still smiling :) |
 |
| Again, such gorgeous views of the mountains. So China. |
 |
| Thankfully, we enjoyed several water breaks :) |
 |
| Because the Wall stretched for as far as the eye (and haze) can see! |
 |
| We have more towers to get to...Up. There. |
 |
| Looking a little wilted by now. Out the 'window' is our final climb of the day. Our guide assures us that it is the best view of all. Let's be about it, people! |
 |
| OMG, she was right! A water view?! I was not expecting that...West Lake Reservoir...with boats :) |
 |
| I was the happiest girl in China, relishing that view... mountains...water...boats...it couldn't get any better... |
 |
| Oh yes, it did get better! We were starting to descend... No. More. Climbing :) |
 |
| We had a short bus ride into the next village, where we went to a restaurant for a late lunch. This guy was cleaning some fish caught in the reservoir. |
 |
| Which became part of our meal about 30 minutes later- so delicious! |
 |
| True to traditional Chinese custom, there is a large 'lazy susan' in the center of the table. Dishes of food were continuously brought from the kitchen, each more tasty than the last. You simply spin the middle around and take what you want, as often as you want. Most of the time, you don't even bother to load your plate. You simply grab with your chopsticks on the fly! I've only been here three weeks and I'm already over the thought of seven other people's chopsticks having been in my food. It's the Chinese way, after all. As always, I meet the most interesting people, like Chelsea from Washington, DC., and this couple from Paris, France. The couple to my right were from Hong Kong (the wife) and the UK (her husband). Such great conversations :) |
 |
| And it was hard, once again, to 'pick' a favorite food. We ate ourselves silly. Then we all promptly passed out on the bus for the two hour ride back home. Once again, a shower never felt so good. G'nite, y'all! |
No comments:
Post a Comment