Beijing was turning out to be a major dudder, and a trip to the Great Wall was just what the doctor ordered.
We had struck a pretty good deal with a taxi driver to take us to Jinshaling, and we rushed through breakfast and waited in the hotel lobby for our driver to show up. And waited. And waited. We finally called him to see what was going on, and apparently, he decided that it was too good of a bargain and decided not to hold up his end. Oh, but why bother telling us about it?
We were determined to get out of Beijing, and we finally found a driver willing to take us as far as Mutianyu. We wanted to avoid the crowds so rather than going to a closer part of the Wall at Badaling, we endured a harrowing 1.5 hour taxi ride to the less frequently visited part of the Wall.
We only had three hours to hike the Wall, so we quickly clamored on board the cable cars that take you to and from the Wall.
All the effort finally seemed worth it once we were on the Wall. We were finally free of the crowds that had dogged us until now, and we even got to see a marriage proposal!
It turned out to be a pretty warm day, but there were a few breezes and towers galore to seek shade in when the sun got too strong. Blossoms abounded by the Wall, and tons of bees lazily buzzed about as we walked along the uneven paths.
We also managed to hike up the steepest flight of stairs I've ever seen, which led to the end of the tourist trail. Sadness.
Coming down was even harder than going up. People were trying to negotiate the steep stairs backwards, sideways, on all fours - basically any which way to get back down in one piece. Luckily, we all managed to get back safely, just in time for our death-defying ride back into the city.
We still needed to buy some camping gear for Tibet/ Nepal so the evening ended in a wild goose-chase with us trying to pantomime "outdoor sporting goods" to bemused Chinese. We even managed to give a grizzled security guard a bad case of the giggles.
We finally found the store (Sanfo) the following day, but the prices were pretty outrageous so we headed into the 'burbs to the Decathlon store. Yes, they have a Decathlon in Beijing! It was all we could do to not throw everything in the cart - everything was dirt-cheap! We found our subzero sleeping bags for the equivalent of $50 USD, and I stocked up on hiking socks.
Soon it was time to eat, and we just couldn't face the prospect of any more Chinese food so we decided to head towards the expat area aka Salitun Village. I thought it was going to be a neighborhood or something, but it turned out to be a giant, new-built shopping center, complete with an Apple store and a Niketown!
We managed to find a cafe that sold salads, and I've never been so glad to see a bed of greens in my life - Beijing is curiously lacking in any fresh fruit or veg. We slurped down our fruit and veg cocktails as we inhaled our salads and moaned "Vitamins! Minerals!" Our waitress must've thought we were nuts.
Thank goodness we were leaving Beijing the next morning.
We had struck a pretty good deal with a taxi driver to take us to Jinshaling, and we rushed through breakfast and waited in the hotel lobby for our driver to show up. And waited. And waited. We finally called him to see what was going on, and apparently, he decided that it was too good of a bargain and decided not to hold up his end. Oh, but why bother telling us about it?
We were determined to get out of Beijing, and we finally found a driver willing to take us as far as Mutianyu. We wanted to avoid the crowds so rather than going to a closer part of the Wall at Badaling, we endured a harrowing 1.5 hour taxi ride to the less frequently visited part of the Wall.
We only had three hours to hike the Wall, so we quickly clamored on board the cable cars that take you to and from the Wall.
All the effort finally seemed worth it once we were on the Wall. We were finally free of the crowds that had dogged us until now, and we even got to see a marriage proposal!
It turned out to be a pretty warm day, but there were a few breezes and towers galore to seek shade in when the sun got too strong. Blossoms abounded by the Wall, and tons of bees lazily buzzed about as we walked along the uneven paths.
We also managed to hike up the steepest flight of stairs I've ever seen, which led to the end of the tourist trail. Sadness.
Coming down was even harder than going up. People were trying to negotiate the steep stairs backwards, sideways, on all fours - basically any which way to get back down in one piece. Luckily, we all managed to get back safely, just in time for our death-defying ride back into the city.
We still needed to buy some camping gear for Tibet/ Nepal so the evening ended in a wild goose-chase with us trying to pantomime "outdoor sporting goods" to bemused Chinese. We even managed to give a grizzled security guard a bad case of the giggles.
We finally found the store (Sanfo) the following day, but the prices were pretty outrageous so we headed into the 'burbs to the Decathlon store. Yes, they have a Decathlon in Beijing! It was all we could do to not throw everything in the cart - everything was dirt-cheap! We found our subzero sleeping bags for the equivalent of $50 USD, and I stocked up on hiking socks.
Soon it was time to eat, and we just couldn't face the prospect of any more Chinese food so we decided to head towards the expat area aka Salitun Village. I thought it was going to be a neighborhood or something, but it turned out to be a giant, new-built shopping center, complete with an Apple store and a Niketown!
We managed to find a cafe that sold salads, and I've never been so glad to see a bed of greens in my life - Beijing is curiously lacking in any fresh fruit or veg. We slurped down our fruit and veg cocktails as we inhaled our salads and moaned "Vitamins! Minerals!" Our waitress must've thought we were nuts.
Thank goodness we were leaving Beijing the next morning.
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