Day 4
January 24 Beijing (EE)
Today we climbed on the Great Wall of
China.
After bacon and egg breakfast waiting
for us in the hostel lobby at 7,we left in a car with our driver at 7:20.He
negotiated the early morning traffic brilliantly. One difference we have
noticed here is that the cars generally drive using the lane markers. Not
so much in Changun. (we will have hair raising stories to tell) We headed out
along the 2nd Ring road to the northwest. It is a cloudy day today, perfect for
David 's eyes. It is also hazy with smog.
Angus, we passed the Bird's
Nest and the Water Cube. VERY exciting. After about half an
hour we were in the the country heading toward the wall at Mutianyu. We
arrived at 8:45.
This is one of the less developed
areas. The sales stalls were just setting up and we had the first of many
offers of "coffee, tea, red Bull, stickers, vodka, t shirts
etc."
We had paid a flat rate for the day,
but happily got tickets for a chair lift to the top.
It is amazing, more so than I
could imagine. We were more or less alone for a while.
Check photos on the net. We
stayed in one direction but after about 700 metres gave up because of the
steepness of the steps. Not because they were too hard, more because of
the terror... Like going up scree slopes with very little on either side.
(sorry Ian) So we climbed back and took the opposite route for
about an hour each way.
Mountains, row on row in the
midst. Some, to the south reminded me of the Green mountains in Vermont.
To the north more rugged, like mount rundle only much much smaller.
And walls. Plural because two walls intersect here.
In some places it is a narrow path
with low walls. In others quite wide up to four metres. There are
also many towers. Please look on the net for photos of that
section.
There was an enticing slide... Like the
one at Malta Lake in Poznan, but long and high. Although tempted
we took the little 2 seater chairlift back down. (Angus later told us that
he had visited this secion of the wall when here for the Olympics in 2008. The
athletes all walked up to the top, but took the slide down. Next time.)
At the base we were again approached
by the two first vendors of the day. (we had chatted earlier.) So there,
in the not so cold (about ten degrees.... yahoo!) we had hot coffee
and a banana crepe.
Then a quick walk down the hill to a
little restaurant. Lunch was part of our package and we say in a tiny dining
room, that was also ten degrees and ate delicious rice, a chicken
based thing with amazing sauce and bockk choy with mushrooms and garlic.
Then the drive home to the red lantern hostel. When you have a moment,
it's worth a look on the net. It is right in the hit ones. Angus,
you'd love it, so much activity all the time.
One of the coolest things about this
city is the many different kinds of vehicles. Bikes, electric
bikes, electric scooters, tricycle designed for transport, electric tricycles,
bikes with space for a side saddle rider, three wheeled motorized vehicles with
cabs on them,three wheeled cars, as well as cars, buses and trolley buses.
This place is much more bike friendly, at least around here, with
wide dedicated lanes for all those bikes.
Photos? So far I have been
using the camera and will download those when we get home. David is also using
his phone camera and we will post a few on the blog, soon.
So, dear kids and very close friends, please know
that we are well, happy and taking in every second of this experience.
Love to all. Liz and David
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