The Great Wall

I signed up for a "guided" tour of the Jinshanling Great Wall offered at my hotel, but it was more like an expensive bus ride to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall with Europeans and Americans (yep, I was the only English-speaking Asian). The bus ride took almost 4-hours in a small cramped tour bus with absolutely no leg room - thank goodness I have short legs but the big Danish guy was in pain! When we got the Great Wall, all the vendors at the park had this funny look on their faces as they were not expecting to see an Asian tourist with bunch of Westerners. Our guide was essentially useless, other than giving us a brief history of the Great Wall, buying us entrance tickets, showing us where to hike and then telling us where to meet for lunch.

We had the option to walk up to the Great Wall or take the cable car...I decided to walk since I hadn't done any form of exercise since Tibet. On a hot humid day, it was probably not the smartest idea to walk up but I had the whole section to myself - who would have thought The Great Wall would be this empty! Once I got up to the Great Wall, the hike along the Wall was absolutely beautiful with steep steps going up and down. There were sections where it hadn't been restored and they were far more interesting and authentic. I decided to walk back instead of taking the cable car since I had enough time (and figured I could use more exercise). By the time I got to the trail leading back to the park entrance, my legs hurt more than when I pedaled up a 5000m mountain pass climb!

Whew, made it back just in time for the buffet lunch! Who doesn't love a good buffet meal...but not today. Boiled potatoes in soy sauce, mixed vegetables in tomato-esque sauce, sliced cucumbers in vinegar sauce, cold rice, and overcooked noodles in brown sauce - they all tasted awful. I would have loved a simple bowl of noodles...damn I miss those Tibetan noodles now!

Our drive back to Beijing was no better, except now we're all smelly, tired and cramped in the small bus. To make matters worse, we're stuck in an evening traffic...then was told to get off the bus and take the subway our hotels as it would be faster. WTF!