Sunday reflections

So, it's Sunday, and I don't have a lot to do today. I treated myself to a bit of a lie-in (a term I've always liked, to be honest), and it was black sesame cereal for breakfast, from a package, in case anyone was wondering. Nothing spectacular.




But I suppose it's time to get some more pictures posted... so here's my trip to the Great Wall:

There are a number of sections of the Great Wall that can be visited. I hiked from Jinshanling to Simatai, two adjacent sections of the wall in various states of disrepair and restoration. It's pretty amazing, to tell the truth... far more so than I'd actually expected.

My first couple of views of the Wall from the Jinshanling end. From the parking lot, you can either take a gondola up to the wall for something like 40元, or you can hike up for free. I think it's worth the hike, but as most people know, I'm a big walker. These pics above are from the start of the hike up.

Also, from the beginning, some locals invariably come along with you. It's hard to not let them attach themselves to you and help you along... which in some cases, is actually quite handy. Plus, many of them act as unofficial tour guides. I felt a little obligated to buy something from them on the hike -- I got an actually rather nice picture book for not-all-that-much -- but whatever.
The countryside is spectacular. Rugged, hilly... well, you get the picture. What used to be inner Mongolia (and is now, I think, Hebei province) is on the north side. The side that was being protected from.

I look terrible in most of these pictures, but whatever. The hike was exhilirating, and I actually felt really good in terms of how well I was doing, considering how out of shape I've gotten while in school.

At any rate, the wall winds back and forth on itself, I imagine because of the reality of the terrain and the lack of desire to completely transform the landscape. (It wasn't a lack of ability. All you have to do is look at the wall itself to realize that the manpower was available to do nearly anything, if the political will was also there.)

Another of the early sections of the wall in Jinshanling. You can get a decent idea of what the hike is like most of the way -- a lot of ups and downs, spectacular ruins, spectacular scenery, uneven pavement.

Most of the way is kind of a gentle roll up and down, as you can see in the next photo.

Uh.... well, that's more-or-less straight up and down. Reminds me of some of the pyramids in the Yucatan, only with slightly wider steps.... and much, much higher.

Needless to say, there isn't nearly as much liability concern in China as there is in the US. Note the lack of handrails and the complete absence of 小心(caution) signs.

Actually,the caution signs do show up from time to time, mostly in obvious places. But not in the places you might think, like where you might actually take a tumble off the 180-step climb.

Remember the ad-hoc guides? Here are the two who came along with me and the woman who I was hiking with.

I'm ashamed to say that I've forgotten their names. I think I wrote them down somewhere, but I don't know where.

At any rate, this is a little more than halfway through the hike, right before we went from Jinshanling to Simatai.

A view through a doorway, back west from where we'd come. This particular tower didn't have the roof still on it -- Simatai is less restored than other sections of the wall, and is the section most clearly built during the Ming Dynasty.

It's a noticeable difference, actually. Not only is there a difference in the age of the wall itself, but the style is substantially different. It's quite clear that you're walking on two seperate walls during the hike, even if they join more-or-less seamlessly.

That is to say, there's nothing but a sign to officially tell you that you're on the Simatai wall. That, and about two towers in, there's a guy taking tickets, so you have to produce one of those.

Like I said, a little more run-down looking. The footing is a bit more treacherous on the Simatai section, but the views are still spectacular, and it's still pretty manageable, even in the rain.

I mentioned in the video that it started to rain while I was there. Actually, it was right about at this spot that I noticed that it was getting darker, even though it was just about noon. I'd smelled rain all day long, but since I'd come without a raincoat, or even a jacket, I was at least mentally prepared for what was coming.

At this point, Michelle, who was hiking with me, asked what I'd do if it started to rain. I shrugged. "I'll get wet, I suppose."

But since I was getting wet, unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures on this segment of the trip. Michelle took a few other pictures, but we haven't gotten in touch yet. Hopefully we'll be able to, and I'll have a lot more pictures to share.

Here's the aforementioned end of the hike, with the bridge across the river. This is taken looking down from the second-to-last tower -- the last is the one you see across the river -- and that's the cable bridge to the right. The little white spot at the far end is the guy who takes your 5元 for crossing the bridge. If you're totally out of money, I'm not exactly sure what it is that you're supposed to do. Swim, maybe. Just above the top of the frame, there's a walkway off to the right where you can get off the Wall and hike down.

The bridge isn't really all that rickety, but since it is a suspension bridge, it definitely moves as you walk across it. Not frighteningly so, but there's no doubt that it moves.

Like I'd pointed out before, you can see that the Wall continues onward, and you can just make out at the top right part of the picture a walkway. It's about a 20-minute walk down from the top, into the parking lot, where our shuttle driver, a guy "not too tall, big round belly" as the hike organizer put it, was waiting to take us to the restaurant for our late (and well-earned) lunch.

Of course, if you don't feel up to hiking the whole way, there's always a faster way down. Yes, that's a completely-soaked me in the foreground of the picture.

The zipline cost 30元，if I remember correctly, and was a lot more fun than I'd expected. The boat ride back across the lake wasn't quite so much fun, but it was still worth it.

Lunch at the restaurant was, by the time I got there at least, pretty indifferent. They had a cafeteria-style setup for those of us on the hike, included in the price. In retrospect, I think I'd have preferred to pay less and order some of the food I saw walking by, food that was a little less dumbed-down for western palates. But those are my prejudices showing up again.

Actually, all in all, the experience was worth every penny I spent. I had a great time, met a few folks on the way, and really was astounded by the views and the sheer sense of history. Even some of the inconveniences (like getting rained on) were just added bits, things that made the experience unique. I'm glad that I chose to go out of the way for this trip, instead of the shorter, cheaper, and almost infinitely more-crowded Badaling section of the wall.

The ride back, by the way, was epic. More because of the holiday traffic than because of the rain, it took us nearly five hours to get back, while the ride out had taken a little over three including stops and waits to pick people up. I managed to sleep most of the way, but nevertheless, it kind of sucked. Dinner that night was hot pot with three Germans, which also meant beer with three Germans. But with beer going for 3元 a bottle, it was as cheap as water, so it was generally a good bargain.