The Wall – Part II

8/10/15

I have to say, our tour has been a really great value but I would hesitate to ever travel like this again due to the inability to really spend time in any one location to really explore and take in all the sights. Sadly, the wall was no exception to this: we had exactly 2 hours before we were due back on the bus. At the outset, this may seem like plenty of time to hike a mere 4 and a half miles at 3,330 ft elevation (!), but you would be sorely mistaken (probably not as sore as I was after that though!). Nick and I love hiking and are always excited to attempt some of the world’s best trails but few hikes have felt like such a triumph (the Inca Trail being one I am very proud to have done) and certainly none so short as the Great Wall! This was beyond challenging and I still feel so euphoric at the thought that I accomplished it!!

Dry & sunscreened, posing in front of Mao's dedication before walking the Wall

Holy shit, this is steep!

How much further?!

Even though it’s only 2.3 miles one way this portion of the original wall was crazy steep, with abnormally large steps of varying sizes. The ascent felt so slow and painful, and it was especially hard to breathe after several days of a respiratory infection. I don’t know to put into words how beautiful, awe-inspiring, grueling and difficult this hike was, and yet at the same time how cool it was to realize I was climbing up such a monumental and historic feat of human creation! I was sucking in air so hard, you would think there were only a few drops of oxygen left in the world; my clothes were completely soaked through with sweat (90 degree weather didn’t ease the situation); every inch of my body was dripping white in melted sunscreen; and I relished the brief respites of shade as we passed through the watch towers (yes, the Hendrix song was stuck in my head the entire time), where the windows provided a life sustaining breeze.

No longer dry or sunscreened; taking a break b/c I literally couldn't breathe

There were only 4 of us that attempted the climb: me and Nick and the two Mexicans from our group. [NN: The young Mexican kid even laid down to rest on the stairs midway up.] I’ll gloat a little bit here and say I beat all 3 guys to the top in 35 minutes! (Digital high five!) Once at the top, we gave each other horribly sweaty hugs & slippery high fives as we nearly passed out on the steps due to lack of oxygen. The view was (literally) breath-taking. ;P  You could see all around the wall, where further off into the distance you could see other remains of sections of the wall across the mountain range and where, had there not been a grotesquely thick layer of gray smog drawn over the city, we should have been able to see Beijing. Being this far outside the city, you really get a startling grasp of how bad the urban pollution problem is. [NN: I wonder it Nixon and Mao Zedong made it to the top and then gave each other a gasping, sweaty high five? One sweaty high five for man, one giant handshake for world peace!]

Our Mexican companions tried to run the wall - they had to stop before throwing up

More distant sections of the wall.

The 4 of us spent 15 minutes at the top just taking pictures and posing on the wall (seriously, it’s hard to describe what a triumph this felt like!) before heading back down to catch the bus. The descent was much harder on the knees, clambering down these giant, uneven steps than the ascent was. So much so that my legs were shaking at the end and we needed to treat ourselves with some ice cream at the bottom to refuel and re-steady ourselves. ;)

Achievement selfie - gloating that I beat everyone else to the top!

Looking back down the way we came

We did it! Reaching the top-most watch tower

Distant sections of the wall

Art (on money) imitating life

Can you find us?!

Pretty mountains

Beijing is somewhere underneath all that smog

LOL - didn't see this sign until we had already come down

After that hike and a huge “country” lunch (read: delicious local farm dishes) [NN: Maybe it was the exertion, but this was the tastiest meal in our trip.], I immediately passed out on the bus, sadly missing a Beijing history lesson from our tour guide, and caring very little for a pit stop to see the Bird’s Nest stadium during the day. After such intense exertion and sun exposure, I was beat and was in much need of a shower and a good nap.  Sadly, this was not to be for a while, as our last stop of the day was (unfortunately) an obligatory stop to the Beijing Zoo to see pandas. I am not a fan of pandas to begin with and going out of my way, trying to navigate around massive, over excited, sweaty crowds, to see them passed out on a concrete floor due to the severe heat of their captive environment made me dislike them even more (stupid waste of conservation money and effort), but according to our guide, we can’t visit China and not see pandas. To him I say…watch me. :P

That poor panda looks so hot & tired!