I climbed the Great Wall!
Today I went to the Great Wall at Simatai with my classmates and teachers. It was really exciting, but tiring at the same time.
This morning we left campus on a charter bus at 8:00 am and drove 3 hours outside of Beijing to the Simatai portion of the Great Wall. This portion of the wall is supposedly one of the more beautiful parts of the wall and there are not as many tourists at this part of wall.
When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we ate lunch at a small restaurant. It was traditional family style meal. The food was good, but there were some odd dishes brought out to us. I tried everything and did not find anything I didn't like too much.
After we ate we started our trip up the wall. We could have taken a cable car part way up the mountain, but a few of us decided to walk all the way up and down. In the end it was not too bad. First we started on a trail that goes up to Great Wall. After about 40 minutes of walking we arrived at the Great Wall.
The first I noticed about the wall was the difference in size and height of all the stairs. I expected this, but it does not allow for anyone climbing the wall to have any sort of rythm. A lot of times the pace is awkward because the steps change in height or are too short for people with large feet. The beginning of the wall was the steepest part of the wall to climb. We made our way up the wall taking photos along the way. The views were amazing even though the weather was not too clear. We passed quite a few guard towers along the way and eventually we made it to then end of the wall we could walk on. The end of the wall was guarded by security, so you could not pass into more dangerous parts of the wall. My friends and I tried to ask the guard what we could do to keep going, but he would not let us. Mostly we were just joking around with him.
At the top of the wall we rested for a while and took more photos with classmates and teachers. After a nice break we headed back down. My friend was definitely right when he said going down was a lot easier. It took us about half the time to go down. Near the steeper parts of the wall we found it was actually easier to walk sideways down the steps because our feet were too long.
The part of the wall we climbed passes through a valley. It goes down one side and up the other. At the bottom there is a small lake. This lake was most likely a man made lake, but I am not totally sure. Anyways, at the point where the Great Wall meets the trail back down the mountain there is a zip line which goes over the lake from one side of the valley to the other. Being a risk taker, I could not pass up this opportunity to go. I payed my 35 kuai and rode the zip line down. It was a lot of fun and much better than walking. We then took a small boat back to the parking lot where I bought a couple shirts.
After everyone returned we headed home on the bus. All in all it was a lot of fun. I would definitely like to go back. I hope to be able to share all the photos with you guys soon.
This morning we left campus on a charter bus at 8:00 am and drove 3 hours outside of Beijing to the Simatai portion of the Great Wall. This portion of the wall is supposedly one of the more beautiful parts of the wall and there are not as many tourists at this part of wall.
When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we ate lunch at a small restaurant. It was traditional family style meal. The food was good, but there were some odd dishes brought out to us. I tried everything and did not find anything I didn't like too much.
After we ate we started our trip up the wall. We could have taken a cable car part way up the mountain, but a few of us decided to walk all the way up and down. In the end it was not too bad. First we started on a trail that goes up to Great Wall. After about 40 minutes of walking we arrived at the Great Wall.
The first I noticed about the wall was the difference in size and height of all the stairs. I expected this, but it does not allow for anyone climbing the wall to have any sort of rythm. A lot of times the pace is awkward because the steps change in height or are too short for people with large feet. The beginning of the wall was the steepest part of the wall to climb. We made our way up the wall taking photos along the way. The views were amazing even though the weather was not too clear. We passed quite a few guard towers along the way and eventually we made it to then end of the wall we could walk on. The end of the wall was guarded by security, so you could not pass into more dangerous parts of the wall. My friends and I tried to ask the guard what we could do to keep going, but he would not let us. Mostly we were just joking around with him.
At the top of the wall we rested for a while and took more photos with classmates and teachers. After a nice break we headed back down. My friend was definitely right when he said going down was a lot easier. It took us about half the time to go down. Near the steeper parts of the wall we found it was actually easier to walk sideways down the steps because our feet were too long.
The part of the wall we climbed passes through a valley. It goes down one side and up the other. At the bottom there is a small lake. This lake was most likely a man made lake, but I am not totally sure. Anyways, at the point where the Great Wall meets the trail back down the mountain there is a zip line which goes over the lake from one side of the valley to the other. Being a risk taker, I could not pass up this opportunity to go. I payed my 35 kuai and rode the zip line down. It was a lot of fun and much better than walking. We then took a small boat back to the parking lot where I bought a couple shirts.
After everyone returned we headed home on the bus. All in all it was a lot of fun. I would definitely like to go back. I hope to be able to share all the photos with you guys soon.
posted by Jon Keto at
12:30 AM
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