The Great Wall of China
No trip to China would be complete without a trip to the Great Wall of China. In an effort to avoid the most visited sections we arranged a transport to Jinshanling in the province of Hebei about 150km north of Beijing. From here we hiked 10km to the Simatai section of the wall.
Rena at the beginning near Jinshanling where parts of the Wall are completely restored and others are still "authentic". Although there were hundreds of tourists there, everyone seemed to stretch out and for much of the day and it felt as though we had the wall to ourselves.
Although, not entirely to ourselves. The two ladies pictured in this unrestored section caught up to us fairly early on. They decided they were going to be our tour guides and followed us for about 5 kms. After a 1/2 hour or so we told them we would prefer to be left alone. From then on they kept their distance but were still on hand to take photos and tell us to watch our step. At the half way point we gave them some money and parted ways.
Here we are at another unrestored section as we say farewell to our "guides". Note that Mongolia is on one side of the wall and China on the other.
The second half of the walk was even better than the first half now that we really had the place to ourselves. Or so we thought. As we parted ways with our first two "friends" we noticed someone new close behind us. Stopping when we stopped, speeding up when we did and occasionally yelling at us to watch our steps or go this way for a short cut.
We weren't thrilled with the idea of another "guide" being thrust upon us but couldn't really get annoyed at someone who is just trying to earn some money. So we did the only thing we could think of...we paid him to go away. Everybody was happy.
Here we are at the end enjoying a cold drink with a great view.
Rena at the beginning near Jinshanling where parts of the Wall are completely restored and others are still "authentic". Although there were hundreds of tourists there, everyone seemed to stretch out and for much of the day and it felt as though we had the wall to ourselves.
Although, not entirely to ourselves. The two ladies pictured in this unrestored section caught up to us fairly early on. They decided they were going to be our tour guides and followed us for about 5 kms. After a 1/2 hour or so we told them we would prefer to be left alone. From then on they kept their distance but were still on hand to take photos and tell us to watch our step. At the half way point we gave them some money and parted ways.
Here we are at another unrestored section as we say farewell to our "guides". Note that Mongolia is on one side of the wall and China on the other.The second half of the walk was even better than the first half now that we really had the place to ourselves. Or so we thought. As we parted ways with our first two "friends" we noticed someone new close behind us. Stopping when we stopped, speeding up when we did and occasionally yelling at us to watch our steps or go this way for a short cut.
We weren't thrilled with the idea of another "guide" being thrust upon us but couldn't really get annoyed at someone who is just trying to earn some money. So we did the only thing we could think of...we paid him to go away. Everybody was happy.
Here we are at the end enjoying a cold drink with a great view.
posted by The Adventures of Rena & Wade | 10:04 PM
3 Comments:
Wade
If I was a betting man, I would wager a few bucks that you're enjoying a cold beer on that last picture.
Just a quick note, that your Oilers are up 4-2 in the 3rd period against the Ducks in game 3.... I hate to say it:"Go Oilers Go!!!"
If you were a betting man you'd be slightly richer right now
...whoever you are.
I think you will find cheering for the Oilers to be a very liberating and rewarding experience...way more satisfying than cheering for the Canucks.
I'm a Montreal fan, guess you know who I am now!
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