Today we hiked from Jinshanling to Simatai - it was INCREDIBLE. I have been to Mutianyu at least twice before (I can't remember the name of the site we went to in 1995, but it might have also been Mutianyu)... and I thought that was amazing, but that was nothing compared to this! We opted to take the cable car up to the mountain, which was a good thing, since we were told the hike was 4-5 hours and it took us 7-8!
We had an incredibly beautiful, clear day for the hike, not too hot and with a little breeze. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Some of the other hikers were really getting red (burned and/or exhausted!) but we all fared pretty well.
I had to take AB out of the backpack to get into the cable car (very narrow doors!), so she got to walk the first bit until we got up onto the wall. After that, it was too treacherous for her - the wall is crumbling in many places, and there is nothing to keep you from falling off the side of it! More pics from the next 6-7 hours of the hike to follow!
This lady is telling me that the area down there is Hebei Province, and that's where she lives. The locals there climb up on the wall every day and try to sell books, postcards, posters, fans, etc. Unfortunately, we had already bought a Great Wall book the day before (and for much less than they were asking), so we didn't buy much (some postcards and posters, just to help them out). I thought this pic came out great!
Eric looks pretty small!
I walked up the middle... not brave (or stupid) like that lady!
Today we hiked from Jinshanling to Simatai - it was INCREDIBLE. I have been to Mutianyu at least twice before (I can't remember the name of the site we went to in 1995, but it might have also been Mutianyu)... and I thought that was amazing, but that was nothing compared to this! We opted to take the cable car up to the mountain, which was a good thing, since we were told the hike was 4-5 hours and it took us 7-8!
We had an incredibly beautiful, clear day for the hike, not too hot and with a little breeze. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Some of the other hikers were really getting red (burned and/or exhausted!) but we all fared pretty well.
I had to take AB out of the backpack to get into the cable car (very narrow doors!), so she got to walk the first bit until we got up onto the wall. After that, it was too treacherous for her - the wall is crumbling in many places, and there is nothing to keep you from falling off the side of it! More pics from the next 6-7 hours of the hike to follow!
This lady is telling me that the area down there is Hebei Province, and that's where she lives. The locals there climb up on the wall every day and try to sell books, postcards, posters, fans, etc. Unfortunately, we had already bought a Great Wall book the day before (and for much less than they were asking), so we didn't buy much (some postcards and posters, just to help them out). I thought this pic came out great!
Eric looks pretty small!
I walked up the middle... not brave (or stupid) like that lady!
