The Great Wall

Rather than taking the east route and heading for the closest section of the Great Wall to Beijing, we were driven at 5.45 in the morning to Simatai which is about 2 hours from Beijing. I had been warned that the Wall was a bit of an endurance challenge as there were hawkers to be avoided and as well as crowds of people vying to put their feet where yours were supposed to go. However at Simatai it was nothing like I was warned about.



The first thing we discovered was that we each were allocated our own personal salesman or woman. Each person has a companion who walks and talks to you as you scale the wall huffing and puffing fit to blow the house down! I was given a tiny little man who stank of drink abandoned me to take the short cut (cheaters walk I call it) and then guilted me into buying a t-shirt because he was an old man you see! It was all very strange and kind of funny.



The actual walk itself is about 10km and took around 3 hours. It was tough tough going. I think the pollution in Beijing was really beginning to affect my breathing and whilst I enjoyed the experience I would have preferred if I hadn't been so wrecked after it! The views from the wall are amazing and the actual experience of being there made up for any discomfort. We were also there practically by ourselves. Apart from our little companions the place was deserted. It was very peaceful, clean and there was a very real sense of history there. It was definately worth the hype.