The Great Wall of China

Last night after talking with Annie and Steve, I decided to purchase a ticket for a tour to the Great Wall of China. I usually don´t like to be a part of a group of tourists, but in this case it was totally worth it. The part of the wall that we were visiting was hard to reach with local transportation. The price for this tour was 380 yuan (52€) including the entry ticket, breakfast, lunch and transportation.

This morning at 6 our tour guide picked us up from the lobby. Together we walked to the minibus, which was supposed to take us to Jinshanling Great Wall. This section of the wall is located 130km from Beijing and it took us approximately 2,5 hours to reach Jinshanling, because on the way we picked up a few other tourists. In total we were a group of 16 persons from Scotland, Mexico, Switzerland, Holland, Spain, Ireland, and many more. Such an international bunch of people! On the bus we “enjoyed” sweet fruit bread with water.

We did have a tour guide with us, but we all were walking by ourselves and at times we saw the guide and talked to him for a few minutes. The route from Jinshanling to Simatai West isn´t one of the most popular routes, and it requires patience, strength and that you are a bit fit at least. When we finally arrived we started walking up the stairs to the Great Wall, and when we reached it, the view was exactly what I expected – unbelievable. We walked the Great Wall for approximately 5 km, which took us 3,5 hours. It sounds like we were a lazy bunch of people, but the Great Wall of China is definitely not a straight path. Some parts of the wall were very steep and even dangerous. These parts of the wall were partly constructed and some parts had fallen apart. However, the route we chose is definitely something that I recommend. Not many tourists and amazing views!

I´m so glad that I chose this day to visit the Great Wall of China, since the sun was shining, it was a bit windy but at times very warm. There was no smog so the view was spectacular. I honestly have to say, there are no words or pictures that can describe how beautiful this experience and attraction was. After finishing the day at the wall we all sat down at a local restaurant and enjoyed a big feast for lunch, and it was delicious!

To finish off this already perfect and amazing day, Annie, Steve and myself had a beer in our hostels courtyard while talking about the day. They also took me to a small restaurant nearby our hostel and the food was just so delicious and spicy, but we all enjoyed it!