The Great Wall

  Our day began at 530 am as we began with a 3 hour bus ride to Guebekou Village.  After the journey, our bus pulled over on the side over a major road and pointed down a half gravel/pavement road and said walk 10 to 15 minutes that way!  Another reason why packing is stressful- the lighter the better because now we have to lug all of our luggage down a half paved half gravel road while trying to figure out where to go.  We finally arrived at the Great Wall Box House and was greeted by our sweet host, Monica.  She had a certain happy karma around her that seemed infectious.  Once we settled, we got directions to the local village for an ATM and food stop.   

This village was VERY small and there was hardly a person in sight. It had a simple life feel to it.  Since we had been in Beijing, the sky had been grey- similar to what fog looks like and there had been a mild bonfire smell in the air.  Once in the village the bonfire smell became more potent and I realized that it was the smell of burning coal.  People here use coal to warm their homes and businesses.  This also explains why they leave their doors cracked (in the butt @ss cold), use plastic flaps or simply hang a blanket in the doorway - to avoid deadly buildup of carbon monoxide.  Twice during our time in the village we saw a truck driving through the village and heard the drivers were making announcements on a megaphone (in mandarin, of course).   Initially we joked that they were telling the villagers to hide because there were foreigners, but I realized it was the coal truck letting the people know that there was coal for sale so come and get it.

We got to a restaurant and ordered our new "go to" dish "Kung pow chicken".  The food was delicious and our sever warmed up to us after we poorly attempted to tell him the food was good. On our way out we ordered 6 beers to-go so we could each enjoy one on the wall.  It was already 1:30 when we began our journey up the wall.  The dirt path up to the wall had some steep sections, but also had some uneven stone steps.  The climb up began with a crew of 6, but within 15 minutes we lost 3 to their fear of heights. 

As we were planning this part of the trip we decided to avoid the highly populated tourist sections and go a more authentic area of the great wall.  Unlike what I had previously thought, the wall is actually broken into several sections - not one continuous wall. Several of the sections of the wall have been restored, but this section had not been- it was the real deal with missing bricks and half standing fortresses.  It is so amazing there was anything left after all these years.

So the three of us, Jana, Dominic and myself, journeyed onward. Nothing like getting to know strangers while sharing a hike on a little 'ol wall.   Once at the top, the view was breathtaking. It was fascinating how such a structure could be built so may years ago.  The pictures do not do it justice.  It really worked out that we didn't get started until the afternoon because the weather really warmed up and it became quite enjoyable. After about 3.5 hours, we were journeying down just in time to see the sun set disappear behind the mountain.