Day Six - Beijing (hiking the Great Wall)
August 1st, 2005 by ktula
Instead of going to the more popular part of the Great Wall at Batalin (八達岭), i went for the hike of the Great Wall from Jinshanling (金山岭) to Simatai (司馬台). The trek from Jinshanling to Simatai is about 10.5 km and it is full of steep ascents and descents to the guard towers. The steepest part was about 70 degrees and i was told it was a 120-step climb. The view of the Great Wall during the hike was simply magnificent. I was constantly in awe and full of admiration for the people who built the series of wall about 650 years ago. I drank about 3 liters of fluid during this 3.5 hour hike and everything came out as sweat. I don’t think i have ever sweated so much in my life. Thank goodness for the polyester shirt i bought in Shanghai! At around the 3/4 point, i really felt like i could no longer move my legs because my thighs were so sore. I can’t say that i am in a decent shape now but if it took me that much effort to hike that section of the Great Wall, i really cannot imagine how hard it must have been for the people who built this wall.
During the hike, we (i went with a tour organized by the hostel staff that cost RMB 90 for the bus rides to and from Jinshangling) were constantly “harrassed” by vendors selling bottled water, drinks, T-shirts and guide books. At times, they could be a little annoying since the last thing you want when climbing up that steep incline is to constantly say “buyao” (不要), or “No thank you.” And they will follow you around, until you give up and either buy something from them or give them some money. I gave RMB 20 to this lady who followed me up and down about three towers before she finally left me alone. Don’t get me wrong - they were extremely friendly and on occasion, they would point you to the right directions or an easier route. Tell you what, no matter how you feel about their harrassment strategy, you have to respect them for being able to hike along side with you, carrying heavy loads of bottled drinks and stuff. In my opinion, this is really not an easy business to do.
Throughout my hike, i met some really nice and friendly fellow hikers. There were Simon, Helga and oh-i-can’t-remember-her-name from Germany, who were all kind enough to let me practice my limited German on them.
Then, there was the lovely Welsh couple of Greg and Louise who taught me the differences between Welsh and English. Greg and Louise are at the end of their 1-year travel throughout Asia and they are heading back to Wales in a few days. Someday, i would like to do what Greg and Louise did, sharing the journey to different parts of the world with someone i care about 
If there was anything i don’t like about this trip, it would have to be the bus ride to Jinshanling and back to Beijing. When we left the hostel, it was close to 0730. We did not return until after 2000. The hike from Jinshanling to Simatai was about 3.5 hours and we spent about 1 hour waiting for the mini-bus back to Beijing. So the mini-bus ride took more than 8 hours !!! And Jinshanling is really not all that far from Beijing.
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