Climbing the Great Wall

This story was posted under the categories: Big Asia Trip, China, Hiking

After our first days in Beijing we soon felt like leaving from this city. Although it ain’t that busy and there is nothing wrong with it we have to admit that cities are not our cup of tea.

As our train for Xi’an is only leaving today we were a little bit stuck in the city. So we had to fill another 3 days in Beijing! Soon we decided to go for a 2 days trip to the Great Wall. We left at 6 in the morning with a tourbus to Jinshaling, a quieter and more spectacular place to view the Great Wall than many touristy sites.

Some parts are very steep because they built the Wall on the highest tops of the mountains. It took us 4 hours to walk 10 km as this piece of the Wall has not been renovated it is very rocky and hard to climb.

Standing on top of the mountains surrounded by the Wall guarantees amazing vistas especially on a foggy day. The first day we stopped after 10 km and then left the tourgroup to stay overnight at Simatai.

Being all on ourselfs that night with NO other tourist around finally gave us the travelling feeling! We started enjoying the relaxing feeling and finally took some time to shedule the rest of our China trip.

On the second day we enjoyed the great weather, hiked another piece of the Great Wall up from Simatai and returned to Beijing for a last day of shopping.

Tonight we will head of to Xi’an by hardsleeper nighttrain from where we will continue more South to the larger Kunming area, and explore Dali, Lijang, Shangri-La, …  These villages are at the foot of the Himalaya and offer great trekking opportunities.

For more pictures check out our Photo’s section.