To cap off my birthday I planned a
Great Wall visit; I went in 1997 and although I thoroughly enjoyed
the experience foggy weather spoiled the photography! For me this is
a must anyway, you can't very well come to China and not see the
Wall!
There are a few options, among these is
visiting independently and staying at the Wall in a village but this
is daunting owing to the fact of having either to get 3 buses there
or catch a taxi to take you there for about £120/150 each way, plus
having to negotiate a room price etc. As I'm travelling solo I decide
to do the Great Wall hike offered through one of the hostels in
Beijing:
I travel to Beijing on Thursday evening
and have booked a Chinese hotel in the area: good value with two
super little restaurants close by, an Indian and a Thai restaurant.
I have a problem when I arrive as I can't find the hotel! I walk into
the wrong one and spend about half an hour on the phone to the
booking agency trying to find it, as at the address I have there is a
different hotel! No-one seems to know where it is! In the end I go to
the Indian restaurant where I've been before, as the proprietor
speaks English and he knows the place. It turns out to be next door
to the one I walked into although the entrance is down an alleyway!
Feeling relieved but a little sheepish I book in and go straight out
for an Indian meal which is delicious. As there is nowhere to get
lunch on the Wall I'm advised to take my own so I deliberately order
too much so that I have bread and curry left over to take out with
me.
I take my left-over curry back to my
room and wander out into the hutong to visit a few bars. This takes
me to a small local bar, then to Great Leap and finally to my
favourite small bar in Houhai where the barmaid tells me she suspects
I've been elsewhere for a beer before going in!
The next morning it seems I've overdone
it as I have a terrible hangover, so cursing my own stupidity I have
a shower and freshen myself up, then pack my bag with food, coat,
hat, camera etc and with my head a fog of dull aches head out for an
early breakfast. I stop at a fruit stall and buy some apples on the
way. I have a full English which is very pleasant sitting by the
window in the sun. Coffee seems to help a bit.
I arrive at the hostel and confirm my
place on the Walk. I have 2 bottles of water with me although I do
get given a free one as well at the hostel. The trip starts at 8.30
and I arrive at 8 so there is plenty of time. I go and have a
sanitary visit (taking my own loo roll as Chinese public toilets
never have any!)
As is the way of these things most
other people taking the tour are young American backpackers,
gap-year types all blonde hair and hot-pants, describing everything
as “Awesome!” “How are you today?” “Awesome!” “What do
you think of the Wall?” “Awesome!” Apart from that it's all
“I've been here and I've been there....etc etc” I tend to find
these kinds of people somewhat irksome so avoid any interaction,
being something of an old codger!
We have to walk some distance to the
coach and as I for some reason find myself ahead of the others have
to keep looking back to check I'm going in the right direction! ! I
think to myself: “I don't know why they're following me, I don't
know where I'm going!”
As it turns out I spot the coach and
with my pidgin Chinese manage to confirm it's the right one: I'm
getting better at this! (Not much better though, it's a slow
process!)
The journey from Beijing takes about 3
hours and is comfortable as it's an air-conditioned coach and we stop
for about 15 minutes at Miyun, a town half-way to the Wall for a
break and toilet stop!
A sense of anticipation builds up as we
approach the Wall and I can see it in the distance. It's much higher
up than I expected, also it runs along a number of very steep
pinnacles, almost like church steeples or witches' hats, they are so
steep and I feel a daunting feeling about how strenuous the Walk is
going to be.
We have lunch on the bus (curry and
bread for me!) as there is nowhere to eat on the Wall: the tour guide
encourages this and I suspect this is to avoid the possibility of
litter being left on the Wall.
On arrival at around 11.30 we are
greeted by little knots of Chinese ladies all speaking a little
English, wearing brightly coloured hats and trying to sell souvenirs.
They seem to be everywhere and I politely decline their attempts to
get me to buy fake Chinese saucer hats, T-shirts etc.
We are shown a map and told where the
bus will be picking us up at 3.30pm, as once on the Wall we will be
left to our own devices. After loo visits, ticket issuing, briefing
etc we get onto the Wall at about 12.00. The Walk is about 6km
(4miles) but is along a set of very steep inclines, passing 22
watchtowers. After the 22nd we have to come off the Wall
and descend. I set off at an ambling pace and on the inclines unlock
my knees and take my time. My left knee protests a bit and I groan
inwardly as I can imagine getting into discomfort. I have to remind
myself I'm 52, not 24! It turns out that I end up several hundred
yards ahead of the others and this suits me fine as I'm a solitary
walker. The weather is very warm, the sky is clear and perfect for
photography. I hydrate every few hundred yards and am glad I left my
coat on the bus. I start to feel the power of the sun on my skin.
The views along this section are
magnificent and my photography cannot do them justice. This really is
one of those unmissable experiences that we will carry with us all
our lives!
One one section there is an old Chinese
man walking along with a backpack containing some sort of music
player playing loud, cheesy Chinese music, smiling inanely and waving
his hands in the air. It spoils the tranquillity of the place and I'm
glad when I reach one of the watchtowers and he stops with a group of
Chinese, it looks as if he is some sort of dance teacher.
I'm very lucky as there are very few
people on the Wall today. I originally booked to come in the May Day
holiday but changed my mind as all my friends and colleagues told me
the place would be impossibly crowded and I'm glad I did it!
In some of the watchtowers I get lost
and think I can't get back on the Wall, when I suddenly spot a shaft
in the floor, where there is a steep and narrow staircase to descend.
Some sections of the Wall consist of very steep staircases, which I
climb sideways to protect my knees. In some parts I hold on to the
battlements on the side of the Wall to keep my balance.
Now when out walking in my experience
there is always some athletic type who wants to spring along like a
mountain goat and do the whole thing in as little time as possible.
In this case it's two American girls who at this stage are constantly
right on my heels. I stop for a rest to let them go past as I can't
keep ahead of them. Annoyingly however they stop just after I do and
I can't get rid of them, so I push on ahead and keep hydrating,
putting some distance between us as they stop inside one of the
watchtowers. This seems to work as I find I'm by myself again and can
relax a bit. I do try and maintain my pace, avoiding striding too
much, taking my time.
The watchtowers are splendid, but
inside each one, would you believe it? There are touts selling
t-shirts, tepid cans of Red Bull, water and beer! How the hell do
they get up here every day? Or are they living on the Wall? This
tends to be annoying as inside the watchtowers it's cool and shady,
but I can't stay and rest because of the touts so have to keep
moving.
Some parts of the Wall are crumbling
and actually a little dangerous. As I walk along, the gradient is
rising all the time so that the further I go, the higher I get, and
the views just get better! I'm seduced by the panorama, so take many
shots to put together on a PC later!
I start to wish I'd counted the
watchtowers as I have no idea how far I've gone or have to go. I try
in vain to count them by looking back at the Wall. The trouble is,
you can't see all of them because the Wall snakes along in zigzags
and sometimes doubles back on itself.
I begin to feel a sense of dizziness
and hope this isn't due to encroaching exhaustion as I do feel the
strain of the Walk. I think however, that it's actually vertigo
caused by the steepness of some of the inclines. At least my
headache has disappeared!
Arriving at this watchtower I stop for
a minute or two as there is no way I'm walking up there without a
rest! When I set off I go sideways on, leaning on the right hand side
of the Wall as the battlements on the other side are crumbled away.
This part is actually a little hairy! I go up 5 steps at a time and
rest for a few seconds every 5. Eventually I get to the top and sit
on the step to take a photo.
A little further up is the entrance to
the watchtower where I sit to have a drink of water. As soon as I do,
I hear a grunt at my side and a wizened old Chinese man is sitting
right next to me. He looks a real character, all Mao hat, pyjama
style suit, beard and clay pipe! He grunts at me something like “Buy
beer. Buy water.” I try to take his photo but he won't allow me to,
grunting “Money,” and rubbing his fingers together. I apologise
and get up to go as I find him deeply unpleasant.
I have an apple a little way on as I
begin to feel my blood sugar levels getting low. I realise I've also
been sweating so much my bag is wet inside! I pass some walkers going
the other way and ask how far to the last watchtower. Sadly they
don't know but think it may be 5.
Eventually I find a watchtower with
steep stairs, but this one has brick-built boxes like small arbours
built on to the stairs, presumably for guards to fire arrows from.
Just behind me are the inevitable American girls. Unable to stand
them on my heels for another minute I sit inside one of the boxes to
have a rest, drink and let them go past. I wait for a few minutes,
and some Australians pass by and say Hi. I want to stay a little
longer but by now am being pestered by hornets so have to move on
again. I catch up with the Australians who like me are taking their
time, by now the Americans are disappearing fast much to my relief.
Some way further on is a big
watchtower, and inside there is cool shade and of course the
inevitable T-shirt shop, full of Chinese ladies selling things! We
all keep walking along the Wall until they call after us: “This 22!
Tower 22!”
I can hardly believe it. It's now 2.15
and I've been on the Wall for just over 2 hours. I hope I've managed
to take enough photos. The Wall actually defies photography because
of its scale. Unsure of whether we are being misled but actually
grateful to come off, we walk slowly down a stone path in the shade
of the trees on the mountainside, passing a pagoda and after what
seems an age see the coach in the distance. Finally we get to the
bottom and are the first ones back. The Walk has taken me around 2.5
hours all told, a little quicker than I had intended, but not at all
bad for 52 and out of practice!
We realise the American girls haven't
appeared and we didn't see them on the way down. It seems they
haven't realised they were at the last tower, or didn't want to stop!
We have visions of them getting lost on the Wall and wonder what
would happen in that case? A collective sense of worry develops as
all the others arrive over the next half-hour. I have a cold beer
which turns out to be a mistake as it tastes terrible owing to my
over-indulgence the day before!
Finally the Americans appear blithely
saying “Oh yeah we just wanted to... walk on, y'know?” Gritting
my teeth I wonder again what would have happened if they'd got lost.
A collective sigh of relief is breathed and we all relax until it's
time to get back on the coach.
The return journey takes much longer
than the outward owing to heavy traffic and some of the backpackers
wanting to visit the toilet on the way back. One wonders whether they
had the sense to visit before we left, and annoyingly trying to make
the bus detour for railway stations. In the end they get off at a
subway station, and at the last stop I limp wearily off the bus back
to the hutong for a plate of ersatz fish and chips and two large cups
of ginger tea which is delicious and really restores my spirits! By
the time I get there it's 7.20 pm.
I have a hot shower and relax before an
early night, which is a dreamless and interrupted sleep, but enough
as I feel OK the next morning, although predictably my legs are like
jelly!
I don't have the energy to do anything
at all today except go for breakfast (an egg mayo and avocado
sandwich on toasted bread: delicious!) and wander round Houhai where
I visit a tea shop by the lake which is beautiful but exorbitantly
expensive!
I have sausage and mash for lunch but
for some reason I am unable to just relax. I walk back to the hotel
through the hutongs and have a doze which does help and feeling a
little better go out for another Indian, and more or less repeat
Thursday night in the bars except I don't have too much to drink this
time!
