All Along The Watchtower

I was waiting to use this title for an eventual Vietnam post, but that it would work well for our Great Wall adventure. There are many places you can get to The Great Wall from Beijing and each is a little different. Most are completely restored, but even then some are better than others; but pretty much all are very crowded. We heard a little bit about a non restored area of The Wall but had a hard time finding out a lot about it. After a few hours of scouring the internet and travel forums, we knew the name of the area, the general place that we had to take the city bus to, and about how much a taxi should cost to get from the bus stop to The Wall.

We were able to get off the bus stop at the right area, but since it was low season and we had gotten on the first bus to the area, and were the only passengers to get off the bus at our stop, there were only a few taxi drivers and their price was at a relative premium. By a "relative premium" I mean I got in a price debate with our potential driver for over less than $5.00. That in mind, it was about 140% more than what we were told to expect. Not willing to budge, we walked away in hopes of finding other drivers. In a small town like this, anyone with a car turns into a taxi driver, but none of them were willing to get down to the price we thought we should expect, so after a few hours of wandering and innefective charades negotiating, we made our way back to the bus stop where some other tourists had accumulated. We ended up being able to split a taxi for an amount close to what we expected with a guy who was from Salt Lake City, UT; but was working as an architect in Shanghai. As part of his working abroad program he had to sketch write about his experience for their website and so we thought we'd let him be an unknowing guest writer on our blog.

Here is a link to his full article, and an exerpt from The Wall below.

http://www.hksinc.com/insight/beijing/

"One of the last big adventures on my great Beijing tour was a pilgrimage to the Great Wall at Jinshanling. Thousands of kilometers of this famous wall dance across China’s northern mountains, a structure historically built to defend the ancient empire from tribal threats from current-day Mongolia. Rather than the relatively short journey north to Badaling, I opted for an expedition to Jinshanling, a remote access point three hours northeast of Beijing. Largely unrestored, this area of the Great Wall is affectionately referred to as the “wild wall” with numerous watchtowers and sections of the wall left to deteriorate over centuries of exposure to China’s remote north. After a bus ride to Miyun and some negotiation with a local to complete the trip, I started my journey east along the wall from Jinshanling towards Simatai. I had met some friends on the journey, and we spent a good portion of the day together – wandering along beautiful expanses of winding wall and exploring deteriorating ruins of ancient watchtowers. Climbing between mountain peaks, the path from one tower to the next was often incredibly steep – to build such a structure in an area so remote and rugged is immeasurably impressive. I have incredible admiration for the workers and builders who were able to accomplish such a feat. Needless to say, I have a new respect for the comforts and luxuries of modern construction.

We encountered a few other travelers along the way, but the adventure was mostly enjoyed in solitude – an indescribable, often magical experience. When we arrived at the ‘Simatai West’ portion of the wall, I climbed a few stacked rocks into a deteriorating watchtower and sat to draw the incredible view back to the west – the portion of wall we had just spent hours exploring. My friends continued on along the wall for a short time, while I sat to complete my small sketch. I sat for nearly an hour in total isolation, in one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been. There were hardly any sounds - no people, no birds, only the wind whistling through the watchtower around me. In our ever-expanding and populated world, this must be one of the last great world wonders that can truly be experienced in such a pure way. An experience I will forever cherish – just me and the great ancient wall."