The GRRREAT Wall

Ahh the Great Wall of China, what can I say? It was..... GRRREAT! (said in my Tony the Tiger voice)

In case you didn't know, I'm a bit of a cheapskate when I travel. In order to travel for months at a time, I have to be. That's not to say that I don't splurge every once in a while. Because I do.

Naturally, I decided to skip the over-priced tours (tours are for tourists) and opted to find my own way to the Wall via the local bus, squeezed in tightly next to no one but locals. I want to get to know this culture firsthand.

Remember, at this point, the only words I know how to say in Chinese are- hello, water, vegetarian, yes, no and thank you. I'm guessing the only English word they probably know is "hallo!"  I knew this was going to be an adventure, and I welcomed it with open arms.

First, I needed to take the subway to the bus station. I was having a hard time finding the subway, so I took a shot in the dark and asked a group of Chinese "do you speak English?" one brave lady softly said "yes". I couldn't believe it! This was like finding a needle in a hay stack. She spoke better English than anyone in China I've encountered thus far. I was impressed.

Not only did she go out of her way to walk me the 7 blocks to the subway, she rode the subway with me to make sure that I got to where I was going. Out of the goodness of her heart. This gave me a lot of hope in the Chinese people. I thanked her profusely as we parted ways. She has good karma coming her way.

On a side note, the way the Chinese pack themselves into the subway is incredible. They create such a tight fit, I bet if I lifted my feet off the ground, I would be suspended in the air with my legs dangling. Can you imagine?!

I found bus #916 to bring me to the Mutianyu section of the wall. Cost: $1.75. Cost if I would have taken the tour: $50. See why I'm a cheapskate? Plus, this way is much more fun.

After a bit of research, I discovered the Mutianyu section is the more scenic and less touristy section of the Wall. The bus took me an hour and a half through the outskirts of Beijing. I could see civilization slipping the farther we inched away from the city. At one stop, a rough looking Chinese lady wobbled in, I scooted over and she sat next to me. She started rattling off a friendly string of Chinese words to me. I just nodded and smiled at her. Do I look like I speak fluent Chinese?

At the last bus stop I needed to catch a cab to get to the Wall. I bartered hard with a taxi man. A crowd of locals formed and got a good laugh for the day as I lightheartedly joked with the brown toothed taxi driver. Travel tip: ALWAYS barter with a smile :)

He waited 3 hours for me while I hiked the Wall. It was a fairly steep 30 minute hike before I actually reached it. My anticipation grew the closer I got. The first glimpse I got of the Wall stopped me in my tracks. This was one of the main reasons why I came to China. I've dreamt of this moment for a long time. A big smile spread over my face (the same way it did when I first saw the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, the Colosseum....) When you've seen so many pictures of a famous structure, to actually see it with your own eyes seems so surreal.

I hiked up and down the rugged, uneven steps and through the many watchtowers of the old Wall. It slithered over the hills for as far as I could see, like a giant snake. What an amazing feat of engineering. The autumn colored leaves created a photo op at every turn.

It was a perfect day. To be more accurate, it was a GRRREAT day! To top it off, I had the most scrumptious vegetable dumplings at the bottom of the Wall. They were overpriced (for China) at $6, but they were worth every penny. You can't always be a cheapskate....

P.s. I'm headed to Tibet tonight on a 48 hour train. It's the highest train in the world! I will be in Tibet for 10 days, so I'll post again once I have Internet!