the sweetest PAST. the crumbled PRESENT. the uncertain FUTURE.

Friday, July 6, 2007

[23062007, Sat] GREAT WALL OF CHINA - CONQUERED!

Yes, folks. After WEEKS of postponing, we've finally went on our mission to conquer the Great Wall of China. FYI, for those unacquainted ones, it wasn't a walk in the park. Frankly, before I came to 北京 for my attachment, I've always thought of the Great Wall as...well... 2 walls with a pathway in between. Indeed, that's the case with 八达岭, the most 'touristy' part of the Great Wall, although the stairs are also not for those with weak knees. The Great Wall has undergone extensive repairs throughout the years, especially to the 八达岭 section. But adventurous Hobbit and I, having heard from our friends (a.k.a. JK and Vera) about the breath-taking beauty of the unrestored sections (including the challenging 6hours hike/climb that supposedly would leave u lying flat on the floor the next day), decided to go for the 金山岭 to 司马台 part of the Great Wall.

Time of Departure from Home: 0745hrs
Time of arrival at Entrance to 金山岭: 1009hrs
Entrance fee: 50RMB each

Time of arrival:

Map of 金山岭:

Entrance to 金山岭长城:

Power up with a 3RMB banana!

Great Wall in the distance:

After a short walk, we reached the cable car station where we had to pay for a 9min ride to the Great Wall where we were to start our hike. They were playin different kinds of songs, ranging from the soothing instrumental theme from 'Dying Young' to gung-ho chinese patriotic songs which I recognise the tune but the title escaped me.

Lee, our (unintentionally) amusing M'sian colleague, wavin 'bye' after he hops onto the cable car that would take us to the starting point of the hike:

View from within the (stuffy) cable car:

Our new trekkin shoes/boots on their first outing:

The blue blue sky and the greens-covered mountains:

Line of cable cars:

Adidas unite:

Upon hoppin out of our stuffy cable car, we could still hear the music being played around us. I must admit that it felt kinda weird to hear the soothin strains of 'Dying Young' being played in the mountainous area. Forbiddin even, but then again, that would be thinkin too much. We made our way towards the Great Wall and were awed by the beauty of the greens-covered mountains around us.

Great weather, great scenery:

Our journey:

Takin in the natural beauty around me (p.s. I love the artistic nature of this shot):

Makin our way to the 'starting point' of our Great Wall hike:

Self-shot (Steady hand, perfect backdrop, brilliant smiles and... perfect hair. Nice.):

The first watch-tower that we entered:

This was one of the stalls set up by the village folks livin around the area. That's how they supplement their living - by sellin drinks and souvenirs to visitors to the Great Wall. They also offer to guide u on ur trek, like lending u support as u make ur way down the various trecherous parts along the wall, in return for u to buy some of the souvenirs that they're selling. We had 3 such villages following us (on their own accord) later on. Sometimes they're so courteous, u'll have a hard time rejectin their pleas to buy something from them and shakin them off.

Makin our way up the stairs to the 2nd storey of the first watch tower:

Hobbit stickin her head out from the Great Wall:

Lee, acceeding to our photo request:

Grafitti on the Wall:

All hands on the Great Wall!

First steps:

A lone trekker on the Wall:

Natural ruins against the blue sky:

Crumblin ruins of the 2nd watch tower:

Step by step:

Pathway, flanked by the walls:

Standin among the ruins of time:

Walkin along the loose bricks:

Repair works in progress:

A little look back at how far we've walked (just the tip of the iceberg, really):

Lee, lookin out the window:

Long way to go:

103 steps to 将军台；as the locals say, “上了将军台，这次不白来”, meaning reaching the top of this "General's Watch Tower" makes ur trip worthwhile:

Ang Moh takin up the challenge:

Hobbit, on her way to the top (Can u spot the Ang Moh resting on the steps?):

Meandering pathways around the mountains:

Narcissistic me, while climbing the 103 steps:

Sense of accomplishment:

Dwarfed by the majestic wall:

View from 将军台:

2 bags, at the top of the world:

After skipping (!!!) on the Great Wall's 将军台:

Our journey ahead:

Tired trekkers:

'Our' seemingly tireless 'guides' (they just followed us on their own accord):

"It's a long long journey...":

A second just-as-steep flight of stairs:

Time: 1229hrs

Time passed since start of trek: 1:29hours

Duration of trek left: ???

Photo with the villagers, after we bought souvenirs from them (and sent them packin):

Onwards and upwards!

It's a tiring hike, but I'm not too tired to take my own picture =p

Our road ahead:

Sitting on the Great Wall with the wind (blowing sand) in our face:

My atapchi's foot and mine, sticking out while perched on the wall:

Hell of a tiring climb - her face says it all:

Tourists opting to take the short cut (thus avoiding more challenging sections on the wall):

Fellow trekker takin 5:

Hobbit in the window:

Beautiful pic:

Hobbit took this from the bush:

Hobbit with a rock FOR CHUHUI (Yes, Chuhui, we didn't forget u; we do keep our promises!):

Standing before a watch tower which was deemed (by the authorities) too dangerous for trekkers to pass:

Time: 1341hrs

Time passed since start of trek: 2:41hours

Location: Entrance to 司马台 from 金山岭.

Entrance fee: 40RMB each.

Joe, a fellow trekker we met on the wall:

'Wall-less' Great Wall:

Hobbit's obviously estatic about being on the Great Wall:

See what I mean?

"Welcome to the Great Wall...":

2 small figures finding their way along the wall:

Hobbit and Lee (check out her expression):

"Left! Left! Left! Right! Left!":

How much further?

When u go up, u must come down:

Q.C. of the Great Wall; apparently, if the bricks fail their Q.C. check, heads might roll:

Rocky road:

Feel the gravel in ur shoes:

Steep? We had to make our way down this:

And here's lookin back at the way we came:

Atapchi callin our Ang Dau (while I'm bein narcissistic again):

Remember how our dear Lee posed at the start of our journey? Well, we've 'influenced' him to changing his pose a little:

Hobbit should really be called "Hop-it" (p.s. this pic is dedicated to Hobbit's Dad):

The holes on the wall say that we should not test our weight on them:

"Welcome to 长城. We hope u enjoy ur trek with us...":

Agriculture plains flankin the wall:

Shoring system to guard against strong winds:

Modern intervention to drain away rain water:

Suddenly, the walls and the pathway looks so neat and orderly (and NEW):

Yes, folks. Coca Cola has reached the top of the world:

The Coke which made me go "BURRRPPPP..." (and made Lee turn his head and go "WAH!"):

I know Mama taught me to be good and follow the rules, but here I am, spidey-in across to the other side:

*whistles*

No idea what these words mean but I thought they looked pretty cool, embossed on the wall:

Hobbit in the hole!

Bunch of wacky Ang Mohs runnin down the Great Wall, one of them with a red sunflower soft-toy in his backpack; Can u spot which one is he?

Time: 1516hrs

Time passed since start of trek: 4:16hours

Finally, we've reached the end of our Great Wall trek. Now, we're leaving the Great Wall itself, our final destination - the 司马台 car park where our cab driver is patiently waiting for us.

The end of our Great Wall trek:

Down the stairs to the bridge:

Self-shot from the left:

and another from the right:

Meandering river:

If u peer closely enough, u'd notice a small figure in the middle of the picture; That's a person doin the flyin fox:

The bridge which cost us 5RMB each to cross:

Basically, they just plant a guy at the end of the bridge to collect 5RMB from u when u reach that end -_-" I wonder what the hell for.

Small little nook that we came across:

Hobbit in the corner:

Ernie in the corner:

Ernie leaning out to explore what lies beyond the corner from the little nook:

Backs on the Great Wall, lookin up at the blue blue sky:

Blue sky with fluffy white clouds:

We've reached the 司马台 end!

Yeah we did it!

The sign says it all:

We took the flyin fox down from the wall. Wanted to film ourselves doin it. We did. But only like 5seconds cuz MY 2GIG SD CARD WAS ALREADY MAXED FROM ALL THE PICS I'VE TAKEN ON THE GREAT WALL.

So this is us on the boat AFTER flyin fox:

Notice u don't see another Lee with us? He had opted to walk to the car park instead of takin the flyin fox + boat ride. According to him, his heart cnt take the excitement anymore. ah well.

View of the Dam construction:

Hobbit's still as energetic after conquering the Great Wall:

Ernie's bushed:

Awe-inspiring wonder in the smoky distance:

Map of 司马台长城:

And so, we've CONQUERED THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Ok. It wasnt even close to trekkin the entire wall, but hey! We did the most natural section of the wall! And we've got the entrance tickets and the pictures (and even a rock for Chuhui) to prove it! haha.

Back on the cab, contrary to her seemingly boundless energy in the pictures, dear Hobbit knocked out during the 1hour plus cab ride back to 北京. Went for a nice dinner at Trader's Hotel with JK, Vera and YM; JK chose buffet dinner cuz he thought the 2 of us would be starved from the long trek; we were, but kinda tired to enjoy the food. ah well. It was major wash-up in the fantastic hotel toilet before dinner to wash off all the Great Wall dirt and grime that had coated our faces, necks and arms.

Collapsed when we got home. Knock out.

Statistics:

Mission: Great Wall of China

Section: 金山岭 to 司马台

Time we set off from home: 0745hours

Time we reached 金山岭 entrance: 1009hours

Time we reached 司马台 exit: 1630hours

Total time taken: ~6.5hours

Total distance covered: ???

Bottles of water consumed: ~6

Cans of coke consumed: 1

Size of pictures and videos taken: ~2G total

Value of experience: Priceless

josh, signin off.

Labels: great wall of china

09:15;
- vagabond -