I did it. Climbed to the top of a mountain, and got onto the great wall of China… I chose the Simatai and Jinshanling part of the wall. andthat turned out to be a winner… There are 4 parts of the wall within relatively easy reach of Beijing: Badaling, Mutianyu, Simatai and Jinshanling . Ordered by distance from beijing. At Badaling you litteraly cannot see the wall for tourists (and it is only 1 hour from Beijing centre – see other post). It gets better in Mutianyu and phenomenal at Jinshanling and Simatai…
I took a so called hike trip, i.e. without stops at factory outlets to purchase souvenirs. That was a wise decision, but to my surprise, it was a 10 km. hike on the wall.
Not especially long, but extremely demanding thinking about that it is 36 degrees celcius, no shade, and steep up and down hills – look at the pictures and judge for yourself.
Our guide told us, that it could be done in 4 hours if we really gave everything we had. I don’t believe him. The hike is via 30 towers. After about 8 towers he suggested we took a shortcut through the valley, and got back on the wall for the last 6 towers. We did… and even though we did that, we still used 4 hours for the hike…
4 km. on the wall, and 5 km. on the socalled shortcut. Admitted. It was mostly downhill, and not bumpy like the wall, but short?
The wall really IS worth going to China to see and experience. And I just got even more respect for those doing the Great wall marathon…
