Diary July 21, 2010

Author: Cody Lewis

Today we climbed the Great Wall. The day started early in the morning at 6 am. The five of us (Blim, Cody, David, Isaac, and Georgie) had hired a car and driver for the day, since we wanted to go to a more remote potion of the wall to avoid the crowds that are said to plague closer portions (Badaling!). After a two hour car drive, we arrived at our destination: Jinshanling, China.

The plan for the day was to start in Jinshanling and hike the wall to the nearby city of Simatai and meed the car there so that we don't have to hike back. Unfortunately, when we arrived we learned that Simatai has been closed for several months due to major renovations on the town.

Jinshanling is a small little tourist stop, and at 8:30 AM it's barely waking up. Eager to start, we purchased our tickets, used the bathroom, and began our walk up the hill to the wall. As soon as we started to walk two elderly Chinese peddlers caught up to us and latched on to our group. “Water? Book? Cards? T-shirt?” are politely but firmly thrown our way. The elderly woman followed us all the way up to the wall, and half way up the next hill on the wall before she was persuaded to try targets with more potential.

We began our hike by heading west, away from Simatai. What little tourists there were to begin with quickly dropped away, and there was nobody attempting to sell us things. We had the wall to ourselves, and it was one of the most pleasant portions of the trip.

The wall here is unrestored, typically falling apart, and overgrown with vegetation. While very picturesque, we had to be careful. A slip of the foot is the first step to a long fall off the wall to either side.

After a few miles we had to stop. The Chinese military has taken over the area beyond a smaller wall on top of the great wall. We decided it would be prudent to not try and go around the small wall, and began to head back east towards Jinshanling.

From Jinshanling we hiked west, towards our original destination of Simatai. We wanted to go on a long hike, and so came to the consensus to hike as far as we could before the wall was, supposedly, closed off.

The interesting thing about the wall is how no part of the wall is flat. It's all up and down, and much of the wall is very steep. Pictures don't do it justice: when you're standing at the bottom of an enormous climb to the top of some hill, you begin to wonder who can actually defend such a structure. And once you do eventually reach the top, sweaty, dehydrated, and breathing hard, you look out to the other side of the guardhouse and see another hill on the other side.

Despite all of these trials, two of the elderly Chinese peddler women remained with us the entire time, simply keeping us company and carrying their bags of souvenirs. While the rest of us would be winded a the top of a hill and drinking gallons of water to counter the heat, these two women would just stand in the shade and smile, and occasionally sip from a small water bottle.

We stopped to have lunch at one of the many guardhouses, this one at the top of the largest hill around. PB & J sandwiches, junk food from the student store, and lots of water served to nourish our tired bodies. After lunch Blim, Cody, and Isaac continued on towards Simatai to see how far they could get while David and Georgie stayed at the guardhouse to rest.

After hiking for about an hour, we learned that Simatai isn't really all that closed. Rather, you just can't go there from a car and start in Simatai. There is nothing on the wall to stop one from hiking from Jinshanling to Simatai, indeed, there is nothing to even indicate that Simatai is closed. The only sign that we ever saw was from the car when we were leaving.

Once we learned this, Blim and Cody continued on towards Simatai while Isaac returned to David and Georgie, whereupon they returned to the car and drove on over to Simatai to pick up the wayward hikers.

All in all, the Great Wall was an exhausting experience. Climbing in the heat and blazing sun, and going up and down, down and up all day drains all reserves of energy. The hike was exciting, though, since we were able to experience a world wonder. Seeing the wall snake away into the distance as far as the eye can see is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives. The Great Wall was truly the cultural highlight of our trip.

	Georgie at the Great Wall.
	Much of the wall is unrestored. Photo featuring David.
	Georgie and Isaac hanging on the edge of the world. The fall is rather far from the top of the guard tower...
	David looking at an insigna of a brick maker.
	Georgie and Isaac contemplating the Wall on The Great Wall. The small wall prevented us from going into an active military zone.
	A race to the top! Several hundred feet of steep elevation gain. Cody, Isaac, Blim, and Georgie.
	David exploring a ruined watch tower. Nearly all of the towers are in a similar state.
	Georgie, Cody, Isaac, Blim, and David. We started the morning by hiking past (into the distance) the most distant tower visable in this photograph.
	Cody passing his bag to Blim while traversing a broken portion of the wall.
	Cody in a guardhouse.
	The guardhouses provided a convenient place to rest between traversing sections of the wall. They weren't any cooler, but they were shaded.
	The suspension bridge at Simatai. Blim and Cody made it to the Simatai wall entrance, about halfway up the opposing hill.
	Cody at the Simatai bridge.
	Some portions of the wall require climbing into the guardhouse.
	Not another soul to be seen on the wall. We had it all to ourselves. Cody, Isaac, Georgie, David, and Blim.
	David making his way to the top of a guardhouse.
	Isaac, still fresh and eager to tackle the wall.
	Blim, pausing for a moment to wonder where everyone else is.
	Isaac, king of the world.
	Isaac, Blim, and Grandma deep into the portion of the wall between Jinshanling and Simatai.
	The wall at Simatai climbs the spine of an impressive mountain range.
	Blim, on his first suspension bridge.

//Calender