Beijing (Part3)

I might as well hasten and finish my Beijing trip entries before I forget all the details.

The third day was the highlight of my Beijing trip -we went climbing the Great Wall! The morning portion of the day itself was uneventful. Basically on the way to the Geat Wall before entering the Badaling Highway, we went to a couple more 'mandatory shops'. See, they're so uneventful I don't even remember what they were now!! But I remember us stopping for lunch at this restaurant and meeting a group of UM students who were there for a study trip!! See?Malaysians everywhere!

The guide took us to the second access to the Wall, and as we arrived there in the afternoon, we missed the morning crowd, which suits us just nice as we had the place all to ourselves.

Anyway here are the pix:

The Wall from where we disembarked. That's the Badaling Highway. Our guide told us that the highway leads up north, all the way to Inner Mongolia and then to Mongolia, the country. Along the way we drove past truckloads of vegetables to be imported to the northern regions.


Mum and Dad at this large stone-statue thingy right before our climb. On the stone/boulder there was a carving of a popular saying in China. It said something to the tone of 'One is not a Warrior unless he has climbed the Great Wall'. Well, now that we've climbed it, then we're all warriors lah...;)



As with everything else ancient in China, one entry point is not enough!That's the outer entrance on the Wall, and inside you can find the real entrance to the place. And that's of me and my parents;) It was pretty windy there, so you have to bring extra clothing.




That's the guard post. Mum chose not to climb, so she stayed down there with our guide. Me, Dad, my sis and the other two ladies went up. The climb was pretty steep at some places, but towards the top of that section the climb got easier. They sealed off the top section as some points were ruined after years of changing weather, and it might get dangerous for the visitors.


This is the very, very steep point, it was practically an 80-degree climb. had to muster all one's energy to go up there. I felt miserable as I was also battling my asthma, but not knowing when I can get that opportunity again drove me to push myself hard. Thank god I exercise regularly;)


My Dad's quite a cam-whore hahaha...and that's the end point allowable for visitors. Beyond that point were ruins, so it was pretty dangerous to go on farther.

So after that we cautiously went down. I was the last to leave. It is often said that the climb up is actually easier than climbing down, especially on one's psyche. That's why I guess it's better to climb to the top of a mountain while it's dark and leave before it gets bright as the sight on the way down can be very very intimidating.


But I still ended up arriving before those two;)



After the Great Wall, we went to the Dr. Tea tea house (another mandatory place) before our return to the hotel.

It was great to be able to climb the Great Wall. truthfully speaking, I never dreamed that one day I would actually be there, but I did. Hopefully, the next time I go to Beijing I can climb it again by using the other two entry points.