Aimee’s World Tour

Justine and I woke to a new kind of wake up call – a 6 am knock at the door.  At first I was disoriented.  Shouldn’t that have been a ring? I got my wits about me and quickly called out ~ok!  We didn’t get up for another half an hour which allowed ourselves only 30 min. to get downstairs.  Our tour included breakfast, lunch, and transportation to the wall, as well as a discount on the acrobatics show we’re going to this evening.

We had a Swiss breakfast in the restaurant/bar downstairs.  A documentary about The Great Wall was playing for those early birds going to walk the wonder.  Justine and I decided to explore the Mutianyu section where there wasn’t an abundance of tourists.  This part of the wall was not rebuilt but we preferred to see the original and avoid the crowds.  Will had instructed us to go immediately to the tallest tower so that we could get the best shot of the Chinese snake.

Due to traffic we were not able to leave at 7:40 am but instead at almost 9 am.  Our tour guide was a perky20-something Chinese girl in a purple coat with a fun sense of style and nose ring. She knew her stuff but only spoke to us briefly on the bus and once we arrived at the wall.

Justine and I decided to go up by tower 6 via cable car.  Apparently everything right of tower 6 (lower) had different kinds of towers while those to the left were more or less the same though those towers went all the way to 23.  I believe 23 was the highest tower but we settled for the shorter side due to time restraints.  Will had advised us to go to the tallest tower that we first saw and I’m glad we chose that route.  It was high enough to get good shots of the wall without having to rush.

Likewise to what I’d heard, the steps of The Great Wall were all different heights and designs.  Some were quite steep while others were hardly an inch high.    I had been under the impression that everything right of watch tower number 6 was not refurbished.  It was not until we got all the way to the right that the untouched section of the wall revealed itself.  This section was not open to tourists.  Still, Justine and I ventured out the window and out onto the wall for a couple photos. I got down on the ground and looked at the crumbling section with great interest, thinking of the millions of Chinese who were forced into building this long dragonspine , this magnificent wall of defense.

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