The Great Wall
Last night we made it to the night market. It was pretty amazing with stalls selling lots of strange foods! Grant was brave enough to buy a stick of scorpians, which were still alive before being deep fried! He ate the legs but as the opened the inside to reveal eggs, he decided against it! A little later he bought a starfish again still alive before being deep fried. Tristan and i were man enough to try a bit, it was a bit like a crab with a crunch. The same stall had lots of wierd stuff like iguana, mouse, centipede, cockroaches and snake. Other stalls had sheeps penis and testicles, some had dog. It was quite an experience! I bought some sugared fruit which was simialr to a toffee apple but instead of just an apple it was strawberries and kiwi on a stick. We also watched a man do sort of glass blowing with caramel to make a horse! The whole thing was very good fun!
Today we went to the great wall. It was a long day starting early, we woke up at 6am to be at reception for 6.40. With a group of about 15 or so we loaded up a mini bus and hit the road. Unfortunatley the one day we needed it not to it was raining! The drive was about 2 and a half hours and between sleeping, taking in the scenery and experiencing some rather frightening driving manouevers, we managed to arrive at about 9.30am. At this point the rain had begun to slow, which was good! All we needed then was some blue sky (which we havnt seen for 5 days!). On arrival we had the choice of a cable car or a short walk to the first tower. Out of our group we were the only ones to walk, which got us there quicker, saved us money and we got to see more of the wall! The first few towers were refurbished so despite the steep steps with narrow treads it was relativley easy. Then we came to the part that hasnt been refurbished and for the rest or our walk (8km and 30 towers) it was a bit more of a scramble. With loose bricks up steep steps (a bit like the slate in snowdonia). The views were incredible looking over mountains on both sides, with the wall weaving over the horizon in both directions. As we moved further along the wall the clouds began to move off and by the time we sat down for lunch, towards the end of our walk, we could see blue sky!! As we carried on the sun appeared to make a beautiful sunny afternoon! The last bit of the walk went across a river, we had to cross a rope brige. Although a little daunting it was good fun with great views. Once up the other side of the valley we had to get down to the car park. There were two ways to do this, walk or take the flying fox!! Of course we decided to take the flying fox!!! Which was a zip wire down the river to the first damn, from there we went on a boat to the next one and then walked the short way to the car park! It was certainly quicker and more fun than walking!! Tomorrow is our last full day in Beijing, not sure what we are going to do yet. We might go to the summer palace but we shall decide in the morning!
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robmorgan
Like the sound of Zip wire descent! Hope you took lots of photos on the Wall. Bet it was nice to get into the “fresh” air. Scorpion kebab sounds vile! Caramellised fruit gets a definite thumbs up.
Very relieved to read your account as Tristan’s email had said that Sherpa’s testicles were on sale, pleased to see that it was just sheep’s. The great wall sounded so amazing, plus the zip wire and the rope bridge. So enjoying your blog Robbie, keep it coming!!