#1

I finally made it to the Great Wall! I think the word "wall" conjurs up thoughts of evenly constructed walkways that anyone can simply walk about. I suggest that they change the name to "The Great Steps." My oh my! There are a ton of steps!! We originally had a 30-minute walk (we could have taken a gondola up, but who does that?) up some very challenging steps just to get to the Wall. Once we got up there, we realized that a lot of the wall was steep steps in itself, so it was challenging, but I was so gung-ho that it didnt really faze me. We even climbed to the "top" whereupon we were able to witness the beautiful landscape. I cant imagine a more beautiful landscape... anywhere.












Perhaps the highlight of the trip was leaving the Wall. As the old saying goes, what goes up, must go down. We werent about to walk ourselves down those damned stairs. So, we opted for taking a tobboggan down the mountain. These 1-person get-ups by no means meet American safety standards with a single paltry hand break, but nonetheless, the amount of fun made up for the lack of safety.





I also managed to buy one of the Chinese rice hats at the base of the mountain. I asked the guy how much, he said "80" my friend countered with "15" and he simply said "ok!". That was too easy.



Well, at least I'll be able to return. I expect at least 2 more visits to the Wall. Once more with my parents and another time in the fall with my program whereupon we'll actually spend the night on the Great Wall!