today I really did walk the great wall.
selfie
we woke today to discover that the big grey veil had been lifted off the city. I suspect it's because it was a holiday and the factories were closed...either way, it was good for us. the plan was to drive two hours outside the city to look at a particular section of the wall in a little place called Jinshanling. it was rather remote...very few people there....a few locals trying very hard to get you to buy trinkets...
a cable car takes you up to the wall...real small and with hardly any air in them.....but then we got to the top and...WOW. I know it helped that it was a remarkably clear day, but...WOW. It was all quite a rush.
the wall is all very irregular...from photos, things so regimented...but in reality so much of it is steep and precarious....only a few creepy moments...
spectacular views up there....beijing to the left, mongolia to the right
after walking this section, we went of to another piece about 30 minutes away....it was a stark contrast to what we had just come from. this was more of a theme park environment....sort of a studio back lot...anyway, we skipped all that....and went straight up to the next cable car. take a look at the photo below...at the top of those rocky cliffs is the great wall. it was rather impressive...thing is...it was so rocky and steep up there that we didn't venture all the way up.....I definitely got a good dose though...
look closely at the top of the rocks...that's a part of the Great Wall!
oh, and I saw two birds today!!
off to The Forbidden City tomorrow....I feel another obligatory selfie coming on.