There it is folks. Getting out to the Wall was one of those special experiences that despite how many times I've seen it on TV and what not - it totally lived up to the hype. I got all tingly and excited as we climbed aboard.
All these photos are from Simatai - which is usually one of the most crowded sections. But we had the incredible luck of going at the end of the season and on a snowy day. It's an ancient wall. There aren't any safety rails. I wound up crab-walking and scooting on my hiney as we wended our way down, so as to avoid toppling into the Barbarian lands and being scooped up by a Hun.
The photo above was taken by a very smiley, very persistent hawker. I was a breath away from buying his sorta-lame postcards, but James had to be the strong one. After the guy followed us up and down the 9th tower, James told him - in Chinese - that we really weren't going to buy anything. And then he said he was a farmer and he was out of work. He walked all the way up the Wall that day for our little day-trip group. There was about one hawker for every two of us. I felt a little sad not buying anything, but it was still the beginning of our China trip, and James reminded me it would be the same all over. And it was -always people selling, pushing, begging. It's exhausting until you get tough about it. And then it's still exhausting. Honestly, when I think about it I still wish I would've bought his postcards.
More pictures at my Picasa! Click on the link, yo.
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1 comment:
Those are SPECTACULAR! I'm so glad you got to do that part of the trip.
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