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| Look! It's just there behind the corn! |
The cooler weather is slowly moving in across Beijing and the nights are getting progressively cooler!
So this weekend we ventured further out of the city to explore an older, non restored section of China's Great Wall, which is located around 150kms North East of Beijing.
After scouring several travel blogs and websites we decided to do an overnight hike from Gubeikou to Jinshanling. This is a wild section of the Great Wall and although it is supposedly frequented by other hikers we didn't meet anyone this weekend bar an old lonely goat herder! Getting to the wall was relatively easy, even with our awful Chinese.
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| Kara checking the interesting brick work |
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| Hiking on one of the most broken areas |
We took an express bus to a small township (Miyun) and from there an even smaller country bus to Gubeikou in the Hebei Province. Finding a trail was the hardest bit as it was well down a small local road and then we had a mad scramble up through the undergrowth over a collapsing goat track and over a few prickle bushes.
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| A old section of the wall that hasn't broken down |
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| Following the path along the wall |
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| Looking down from a watch tower |
But overall we were impressed with our timing, taking us only 4 hours to reach the start of the track from leaving Beijing! Being a wild section the track wasn't signposted nor were there any markers.
We got a little lost in the overgrown bush and then again later in a corn field. We did however have the umm.. 'pleasure' to meet some absolute scary looking spiders and later Kara found a freshly peeled snake skin on her boot (yes- seriously!).
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| Prepping for the next climb |
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| Our humble abode for the evening |
When we found the wall, it really only looked like a very compressed hill of orange dirt with the odd brick stuck in.
Apparently many of the original bricks were taken by locals many decades ago for whatever purpose. However as we ventured further into the mountains, sections of the wall grew more solid.
We climbed for a few hours up and down the wall as it navigated the ridges. Around 5pm we stopped for a delicious dinner and to watch the sun go down at one of the highest watch towers. Being the occasion it was (a night on the Wall), John came prepared with a mid-size bottle of spicy cab-sav- which was enjoyed thoroughly!
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| View back towards Gubeikou |
The sunset wasn't as spectacular because it was a reasonably cloudy over cast day but we were treated with the birds singing their final song over an amazing, peaceful and serene landscape.
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| Basic sleeping arrangements |
Later we ventured down the wall's several watch towers, to one that we had seen with relatively flat flooring and set up our camp (meaning- laying our self inflatable air mattresses) before a few hands of cards on the roof and a munch on some sunflower seeds.
The night was unfortunately very long, very dark and VERY cold. Although we didn't have sleeping bags we dressed very warm and would recommend doing the camp much earlier in the year, when the nights are warmer. It could be a tad uncomfortable if you're not prepared. However, the next morning we rose early (not before the chickens at a far off farm though) and hiked up over another mountain to watch the sunrise. It was just beautiful, quiet and tranquil.
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| Looking North in the sunrise |
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| Sunrise over the mountains |
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| Onwards and upwards! |
From there some of the wall was closed off with large (DANGER! Military) signage so we headed North into the bush to detour that area. The detour was longer than we thought and after almost two hours, swaddling through corn fields and up dusty rock paths we made it back to the wall. Here we sat and very much enjoyed our well deserved breakfast of canned sweet porridge beans overlooking the panoramic views towards Jingshanling and further afield- Simati. We had made it to the start of Jingshanling!
From here we clambered back onto the wall and within 3 kilometers we were on a section that had been restored back in 1984 by the government. It was very relaxing to climb the even stoned stairs and wander along the perfect paths but it was here that we decided to jump off the wall and head back to Beijing!
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| Looking back from Jingshanling |
Visiting the wall is a must for anyone who comes to Beijing! This was most likely our last trip to the wall for the year and we had a ball! For those who want to escape the more touristy restored sections and get a feel for the ancient China or just to marvel at the absolute engineering feat it must have been to build the wall we hope you make the journey too!
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| Looking onwards towards Simatai |
(Please be aware getting a bus back to Beijing from Jingshanling can be somewhat difficult- if you are not prepared to 'negotiate' the exorbitant prices from the taxi men it's another 5km walk to the closest bus stop.)
Tot siens,
John and Kara
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