Once Intended To Ward Off Enemy Attacks Today It Brings Together The Peoples Of The World. The Great Wall, May It Continue To Act As A Symbol Of Friendship For Future Generations. (From a monument stone at the top of the cable car.)
Off to see the Great Wall of China! Do we take a tour or public transportation and go to Badaling which we have been told is crowded, but closer to Beijing? Or do we go to Mutianyu which is supposed to be less crowded, more spectacular, but further from Beijing? Our hotel offered a bus tour or private car and driver to Mutianyu. We decided that we would splurge and take the private car. The private car was more convenient and we wanted to get to the great wall early before the tour groups. Also, since we booked the private car with our hotel, they gave us a really nice boxed lunch and 2 bottles of water. As we were approaching the great wall it started to snow. We were asked if we wanted to stay 2 or 3 hours. We had not really thought about it. With having to make a fast decision we chose 2 hours. In hindsight we wish we would have chosen 3 hours.
From the parking lot, there are three ways to get to the top of the Great Wall. You can take the cable car, chairlift or you can climb up the 4,000 plus steps, which they say should take you about an hour. For us, we might have needed half a day to climb the steps. We chose the cable car. The cable car cost us about $18.00 per person. It felt very safe, the views were terrific and for us it was worth it.
Something that made it even more spectacular, IT SNOWED! It didn’t snow a lot, and it didn’t stick to the ground for long, but it was very special for us.
When we arrive at the top of the wall, you had to make a choice. Do you go left or right? With either direction we need to warn you that this can be difficult walking. It is either uphill or downhill, and there are a lot of steps. We started by going left.
The wall went on and on. While it was tempting to follow the wall as if the wall was calling you to keep walking, we had told the driver we would only need two hours. We turned back, because we wanted to try the other direction.
In this direction, the wall also soared off to the horizon, but we preferred the view to the other direction.
Our two hours was almost over, so we went back to the area near the top of the cable car and ate our boxed lunch. It was time to go. We really could have used more time, but we will return to Beijing, and the Great Wall. We will try the different areas to access the Great Wall, and we will definitely allow more time.
Tam’s Great Wall Photo Album
When Drew and I started doing photography in the 1970’s we did black & white photos. We spent a lot of time in the darkroom developing our film and printing our photos. We still love black & white photos, so my photo album of the Great Wall is in black & white photos. We hope that you enjoy them a much as us!
Thank you for looking at our blog! We hope you enjoyed these photos!
“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul” – Jamie Lyn Beatty Thi