I find more often than not, that the results of this decision are positive, and I feel like this is when you feel like you learn the most about yourself.
It would be a lie to say that there haven't been any moments like that on this journey through Asia. Some days I felt like being alone and isolated in 'foreign' territory isn't an enjoyable thing, and I've had to try really hard to convince myself to keep going and see it through to the end.
Being by myself is part of what makes the difficult days even tougher. All the supporting people in my life are on entirely different continents and reside in different time-zones. The language barrier has also definitely become a major barrier particularly in the latter part of my journey.
Everyone has days when they don't feel like things are going in their favour, and these are often the hardest to get through. I feel like I am a pretty strong-willed individual, and on this trip no matter what mood I've felt in, or whether I've been feeling 100% physically, I've done my best to make each day memorable.
As discussed way back at the beginning of my blog, this can often mean having a back-up plan in case things go south.
I think back to when I was in Jakarta and wanted to go to Ocean Park but found out that it was closed. I could quite easily have just decided to go back to my hotel room, but I felt like that would have been a waste of my day, and fortunately I managed to find an alternative option. The same goes for Friday, my final day in Taiwan when I was close to the front of the queue for the cable car and it was closed because of bad weather - I could have been beaten by the weather, but decided to press on and ended up having a thoroughly enjoyable day.
A lot of it comes down to mentality, and I feel like I have worked hard to make sure that I have the correct one when I'm going into things, even though things beyond my control could potentially occur...
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Even before coming on this trip I'd had the chance to experience some truly magnificent things, and in the last three months I have certainly done my best to add to that list.
Today has probably surpassed many of those things, and I feel like the five or six hours I spent being out and about today have made the trip to Beijing completely worth it.
I wasn't sure whether it was because of how active I was in Shanghai or not (or just because I was generally ill there) but I felt like those three days really took it out of me; I'm not as young as I used to be you know!
One of the major differences between my first visit to China and every other country that I've visited is probably the time that I have spent out of my hotel room - the days have really extended for me as I try to cram in as much as possible, and perhaps with the times I find myself going to bed, that doesn't mesh together very well!
It's all to easy for me to stay up late - usually it's because I'm working on my blog or going through my photos, and most nights before I know it, it has gone way past the time that I probably should have gone to bed. As much as I've tried to correct it, I still haven't managed to get that bit of my trip right.
Needless to say then, after two busy days in Beijing I was feeling pretty fatigued this morning when I got up - but I was looking forward to the potential sight that I would be witnessing today so actually felt pretty fresh when my alarm went off at 8am.
I wrote in a blog before that I very rarely get home when it's dark, but the last two nights I have, and when I got home from Tiannamen Square last night one of the things I had to do before going to bed was arranging a visit to one of the parts of the Great Wall of China which is close to Beijing.
One of the great things (excuse the pun) about being able to work a visit to China into my travels was that the wall's proximity to the Chinese capital meant that there was the distinct possibility that I would get to see one of the world's most famous structures up close and personal. I'm not sure if I know anyone else who has actually been to the Great Wall before, but I figured that you'd probably have to register with a tour group in some way, and I was fully prepared to do that.
Looking briefly before I came to Beijing I was surprised to discover that it was actually possible to access a couple of parts of the wall from the capital itself, and I was more than prepared to make my own way there if necessary. Last night I looked up the instructions and discovered that there were a couple of ways in which I could get there. The first, and probably easiest was by train which also happened to be the cheapest option. Secondly, there was an option to ride the bus, and thirdly, if you were really desperate then you could take a taxi.
The Great Wall of China is obviously one of the most impressive man-made creations on earth, but little did I know that there are eight or nine different sections which are actually open to the public. Four of them lie close to Beijing, with the easiest to access being a section of the wall called Badaling:
The downside of it being easy to access is that it was likely to be more crowded; I'd read that it is often described as the 'Great Wall of People' on the Badaling section because of how crowded it can get. Another downside is that because it is very touristy there, you don't really get to see the wall in its truest form as it has been redeveloped to cope with the amount of people who visit there.
It is still one of the most preserved sections of the wall and is about 7.5 miles in length - of which about 3.7 km is open to the public. Having read up the instructions on how to get there, I was fairly confident that my only battle to get there would perhaps be the amount of people that I might have to struggle through, and that fear rang fairly true when I arrived at Beijing North Train Station.
There was only one train an hour from the station (a very odd move) and I arrived there just before 10am via the metro. It was pretty crowded around the front of the station, and it didn't look like there was anywhere obvious to buy a ticket from so I asked someone who was working where all the passengers with transit cards were going in and he said that I needed to go around the corner and buy one from the booth.
There were a lot of confused-looking foreign people listening to a repeating message which was in Chinese - I'd heard something very similar yesterday when I was at the Temple of Heaven - and it was letting people know that it was closed for the day so I immediately feared the worst. A lady went into the ticket booth which caused people to start to move towards the queuing point, but instead of opening the window to serve people she slid a sign out of the window which essentially said that the next train - the 10:57am - was sold out, and that the next one would be at 1:43pm. It also stated that tickets would start being sold there from just after eleven.
Despite seeing the sign, and more surprisingly the fact that we're in Asia, people started to form an orderly queue despite what was already quite a warm morning, and with about an hour to wait.
There was a sign below it which mentioned something about the bus which I studied and tried to think back to what I'd read yesterday. It mentioned something about going to the next station on the metro line and catching either the 877 or 919 bus which I remembered had been described as the alternate way of getting to the Badaling section. I figured that it was still pretty early and worth a try, although I also figured that there was the potential that the bus might also be sold out so in my head I made a contingency plan in case I was to be disappointed again. Usually in this situation I'd walk to the next metro station, but figured it'd probably be wise to get back on the metro, go the one stop, and save wasting time in case I got there and then found out that the bus too was over-subscribed. I was quite surprised that nobody was following me back down into the subway, a few had been snared up by taxi drivers offering people lifts although after my experiences in Manila I'm usually super-suspicious about random people looking very unofficial offering you their services. When I got to the station on the map that I'd been instructed to go to I looked at the sign which listed where all the bus stops were and I couldn't see anything for the 877 or 919 bus anywhere so I just randomly started walking in the direction where I saw the most people. About five minutes later I came to a bus stop, but it just looked like a local one so I headed in a different direction where I saw some people lining up at what appeared to be a bus stop.
This is where things could have gone slightly differently so I'm perhaps thankful that I have been here for a couple of months experienced some untoward things in Asia when it comes to transportation, Stuck to what appeared to be a regular bus stop sign there were some men standing around in front of a sticker which said that it was a bus stop for the 877 and 919. Obviously my limited Chinese didn't allow me to hear what they were saying, but a few people stood there and waited, but more didn't even engage with them, and I figured that they must know something I didn't, or that there was something dodgy going on.
I thought about going to ask one of the people if they went to Badaling, but instead stood back watching, figuring that if the bus did turn up then there weren't that many people at the bus stop anyway and that I'd be able to get on it. I must have stood there for about twenty minutes or so and they managed to get perhaps four or five people to line up.
Just then a car pulled up and two policemen got out. One of the men who'd been trying to get people to come and line up for the bus, quickly ripped the sticker down they were all standing in front of and as a group they began sheepishly to turn their backs and try to walk away until one of the policemen pulled out his phone and started taking pictures.
Now obviously I don't know if any of this is accurate, but there were two young ladies standing near the bus stop, and I think the policemen pointed them towards the actual bus stop was before reprimanding the men and telling them to move on. As far as I could tell, they were running some dodgy service and it was definitely a good job that I stood back and watched or I fear that I may have been out of pocket a little. Pretty relieved that I'd dodged that bullet, I walked over to where the policeman had pointed, but all I saw were a lot of local buses which appeared to be waiting in the terminal for a space out front to park up.
I walked back towards the metro station hoping to perhaps see people with cameras or some foreigners who might know if I was even at the right place - it's very easy to get confused, and I even checked my map again to make sure that I'd gone to the right station. I got all the way back to the metro station looking around for someone to ask, and was literally about to go back down into the station itself when I saw a silver sign which was covered by my the trees. All I could see were the numbers 877 so figured it must be relating to the location of the bus stop.
There was an arrow pointing back in the direction I'd come from and it said to go past some kind of observatory which I figured was a rather large looking building which I'd seen, but not quite walked as far as. On my way back in that direction I saw a few more of those 'fake' bus stops, and it looked like the police were on a bit of a mission to shut them all down as the same officers who'd moved along the people I'd stood and watched were writing down the details of two men who'd snared two older ladies to stand at their stop. Eventually my heart rose as I saw an 877 bus as well as a 919, but it immediately sank again when I saw a huge line of people. Thankfully as the scene opened up I saw about six or seven more green and white buses and immediately decided to join the queue of people before it was two late.
This looked rather more official and there were quite a lot of people in line, but with the amount of buses it moved fairly quickly and I managed to get myself a seat on I think the third one that came along.
I knew it was about an hour or so's train ride, but that was with six or seven stops where as the bus was direct to Badaling so figured that it would be about the same length of time. A ticket cost Y12 which is about £1.25 and I hopped on board a packed bus eagerly anticipating the next stage of this journey which had literally seen me seconds away from spending the rest of my day elsewhere. The excitement of being on my way to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World obviously tired me out as I woke up with a bit of a start as the bus started to rapidly climb up some hills. Proof that I really will sleep anywhere is that just before nodding off I remember the bus driver honking his horn extremely frequently and aggressively at drivers all around and although we were now ascending towards a hill and there was less traffic, he was still tooting and beeping every two seconds as we wound along.
It seemed like a fair few people were though as I walked off in the direction of what looked to be an entrance.
Turned out it wasn't the entrance to the wall itself, but the entrance to something called 'Bear World' which appeared to be filled with shops and souvenir stalls. Nothing really jumped out at me about it, apart from the fact it made me feel like I was back in earlier parts of my trip where there would be plenty of people looking to make some quick cash from tourists. On my way out I looked to my left and saw that the reason it was called 'Bear World' is because there were actually some bears inside a little enclosure which clearly gave the place its name. They were all sleeping when I walked past, which is all bears seem to do whenever I encounter them:
From a distance I'd already started taking some pictures of the wall as it snaked off to the left and to the right. The North side (to the right) looked an awful lot busier than the South (left) side so I decided to walk that way and almost immediately I was blown away by the fact that I was walking upon such a famous structure. I've written about it before, but there is absolutely no way that my words and pictures can do justice to my surroundings. I honestly didn't consider that this part of the wall was highly preserved because as I started walking up and looking backwards all I could see was the wall snaking off and upwards as far as I could see:
Parts of it were really steep and when I looked with my binoculars I could see people everywhere. Being careful with where I was walking I started walking up backwards because I was so blown away by the view of the north side. Almost straight away there were some steps as you began to climb up and then it became a bit flatter as you reached what was the first our four towers on the south side. From there you got an exceptional view of what was ahead and also what was around you. To the right there were hills which looked spectacularly green, and on the left you had the north side of the wall and then further in the distance you could see a section which appeared to be entirely empty but which was absolutely outstanding to view, even from a distance:
Having viewed through my binoculars I could see that the other side of the wall looked really busy, and I have to be honest and say that although it started off quite filled with people. There were sections where I'd only come across one or two people. The towers seemed to be popular with people who were sitting, resting and eating as well as using the portcullis' to view things in the distance.
Every now and then you'd come across a native who was trying to sell postcards, medals or pictures which they'd created on metal by chiselling out little bits of it to make up a picture of the Great Wall. They looked really good, and I stood and watched for a bit as a man started a new one. Once he started pestering me to buy it then I moved on and continued to take in the spectacular view:
I got to what was the second tower of the south wall and it seemed like plenty of people stopped there and decided to not go any further. Seeing that this was a chance to enjoy an even quieter section of the wall I carried on and was rewarded with some great views of what I'd just walked on, and also further in the distance what I hoped was to come later. I think the fact that it was beautifully sunny out definitely helped, and from the height I'd walked up you could see everything perfectly clearly. I was a little worried that some of the smog from the city might ruin the view, but it didn't actually appear that there was any looming overhead:
Eventually I came to what was the end of the south portion of the wall. There was a section down below us, but a huge tower in the way said 'no public access' so I turned around and began to walk back on myself, taking in the views from a different angle. There were actually certain bits of the wall incredibly enough that there were no people on, and at this end, there was a bit more freedom as I found that I didn't have to fight for the best spot to take a picture of keep dodging from left to right in order to not accidentally 'bomb' people's pictures:
One thing I will say that I noticed about the Great Wall is that because of the way it snakes up and down it is certainly tough to walk along, and you might not be able to walk the full length of the wall's distance, but you certainly get a good workout on the piece which is open to the public. There are some parts with stairs, and then others there there are just slopes. Both are usually really steep and on such difficult terrain it's good that they have rails for you to hold on to as I can imagine that in rain, snow or ice it's basically impossible to get from one end to another without any mishaps. Walking back in the opposite direction it seemed to have quietened down a little, and there were significantly less people walking around as I got back to the middle. To make up for it, the north section of the wall was looking very busy, the first part of in particular as people stopped to take pictures. Not only was it not an ideal place to do so because of the amount of people ascending and descending, but it was also quite sloped here with regular path and then some stairs so it took quite a lot of effort for me to weave through and get to a part which was a bit quieter:
It wasn't quite so easy to walk backwards here as I'd be knocking into people every two seconds, but looking back over the bit of the wall I'd just come from looked exceptional, and I couldn't resist but taking a few pictures, although I made sure to do this in clear spaces so as not to be a massive hypocrite:
The second part of the wall which I'd been looking at from the south portion also looked really good here as it snaked off into the distance. Even though it's so large, it really is incredible how much of it you can see - I know that sounds like a strange thing to say for something which is so large and covers a vast amount of distance. I feel like in a strange way it's really compact, and whenever I was taking photos there were never really parts of the wall which I had to cut out because I couldn't fit them into the photo. There were generally just times when I'd stand and look out of the little gaps of the wall itself and just simple be in awe of where I was, and what I was seeing. It was truly an incredible sight to behold, and I know I say this a lot, but this is definitely something that everyone MUST see in person. I carried on walking to what looked like a tower where the wall seemed to stop, but I was intrigued as to how I could see people walking further ahead. It turned out that this was just the station for the cable car, and also the 'sliding car' which turned out to be a chain of cars attached together like a roller-coaster which took you down the hill to the bottom. It looked like fun, and I can imagine that it took you in lots of different directions rather than just going down in a straight line:
I eventually found the path which allowed you to carry on, and it was extremely quiet here, with a few people sitting down resting, but most others just taking in the view.
I kept walking and came to what was no doubt the most taxing part of the wall as you went down two or three really severe slopes and then up a huge set of stairs before coming down the other side and eventually getting to a section which was a bit flatter:
In the distance I could see the last point which you could reach on the wall and figured that as I'd come this far I might as well work my way to the end:
There was only myself and one other person walking that way, and after some more steep steps and another down hill section I was climbing back up and reached the final tower of the north section. From here you could see how severe the terrain was that I'd just gone up and down, and you can see why some people might have looked at it, and thought they'd stay where they were!
Thankfully, rather than having to walk completely back on myself to get back to the bottom there was a pathway down which took you back down into 'Bear World' and I guess as there was a gate you probably could have walked up this way too, although I'm not really sure if you'd have had to buy your tickets at the normal gate and then walk back here.
The bears were a bit more active around this time as I walked through the gauntlet of people trying to sell me t-shirts, medals and all sorts of other memorabilia.
I got back to where I'd boarded the bus and there was a bit of a theme park queue formed with people waiting in line. I noticed that on the sign it said that the buses ran between 11am and 5pm, so it was pretty lucky that I'd arrived back there at 4.55pm!
I waited in line as bus after bus filled up and probably was able to get on about the sixth or seventh one which turned up.
The drive back to the bus station was almost twice as long as the one on the way there because of traffic, and due to the sheer volume of people I got to an extremely crowded metro station where I had to wait ages to get in, only to discover that there was one ticket machine serving the many hundreds of people trying to use them. I decided that in an attempt to avoid the queue a little bit as the return of all those buses at once was definitely contributing to the busyness that I would walk to the next metro station and after about 45 minutes of walking I eventually found it.
To say how close it seemed geographically to where I was staying, it took forever for me to get back to my hotel as I had to change lines three or four times in order to get there, and each train that I seemed to board was exceptionally busy. For the third night in a row, which must be some kind of record on this journey, I got back to my room in total darkness and then spent the rest of the evening figuring how best I am going to manage tomorrow's exit from Beijing, and arrival in my next destination.
It had been a truly wonderful day, and I have to say that I think visiting the Great Wall has been the best thing that I've done on this journey. Being as high up as you can be on one end, and looking over to the other section of the wall is something truly amazing, and the view is something that I will never forget as long as I live. Just being there in person was a fabulous experience, and I feel very fortunate that I managed to include a visit there into my journey.
I'm glad that I persevered on even when it seemed incredibly unlikely that I'd make it there, and it has given me the confidence to keep going in the future when things look extremely difficult.
Billy Joel (1993)
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