Hiking the Great Wall of China Part 5
We slept—somewhat uncomfortably in the chill air—until the sun rose early the next morning over the saw-tooth horizon. Sun made us a simple breakfast of instant noodles, which we slurped down eagerly.
We spent half the next day hiking 6.2 miles of the Great Wall—over loose stones and along paths that skirted weak or collapsed sections—to Simatai, another stretch with steeper inclines—and more tourists.
Although annoyingly persistent hawkers followed us at times, trying to peddle bottled water and postcards, we were virtually alone on the Jinshanling wall. Like a narrow and dilapidated cobbled street, it led us through tumbledown watchtowers and over small mountain peaks.
But the enchanting solitude of Jinshanling ended abruptly at Simatai, where crowds of tourists were disembarking from tour buses and swarming around amusements such as a trolley across a river gulch, restaurants and a cable car that carries passengers up a mountainside.
With the widely touted 2008 Beijing Olympics on the horizon and bigger crowds expected, the seclusion we experienced at the Jinshanling wall—with its sweeping views, abandoned battlements and pristine countryside—may become harder to find.
Better to visit before the next invasion.
We spent half the next day hiking 6.2 miles of the Great Wall—over loose stones and along paths that skirted weak or collapsed sections—to Simatai, another stretch with steeper inclines—and more tourists.
Although annoyingly persistent hawkers followed us at times, trying to peddle bottled water and postcards, we were virtually alone on the Jinshanling wall. Like a narrow and dilapidated cobbled street, it led us through tumbledown watchtowers and over small mountain peaks.
But the enchanting solitude of Jinshanling ended abruptly at Simatai, where crowds of tourists were disembarking from tour buses and swarming around amusements such as a trolley across a river gulch, restaurants and a cable car that carries passengers up a mountainside.
With the widely touted 2008 Beijing Olympics on the horizon and bigger crowds expected, the seclusion we experienced at the Jinshanling wall—with its sweeping views, abandoned battlements and pristine countryside—may become harder to find.
Better to visit before the next invasion.
