We got off the subway at our desired location and then found the buses.  The bus that we wanted (936) was no where to be found.  So we took a different route.  We made it safely to Huairou.  We were warned that there may be lots of guys driving mini-buses wanting to take us up the rest of the way.  We turned down the first one and stayed on the bus.  After waiting a long time at a bus stop, another man came on the bus.  It was interesting that they only wanted the foreigners.  They did not give the Chinese people the time of day.  This is because they wanted our money!  The next man that came on the bus offered to take us up and back for Y25 each.  We decided that we would get there sooner if we would just go with this man.  The mini-bus was quite a ride!  He took us up, showed us where to pay the entrance fee and then said he would wait for us.  This sounded awesome!

We paid our entrance fee and also the fee to ride the cable car.  If you know me well, you know that I’m freaking out right about now.  I have this SMALL fear of heights and these cable cars are not close to the ground.   Surprisingly, I calm down about one minute into the ride up and realize that it is quite enjoyable.  Below us is nothing but trees and the chute for the toboggan for getting back down. More on that later.

As soon as we got up to the top, I was in love!  I can’t possibly put into words a description of the view that was before me.  To walk on a piece of history and experience creation all around me was amazing!  It was such a beautiful day to experience this.  I’m at a loss for words, and I hope that the pictures below do the view justice. 

After we were done photographing the Wall, we made it back to where the cable cars brought us up.  The way down was much more enjoyable.  We tobogganed!  It was a pretty long way down so I was able to enjoy the ride for quite a while.  When we got off the toboggans we decided to walk through the street-market to see what there was.  Vendors knew limited English.  You would hear, “two t-shirts for a dollar.”  Do they even know what a dollar is?  I kind of wanted to get out a dollar and say, “okay!”  I did end up buying a t-shirt for an outrageous price.  We were able to practice our bargaining skills a little.  Some of the vendors would grab us by the arm and not let go.  It was a little overwhelming but after a while I got used to saying, “bu yao.”

Our mini-bus driver found us and wanted to go back down.  We wanted to continue looking.  I’m not sure if he was angry or not, but he started to follow us around.  Hmmm…..  Finally, we got back into the mini-bus and he said, “Y25 for one way. Y50 for both ways.”  This was not his original offer and we were a little upset about it.  We sat there arguing with him about his price and another driver brought a travel guide to show us the going rate.  We decided that we would just pay him and find another way back.  We got out of the mini-bus and left our irate driver. 

With no idea about how we would get back to Beijing, we decided to walk around a bit.  And then we found the elusive 936 bus!!  We hurried to get on the bus and it left soon after we got on it.  This was the bus we wanted to ride to Mutianyu 幕田峪 in the first place.  We were very excited to find it! 

After a long day of bike, subway, bus, mini-bus, cable car, walking, toboggoning, bus, subway, bike, it was time to take a nap.  I dozed off for an hour or so and then got up to meet two others for supper.  We experienced hot pot for the first time!  This was interesting.  We must have looked like we didn’t know anything because the waitress brought over the bus boy to speak limited English with us.  She then proceeded to bring out aprons and put them on each of us!  There was much laughter throughout the restaurant!  Delicious food, good company, and making the Chinese people laugh.  Who could ask for more?

I hope you enjoy the photos!

View from the Wall

Am I coming or am I going??