If my first day in Beijing left me tired, hot, jet lagged, and cranky, then my second left my exhausted (but in a good way) and re-energized for the trips ahead. During our second day, we signed up fort a trip to the Jinshanling to Simatai sections of the wall. This 10 km stretch featured ruined, preserved, and rebuilt sections of the wall. Driving there took three hours,, and the further we got into the outlying areas of Beijing, the worse the pollution became. we were also ensnared in interminable lines of traffic with other tour buses chock full of Chinese tourists. When we had our first glimpse of the wall, I could see that there were literally thousands of people jammed into every square inch of the top of the wall. as China becomes more of a free market society, and people start to develop more of a disposable income, then domestic tourism will continue to be a huge money maker.
However, we drove for another 45 minutes past the sino-tourist clusterf@#K (I might have some younger readers) and arrived in an area that was virtually deserted save for some construction workers. Our group was the usual American/pan European mix of western tourists with a few Aussies thrown in for good measure.
We hiked up to the wall, and then ascended to the top of the wall itself through a stone stair case. From here we were the only group on the wall, and as Chris and I set relatively quick pace, we were often able to hike on the GREAT WALL OF FRICKIN CHINA!!! in utter solitude.
Even I can take good pictures of the Great Wall
The first 5 k of the hike was uphill, and the second 5 k took k as back down. sometimes railings and steps had been built in, sometimes we blundered over loose stones and tiles as best we could. we passed portions where the wall had worn down to nothing, and others where vegetation covered almost the entire top. Other places looked much the same as when this section was first built in 1570 during the Ming Dynasty.
Throughout, I would glance to the north, the direction the mongol invaders would have come from. The wall is always higher on the northern side, and it is also the only side with crenelations, arrow slits, and other defensive installments. It was clearly designed for the purpose of keeping the mongol invaders OUT. The area the wall occupies is so mountainous and heavily vegetated that it seems impossible that an army could even walk through the area, much less stream through on horseback as the Mongols were wont to do. Nonetheless, the wall played it's role in history as, after failing to breach it, Ghengis Khan turned his attentions west and became the greatest conqueror the world has ever known.
When we made it back t o Beijing we decided to try out the Donghuamen Night Food market for something a little more exotic than the amazing Peking Duck we had gorged ourselves on the previous two nights. I definitely wanted to eat some sort of deep fried invertebrate, and scorpions were the first stand we came to.
The fried me up four tiny ones (next time I'll go for one giant one) for about 15 yuan, or two dollars. Since they were fried crisp, they tasted like nothing so much as well done fried chicken skin. Scorpions went down no problem.
Yummmm, that's good scorpion.
I bypassed the starfish, sea horses, centipedes, squirrels, and donkey penises (!), but cound't resist the allure of snake. Chris and I split it and it was a little two chewy for my liking, although the chilli oil it was cooked in gave it a wonderful flavor.
Somethings even I couldn't think about eating: Piles and piles and piles of tripe sitting out in a 90 degree night, and huge cauldrons of offal soup.
Finally it was goodbye air pollution and humidity in Beigjing, and hello to freash air and altitude in Tibet. After procurring our "Tibetan Autonomous Region Travel Permits" we made it out to the Beijing airport. We had said documents thoroughly inspected multiple times, but they held up each time. In fact, the biggest hassle of all was the fact that they confiscated my sunscreen going through security, and made my chug a liter of water in under two minutes, both things that would have happened in the states as well.
flying in, there was a lot of cloud cover, but I was afforded my first ever glimpse of the Himalayas, something I've wanted to see for a long time. We were some of the only Anglos on the flight, and there were hardly any Tibetans at all. The vast majority seemed to be Han Chinese tourists. In fact, since the Chinese invasions, the governmant has offered multiple incentives for the Han to relocate to Tibet to the point where the Han now outnumber the native Tibetans 2:1 in the region. The altitude (10,000 feet or so) was apparent right away, and even walking up to our third floor guest house room can leave you winded. Driving in I noticed mainly that Tibetan drivers are suicidally aggressive, Cutting through traffic with utter disregard for lanes, and other "rules of the road."
We are staying in the older, more Tibetan section of Lhasa, and from the roof our hotel we have a perfect view of the Potala Palace.
Not too shabby...
We are within walking distance of several major temple Barkhor Circuit, where pilgrims circumambulate the Jokhang temple which is said to be the true spiritual home of Tibet as Potola Palace is now more of a museum than holy site. This route must be done counterclockwise, but we saw a cadre of Chinese soldiers defiantly and disrespectfully walking counterclockwise through the flow of pilgrims. The term "Tibet Autonomous Region" becomes most laughable when you see how many soldiers are stationed here. This is definitely a country under occupation.
We will be taking in Lhasa's major spiritual destinations over the next couple of days before venturing forth into the interior of Tibet, and eventually a night at Everest base camp.
Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you soon!
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