Great Wall Excursion in a little more detail

http://picasaweb.google.com/jdorrian2334/TrekkingTheGreatWallOffTheBeatenPath

Yasmin and I thought that it would be more fun and adventurous to tackle the Great Wall with our own 2 feet rather than take a car to one of the more touristy sites and simply get out, walk around for awhile, then head back to Beijing. That said, I borrowed some gear from my friend Daryl, packed up a couple of bags and off we went!

After a 2 hour ride from Beijing we were dropped at the base of a mountain where a small hostel was present to host the random traveler like us. We were about a 40 minute drive from the nearest popular tourist Great Wall site called Mutianyu (feel free to "google" to get info and maps). By this time it was late afternoon and I wanted to get going in order to take advantage of what little daylight we had left.

The man that ran the hostel as well as the driver who dropped us were quite concerned that we would get lost on the mountain if we went up alone (we discovered what they were saying after I called my friend to translate because I had no idea), so they said that they would give us a tour guide. Ok, fine that's no problem... so where is he/she? All of a sudden a chubby little 11 year old kid whizzes around the corner. Enter Wei: tour guide extraordinaire.

"That's our tour guide?", I said and just started laughing. "OK, let's get going." And off we went. So here is this 11 year old kid with a busted pair of sneakers and who appears to have eaten a few too many dumplings and he is absolutely blazing up this mountain. Now granted, this mountain is his backyard and full time playground, but still it was pretty impressive to see him move and weave through the terrain as there were ZERO manicured paths and the grade of the incline was quite steep.

About every 15 or 20 minutes he would amble 20 or 25 yards ahead of us, then turn around and yell "Quick-leeeeeeeee!". Wei is part motivator, part tour guide, and part little kid that probably didn't realize the weight of the packs that Yasmin and I had on our backs. It was cute and annoying at the same time.

There was another moment probably a little over an hour into the trek where Wei commanded us to, "Stop!". Yasmin and I stopped, looked at each other in confusion because up until this point Wei had been so intent on us moving "quick-leeeeeee". Then he stared at both of us, turned 90 degrees, pointed up, and said, "Look". And in between a break in the trees we could clearly see the Great Wall. And it wasn't too far in terms of distance, but it was still a ways above us in terms of altitude. Seeing the Wall there gave us a feeling of progress and accomplishment and there was no turning back. So we kept on chugging our water and followed our 11 year old Billy Goat to the peak.

We got to the top 30-40 minutes later and that was quite magical. There were amazing vistas of the mountain range. and excellent views of other parts of the Great Wall in the distance. Hopefully some of the pictures that we took captured the scenery well.

One little thing that Wei liked to do was send me up or down a much more difficult or overgrown part of the trail and take Yasmin on an easier, alternative route. He got a real kick out of this. "You" and he would point me in some direction and off I would go. He would then lead Yasmin on a different path (easier, but by no means "easy") and be belly laughing the whole way as I struggled to keep my footing, etc.... Oh Wei, you sure are one wiley little bastard.

There were some trips and falls along the way and we each finished the day with some scratches, sore joints, and bruises, but this was much more rewarding than taking a tour bus to a flight of stairs to climb. I'd opt for the more difficult and more satisfying mountain approach every time.