Seeing the Great Wall of China was a spectacular experience, not only because it is one of the great wonders of the world, but the dramatic conditions in which we climbed the wall made it even more memorable. The weather in China hasn't been great since we have arrived, a couple of "sunny" days, but we definitely picked the worst day to go to the Great Wall, constant rain. Unfortunately it was the only day that we could go so we decided to drive the 1.5 hours outside of Beijing to Mutianyu, to see if it was raining there..it was...so then we decided to wait it out...no luck...alas we embarked on the Great Wall with half massed determination, dressed in soldiers ponchos & myself an umbrella that turned inside out once we hit the elements surrounding the steep hillside. Invigorated by the mysterious serenity of the stormy day, we climbed & climbed & climbed some more - far beyond the point in which tourists were suppose to stop - to the end of the road where the wall went from an orderly arrangement of bricks to a mess of rocks & dirt. It was very steep in some parts (we had to use all four limbs to climb up) & extremely slippery in others (I managed to almost kill myself, flinging on for dear life to the crenelations of the wall). The rain turned out to add to the experience because there were very few tourists up there, thus it was that much easier to let your imagination take you back to the 7th century when it was used to keep intruders out of China. We ended the day freezing and exhausted...but we still managed to make it out to dinner.
The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu...soaked with rain, a very cool place.
We held a little drawing salon while waiting for the rain to stop.
Ascending on the Great Wall.
Nunny Boy in his poncho.
A dry moment looking out over the cherry blossoms.
Safe House.
I won! JR finished second.
The end of the road.
Grace was less than thrilled to keep hiking but once we reached the top she was very happy!
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