Below are some photos of the trip along the way. It was about an hour ride. One of the pictures is our first surprise. We woke up that morning to clear, blue skies! That is rare in Beijing. To go with the blue skies, was gusty winds which made the cold day even colder.
Here we are!
On the Great Wall!
The icon of China.
Get ready for the slideshow......
Uh oh! Now how are we gonna to get home?
A discussion ensued as to how are we going to tell Virginia that she now has to climb down the wall! Look back at the slideshow above. It is going "down" but there are a few "ups" included. For example: look at the picture I said for you to remember.
Well, she took it like a trooper and kicked into survival mode. After all, you can't live on the Wall!
Here comes another slideshow of our trek down the wall......
So, the next surprise came when we got back to the train station for our ride home. The atmosphere was 'dog eat dog' for the few seats available. The station had people crowded in waiting for the doors to open to the platform. Now, you know Americans like to have space between us and the next person but the Chinese only see that as an opportunity to move in.
The Great Wall is indeed a great wall. I couldn't help but to reflect on the 1,oo0's of years of history it holds, and about the men who built it, lived on it, and died for it.
I am glad I got to see it. Maybe one day I will meet a few of those men whose lives were taken over by this wall.
I guess that is enough for one blog. Our trip to Beijing took us to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City as well. So I will cover that on my next blog entry. I guess the next surprise was that Virginia actually was able to get up and join us on that excursion as well. She took a real lickin' but, like the bunny rabbit, she kept on tickin'.
Love and hugs...Cindy