Middle of nowhere, China
Thursday, July 7, 2005
We've finally met up with our tour group. As expected it is all couples and single women. No worries, they're all really nice. Today, after the bumpiest bus ride of my life, we arrived at a remote part of the Great Wall. Now, being a complete moron I thought the wall was in pristine condition, like the way it is in photographs. Boy was I wrong. The truth is that the majority of the wall is in total ruins. There are some reconstructed parts that are near Beijing for the tourist groups but the vast majority is crumbling. Anyways, we drove out for around four hours to a little farming village and met up with a local guide. Despite the condition of the wall I thought it was truly amazing.The view from the top of the Great Wall is a sight not to be missed. The wall is built along the tops of steep mountains. I couldn't begin to imagine how it was made thousands of years ago. The last mile of the 10 mile treck was on a reconstructed part. It was nice to see the wall the way I always pictured it. Quite a day.
