Great Wall - Si Ma Tai

Yesteryday I went to Si Ma Tai (a section of the Great Wall with amazing views) with Ryan, Ocean (a guy from English Corner), and Connie (Ocean's friend). The climbing of this section of the wall is extremely strenuous. However, there are watchtowers spaced pretty evenly along the Wall, and they always appear right when you need to take a rest before going further. You may view the pictures I took here.

I got up a little past 6am, then Ryan and I met up and took a taxi to a bus stop that would take us halfway to Si Ma Tai. At the bus stop we met up with Ocean and Connie, and hopped into the air conditioned tour bus. This was 14 Yuan per person. At this point it was about 7:30am, and I ate yi long BaoZhi (4 Yuan) for breakfast. Once we got off the bus (9am?), we found a driver to take us to SiMaTai (there is no direct bus route, subway, or train route to this place). The driver wanted 160 Yuan, but Connie haggled it down to 120 Yuan (30 Yuan pp). This was a long drive. It turns out that they were fixing a bridge, so they had to block off all the lanes except for one lane. Although we had no A/C here, but we rolled down the windows and it was quite breezy. Luckily I had brought my cards, so this passed the time. The scenery along this part of the trip was beautiful. I got to see rural parts of China and village life, many farms and plantations along the way, and a couple of wild donkeys and a heard of sheep.

Finally once we got to SiMaTai it was about 11:30am. All the villagers there were yelling out "ice water" or "ice cream" to sell to us, and all the other tourists there. Of course since it's the Great Wall and you have no choice, they overcharge you about 3 times over at the bottom of the Wall. It turns out that they charge you about 6-7 times over while you're climbing the Wall. Luckily I had brought 2 bottles of water for myself, but I ended up buying another bottle and also a bottle of OJ (total = 8 Yuan) while coming down the wall. I also brought a cap, which came in handy, to block the scorching sun. Ryan had brought sun screen, so I used that, and re-applied every 2 hours. It turns out it worked, I didn't get that much tanner today, and I'm not burning anywhere or peeling. Ocean and Connie didn't put on the sunscreen as they said "it doesn't work", or something to that effect. But I think they will be in pain today..

As we started climbing the Wall, the villagers there carry souveniers, and they try to sell it to us. Then this one really annoying 50 year old supposedly farmer lady kept on talking to us, following us, trying to sell us souveniers. But once we got to the first watchtower, I think she lost her energy to go further, so we lost her! This was a relief, as now I could finally enjoy it. I should've brought some food in my backpack (it was pretty light anyway). However they had overcharged snacks and beverages at each watchtower, so I wasn't worried. It turns out I didn't buy any of the snacks, and I felt fine (I would've bought some if I started to feel a little fatigue or faint, etc...).

One thing that amazed me was how 50year old and over folks could climb that wall. I had a tough time myself, but there were a lot of old folks climbing the wall, no sweat. But I think if you're in your 60s or younger, it's still actually physically possible to do it. Still, from seeing those old folks to a few people walking up the Wall with a cane, its just amazing. There were actually a lot of French people climbing the wall. Also, it is said that after a male climbs the wall, he becomes a Man. So, finally, after nearly 21 years, I've become a Man!

At about the 3rd watchtower we got to, I noticed Connie's face had turned purple. After resting for a few minutes, we goaded her to keep going, so we climbed to the 4th watchtower. However, before we got there, she said she couldn't breathe, and that was pretty scarry. So we helped her to the watchtower, and rested there for a longer time. It seems that she was hyperventilating, so we told her to take long, deep breaths. If it was worse, we would've had her breathe into a bag that Ocean was carrying. She said she hadn't really exercised in a few years, which may explain what happened. However, it was also the beginning of our climb, so I think we were really excited to scale the Wall and did so very quickly. After that, we took it easy.

I must say, the first 2-3 watchtowers were a tough climb. But after that we took it slowly, and the climb was pretty enjoyable, especially with the beautiful views all around. The higher we got, the more beautiful the scenery. However, between the 12th-13th watchtowers, they forbid us to keep going because it gets dangerous to climb that part of the Wall. So of course, we turned back and climbed back down. Throughout the whole climb, it was breezy, so that made things better. Also, it was supposed to have been overcast the whole day and rain at night, but right when we started climbing, it became sunny until the rest of the day, and it didn't even rain that night. While climbing down we got the chance to take a Flying Fox back down, but we decided to just climb down. Then towards the end there's a zipline Ryan took, but the rest of us felt like walking down, so we did.

While walking down the Wall, we got one of the villagers cell phone #'s so we might call them at the bottom of the wall to take us back to the bus stop. Connie talked to them about the price, and they "matched" her price of 120 Yuan. So as we kept walking down, I asked her why she didn't just say we got here by 100 Yuan only, so we could pay less? Then she agreed, and I think she also felt bad that she didn't think about that herself while "haggling", and that she should've done so so that we all paid less.

Back now at the bottom of the Wall (3:30pm?) we rested a while, and found a local to take us back to the bus stop for 100 Yuan, after haggling (good job Connie). I think we got jipped when we paid 120Yuan coming to SiMaTai, but at that point it was too late. Anyway, the trip back only took 1 hour (as it should). This villager knew the backroads, and we skipped a lot of the traffic. Also, we also saw even more rural parts of the town, with a lot of fruit trees and plantations, and true village life. He told us stories along the way, some of his thinking and childhood, and other interesting things. One little tidbit was that there's a type of pear that once you bite into it, you can leave it on the table for a whole day, and the color won't change (as in it won't start rotting). None of us believed it, but he said it's true. He also said he tried it when he was 6 years old. Also, that type of fruit is exported, so people are not allowed to eat in China, only they sell it to export for money. And he even said he knows we won't believe it, but it's true. I asked him if it only grows in this neighborhood, and he said "Dui", literally, "yes" or "right". Haha. Oh and he said to look on the internet and we would find information on that fruit. I have yet to do so, but I'm interested if any of you know...

Once he dropped us off at the bus stop, Connie paid the 100 Yuan, but I only had 23 Yuan on me, so I told her that I would give her this now, and give you 2 Yuan later, but she said "mei shi" which means, literally "no problem", which further means that she didn't want me to pay at all. But once we got to the subway to go back home, I got change and forced to give her back 25 Yuan. She probably thought that I was thinking she jipped me by not haggling enough, so she was going to cover the tab. But that's not nice, so I gave her what I owed her. Honestly, I was just content knowing that I made it back, and made it back safely.

At the subway, Ryan and I took one subway, and Connie and Ocean took the other one. I honestly don't know if I'll see them ever again, but I had fun. The trip itself was very exciting, and I actually want to go back, as the scenery is just fantastic! I think that the sunrise and sunset would be one of the best sunrise and sunsets in the world to see, so if I ever do go back, I'll be sure to stay overnight.

Finally I got back to my hotel (9:30pm?), had dinner, showered (this was very refreshing, after a whole day of sweating and climbing), and went to sleep.