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After my failed attempt at going to the wall yesterday, today was the day! I set an alarm for 6.45 (again) which was excruciatingly painful. I'm not a morning person at the best of times, and the Great Wall Didnt spark any more enthusiasm! I packed my camera and all my belongings and headed down to Leo hostel. After a short wait, our tour guide arrived and one by one people landed in for the tour. We had a short walk to the bus where we boarded and prepared for the long journey ahead. We were told the journey would be approximately two hours but due to the insane TRAFFIC in China it took us three. I must also add that there appears to be no 'rules of the road' in china, and traffic lights may as well be decorations! Ha ha.
We landed at the Great Wall at roughly 11. The scene ahead of me was incredible. I just stood in awe of the wall and the surrounding mountains. It was definitely better than I thought it would be! Mel had already done the Great Wall so she stayed in the hostel and had a chill day. I started climbing the wall and was immediately sweating. I can't even describe how hot it was . Luckily I love the heat, something which I have inherited from dad, so I was fine with it! I climbed and climbed and noticed another girl on her own so I went over and chatted to her. Her name was Gal which I thought was awesome so I started calling her Galfriend. She was an Israeli girl from Palestine! Luckily we became pals quick and we were able to take photos for one another. I have also come to realise that buying my proper camera was one of the best investments I have made for my trip!
I left Galfriend to do her own thing and I got chatting to mark the tour guide. He was so cool. He seemed like a bit of a rogue. He kept having to take breaks and was like 'you guys go ahead, i catch up! ' haha. After an hour and a bit of climbing we reached the top and I felt like Rocky. I don't know why considering I had done no boxing. Mark positioned himself on the wall and without a word, whipped out his headphones and started meditating. I started to love this guy. He was like a silent crap polite bizarre tour guide who spoke about three words of English. I also asked him how he enjoyed his job and he said 'what not to love, pretty sight? Pretty girls?' Haha what a brilliant attempt at flirting.
After climbing back down the wall we went into the little restaurant for some
Scram. It was really delicious! We had rice, egg and tomato, chicken and veg and some other Asian dish. The price for the trip was 240 yuan was translates to something like 23 pound. A steal! During the meal I got talking to Galfriend and found out loads of interesting things about her life. She was telling me that where she is from you have to do 3 years compulsory military service. After the service most people from Palestine go travelling or an extended trip! She said it's completely the norm and I should expect many people from Palestine in Thailand etc. She has been on the road for 7 months and her favourite place was Nepal. She also said she loved India so I asked her loads of questions because I know how much dad wants to go to India. Her budget was 1000 US dollars and she managed to stay for 2 and a half months! Incredible. Galfriend goes back to Palestine on Tuesday so I wished her all the best before we headed back on the bus because I knew it would be snooze time!
Headphones on and back to the hostel it was. The journey was about 2 and a half hours with many near death instances! I went to the hostel lounge and ordered some spring rolls. Tasty! Mel and I skyped auntie Debbie which only got me more exciting about skyping dad! It was great seeing him. I haven't even been away a week and I miss him so much. And Kyle in Berlin! Dad seemed great so I was happy.
After skyping we got chatting to a couple from the midlands. They were ace. Two travellers who liked good music including two door cinema club and the vaccines! We chatted to them for a bit and they were advising me to go to Australia, something I have been debating. We said our goodbyes and then the real fun happened! Two Australian guys from the hostel came over to us and asked us if there were any good spots to drink as they had just arrived on a two week holiday. (China is a bizarre holiday destination). They immediately seemed awesome and were full of craic. Andrew and Llewelyn! They bought mel and I a Long Island ice tea and then we decided we would hit salington considering it was our last night in Beijing. To be honest, I was pretty knackered from my Great Wall trek but these guys were hilarious. We freshened up and 'hailed' a cab. The poor can driver didn't know what had hit him. 4 travellers in his taxi singing along to Taylor swift and one direction, and this was before any drinks! The boys paid for the taxi like Aussie gentleman! No less than us princesses deserve haha! Salington is like a busy outdoor bar area with music and a good atmosphere, it's reminded me of covent garden in London. Llewelyn bought a spongebob balloon off one of the street beggars because he felt bad, and tied it to his belt for comedic value. Obviously not funny to your standard sober person, but to us it was the funniest thing in the world. The floating spongebob. We then headed into a club and danced like mad. It was literally like the Chinese limelight; sweaty and tacky, but brilliant! Mel and I had a great night and I think the Aussie boys were glad we showed them a good first night in Beijing! Mel and I ended up heading home and left the lads once they had established a friend group. I was so tired after the wall! We hailed a taxi which ended up dropping us in the arse hole of nowhere, where we then ended up having to hail another! Mel wanted dumplings, drunk food! I was actually too sober to even consider eating, especially with my funky stomach, so to bed it was!
Last day/ night in Beijing was definitely the best day in my short time travelling! I got to experience a wonder of the world, met Galfriend, the travelling couple and the two Aussie boys. I slept well that night.
- comments
Debz dad Your blog is class Debz. Can't wait to hear about your train journey!