Traveling the World

The Great Wall is the single most touristy thing someone could do when in China. I tried my hardest to make it more intrepid, and I feel I succeeded. My hostel was trying to get us to book with them, but their trip involved a huge bus, food, and worst of all going to Badaling. This is the the most boring and crowded section of the wall, not to mention it would have cost almost $100 USD per person.

My friend Ewa from the hostel told us about another way to get there. This involved first going to the Dongzhimen long-distance bus station (located right off the Dongzhimen metro station). When we got off the subway, there was a Chinese woman waiting for people who wanted to go to the Wall. She showed us to the public 980 bus, which costs 14rmb to go to from the city limits to Miyun. She gave me a card and said her friend would be waiting for us at the Miyun Tai Yang bus stop and he’d take us to Simatai for cheap. I didn’t ask how much because I knew I’d do better to bargain with him.

An hour and 20 minutes later, we were rudely woken up to the shrills of a man screaming we had arrived at Miyun. When we got off we were immediately bombarded by touts, yet thankfully we found our man. Like most people in China, he didn’t speak a word of English, so I had to test my skills. He immediately started off with 70rmb a person each way. I told him his friend said it’d be cheap and I knew 70 was a ripoff. He said fine, 65. Then I said I was Chinese, not a tourist. He said it was really far from where we were and gas was expensive. Since I live here, I know he was lying, so I told him I liked him and didn’t want to screw around, and I only wanted to pay 30 per person each way.

Thinking he was slick and I would fold (he didn’t know he was dealing with a Jewish person), he went to 60. I told him there were many other people standing there who would give it to me for less, and he said none of them had a van for all 5 of us, but went to 55. I finally said the hostel would have been easier, but I chose this method because I thought it’d be cheaper, so he agreed to 45 per person each way. Total negotiation time took 6 minutes, and I know this because Melba timed it.

Another hour and 20 minutes later, we were at Simatai. We exited the van and he presented us with the entrance tickets, valued at 40rmb each. This guy seemed really nice and was on the ball with these things, so we were happy with our choice.

Map

Climbing Higher

As we approached the end and the highest point possible, we all sat down and took a photo. The wind was picking up, and the clouds were moving so fast, it felt like a fairy tale. As a species, humans are so accustomed to the sounds of electronics in their ears at all times, so that being in a place like this with absolutely no sound in your ears besides that of the wind is quite freaky.

Top of the Wall

Path of Doom