The Great Wall of China

While being in Beijing we had to, wanted to, visit the Great Wall And hike it for a day. We asked our host Bin if he knew a good spot which was less touristy so we wouldn't be annoyed by thousands of others. We are not the first guests who asked this, and Bin surely did his homework! He knows a great place, even went camping there once. It was just a hassle to get there, taking a bus and find an illegal (black) taxi who can take you to the right spot. All of this with no one speaking English.

It already went wrong on the bus, luckily we look white enough to be tourists, or it's just the pretty girls I'm with. But the black taxi driver found us, came into to bus, asked us were to go and told us to get off. This was a little bit weird but we it seemed to be ok and we arrived at the wall half an hour later. 

There was a cable car to bring you up the mountain, which we of course did not take. Budget stuff, we hiked up! People declared us crazy but it was just 30 minutes or less. Doable, even in the heat. The wall was stunning and unreal. How did they build this for miles and miles over mountains up and down. It's already hard just to walk there up and down, imagine guarding and building the wall. It was a shame the reach of the smog of Beijing is so large. The wall is a three hour drive from the city center, and still there is smog which minimized our vision, yet it did not ruin the day, the wall is stunning. A must see for everyone who visits china.