Our Accommodation: The Great Wall of China
On September 10, 2013, guided by the desire of enjoying an amazing creation peacefully, we embarked ourselves into an epic journey to one of the least visited areas of the Great Wall of China. We were joined by Alejandra and Miguel, a couple from Spain that we had met in Pingyao a few days earlier. This memorable trip to the Jiankou wall section marked the beginning of our friendship and a story we will share with others for the rest of our lives.
Without many directions and knowledge about our destination, we left Beijing in the morning on the bus 916 towards the town of Xizhazi (西栅子). Little did we know, we will be facing the tactics of indiscriminate drivers trying to make a living out of tourists. After one hour of traveling, we were encouraged to exit the bus at a random stop by one of these drivers, who asked us to pay more than what we knew was fair for a ride to our final destination. It didn’t take long for us to conclude that the man wasn’t truthful but the language barriers and lack of orientation in the area kept us walking in circles. It was then when two street vendors helped us find our way out. After showing them the name of the town 西栅子, these kind ladies wrote Chinese directions on a paper and even shared some of their traditional pastries with us without expecting anything in return. No words were needed to understand or support for each other and their gesture gave us back the sweet taste of traveling.
Holding on to a paper with directions in Chinese that we couldn’t understand, we took bus 916 again. The only thing we could read in the paper was the numbers 862, which we assumed was another bus. We showed the note to other passengers and one local man that could speak some English was willing to help us. He told us to get off the first bus at the last station. He then walked with us to take the next bus 862 and told us where to get off again. When we got off, another man walking in the street looked at our Chinese note and helped us by pointing us in the right direction. We walked forward for another block without really knowing what we were looking for, while more drivers bombarded us with expensive ride offers that we rejected without a doubt and pride. Eventually, we saw a big congregation of locals at a corner that appeared to be a bus stop in which raised our hopes again. There, clearly distinguished from the rest of the people, were three other tourists from Germany. The truth was that we have all been following the same dream to try to get to Xizhazi and we were still crossing our fingers to be fortunate enough to reach it, none of us were 100% certain this was the right place for our third bus. Our patience finally paid off as we enjoyed the first gaze of the Great Wall along the mountains during the final bus ride to Xizhazi town. These kinds of experiences are the ones that make the trip unique and unforgettable. All those times of uncertainty, when you don’t know when or how you will get where you want to go are the ones that let you appreciate and trust the process, because it will eventually happen!
After we arrived to Xizhazi, we ran into another tourist from Italy that was waiting for the bus to leave the town. He showed us the direction to the hiking trail to the Great Wall. When we asked about possible accommodation in the town, he gave a fascinating turning point to our journey by revealing that he had spent the night camping inside one of the wall towers. Without a tent but with a huge sense of adventure, we instantly decided to follow his steps. We ate lunch, ordered food and water to take with us and then started our hike up to the Great Wall of China full of excitement.
At the top of the mountains, the curved shapes of the continuous white wall marked the perimeters of the old dynasties and inspired us to keep exploring. We left our bags at one of the towers, which would later end up as our camp for the night, and continued discovering the wall and great landscapes. We could not give up on the hike after contemplating a surviving creation of 2,000 years of existence. This section of the Great Wall has not been restored, trees grow between the outer walls and crumbling rocks of the structure make the walk an unforgettable experience. The steep points of the construction make you switch from hiking to rock climbing. You cannot stop to wonder how many people have lost their lives while building the boundaries of land that they could not own. Even if the wall cannot be seen from the moon, as was believed, this ancient structure blows your mind. We returned to our tower to settle for the night and improvised a surface on the dirt with some plastic emergency ponchos. Thermals and multiple layers of clothes did the job of keeping us protected and warm. The sky was surprisingly clear and the beautiful colors of the sunset unfolded magically in front of our eyes. Under the light of the growing moon, we cheered and laughed with our friends for sharing the taste of a once in a lifetime experience. We not only hiked to the Great Wall of China, we slept in it 😉
