This was definitely a day I and my feet will not forget!
We started at 6 AM this day, so we could get breakfast, but the only thing open was the golden arches 🤣.
I do not have a photo, but I remember this being unexpectedly pretty good, but not on a Japanese McDonald's level good.
The original plan was to take public transit to The Great Wall, but the commute time was over 3 hours long, and the faster and surprisingly cheaper option was to DiDi (Taxi). The drive is about an hour and fifteen minutes, the cost was $, divided by two since I split with my partner, which is $ for there and back. How great is that!
I can not stress how important carrying your passport is in China because you essentially cannot go anywhere without it. Your passport is your ID, wallet, ticket, etc. It's insane. We just had to scan our passports, and then we were off to see The Great Wall!
I will let the photos do the talking from here:
We were so glad we did The Great Wall early in the day because it would have been unimaginably hot if we did it later.
Another bone-headed decision we made was not bringing enough water and snacks. We did not think to be there that long, so we only bought 2 liters of water, but we quickly burned through that by the time we got to Watch Tower 22! Luckily, there are vendors along the wall, but their rates are pretty high. Rightfully so, Cole was hesitant on paying, but the fact they climbed this far while carrying all the inventory, I believe they had the right to charge their rate.
I have no words in describing how grand and magnificent The Great Wall is because you have to be there to experience it. I cannot imagine how they lugged all this stone up a mountain, and built this. We should investigate the Chinese for The Great Wall, the same way we investigate the Egyptians for The Great Pyramids. I think the better alternative for me is to watch a YouTube video on it though.
Completing an entire section of The Great Wall was definitely the craziest and most spontaneous thing I have ever done and one of my proudest moments so far in my life. I was originally aiming to do Watch Towers 14-22 not 1-22. We rewarded ourselves by "buying" medals. It did not feel like a purchase, it felt like earning it.
We did not take the cable way back, but instead took a more dangerous way. I am still trying to wrap my head around on how it was approved to be safe. I do not have photos, but have a video of it, which will go in my YouTube video, I will put out sometime in the near future.
We got back to Beijing around 5 PM, relaxed at APM Mall in Wangfujing Street, and spent the rest of the day recovering after The Great Wall.
