2015 Beijing 

The Great Wall

I arrived at 12:45 am and it took me an hour to clear customs. I had to find an ATM to get some yen for the taxi to the hotel (their shuttle stopped at midnight) and for the next day's tour. I checked in by two. My room smelled like an ashtray so much so I put some tiger balm under my nose to overpower the smell. Of course my lip felt on fire from the tiger balm. Of course the room was $20/U.S., so what could I expect? 

I slept for a couple hours had a nice hot shower and met my guide and driver at 6:30. 

It was flipping cold, below freezing. It was an eerie drive in the dark. Very few lights and/or cars. We got to the wall a half hour early before most of the workers. 

It was a strange system if using a shuttle bus to a chairlift to get to Tower Eight. While waiting for the shuttle a beautiful and friendly woman from Denmark joined us. The guide ended staying behind after walking with us up to tower 8 so Bridget (not the correct spelling I'm sure) and I hiked the top of the wall for three kilometers. 

We would stop periodically along the way to catch our breaths and to take photos. In between we swapped stories. 

The air was putrid and the sun was barely distinguishable. But it was a nice walk with good company. 

At the bottom we bought some soup. 

I'm not sure I'd come back to Beijing so it was worth the money. And I had the time. 

Now I'm on the Beijing to LA flight. I'm ready to go home.