Pix from the Great Wall
We went to the Jinshanling/Simatai stretch, which receives far fewer tourists than their popular counterparts, Badaling and Mutianyu. For good reason too - this section is has not be reconstructed at all, and the paths are old, uneven and crumbly.At certain portions, the wall has actually disintegrated, and we had to sidetrack and walk on the mountain itself.
During our entire 4-hour trek, we saw only a few local villagers. It's so deserted that the infamous hawkers hawking Great Wall memorabilia did not find it viable to set up stall along this stretch - we saw none!As I was saying, the trek/climb was perilous, so much so that for most part of the trek, we chose to not to struggle further with the camera. Nevertheless, here are some pictures we did manage to take. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here goes:
The crumbling Jinshanling-Simatai part of the Great Wall. This particular portion is EASY, nowhere as steep or narrow as other parts we had to tackle.
Do you see the width of the steps at the bottom right-hand corner of this pix?
At certain portions of the wall, that is ALL the "steps" we had, to set our foot upon. We had to walk very carefully and steadily to avoid plunging down to the valleys below.
Safe within a watchtower, we could whip out the camera again. One feature of the Jinshanling-Simatai stretch is the many watchtowers, placed according to strategic importance, in the military sense. Count the watchtowers atop each "hill", we crossed 30 of these watchtowers in our 4-hour trek. Go figure!
During our entire 4-hour trek, we saw only a few local villagers. It's so deserted that the infamous hawkers hawking Great Wall memorabilia did not find it viable to set up stall along this stretch - we saw none!As I was saying, the trek/climb was perilous, so much so that for most part of the trek, we chose to not to struggle further with the camera. Nevertheless, here are some pictures we did manage to take. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here goes:
The crumbling Jinshanling-Simatai part of the Great Wall. This particular portion is EASY, nowhere as steep or narrow as other parts we had to tackle.
Do you see the width of the steps at the bottom right-hand corner of this pix?
At certain portions of the wall, that is ALL the "steps" we had, to set our foot upon. We had to walk very carefully and steadily to avoid plunging down to the valleys below.
Safe within a watchtower, we could whip out the camera again. One feature of the Jinshanling-Simatai stretch is the many watchtowers, placed according to strategic importance, in the military sense. Count the watchtowers atop each "hill", we crossed 30 of these watchtowers in our 4-hour trek. Go figure!
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