#like I literally need to drop a pin on my gps every time I park so I don’t have to spend an hour looking for my car 🙃

[adventuresaroundasia]

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I huffed and puffed my way up the mountain step by step, slipping and sliding on six-hundred-year-old rubble. Wiping the sweat from my brow as I took a swig of water under the hot sun, I pushed aside the tree-like overgrowth that made this little stretch of history its home.

I’d been hiking for two hours with not one other person in sight, aside from my boyfriend and a farmer we glimpsed from the side of the wall. With a clear, blue sky overhead and a bit too much wind, I pushed myself forward, knowing there would be stunning views ahead.

Then I saw it.

Just over the edge of the wall in the distance was a bright blue, sparkling lake. I screamed with excitement over the crystal blue water surrounded on all sides by the curving snake of the Great Wall.

This is what I had quite literally risked my life to find.

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Get Away from the Great Wall Crowds

Looking to hike the Great Wall without any other tourists? Well, you’re in luck because it’s actually extremely easy. Seriously.

The Great Wall is giant. You can find portions of it scattered as far as Gansu province, where the wall only comes up to an average person’s chest. Apparently, that’s all you need to keep horse riders out of cities and towns.

Of course, if you head to Beijing, you’ll want to see the famous Great Wall, but you also won’t want to be sounded by thousands of local tourists, pushing and shoving for a selfie while vendors shove Mao paraphernalia in your face.

Welcome to Badaling.

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Don’t Go to Badaling

Why is it that every single hostel, hotel, tour group, and agency all send travelers to Badaling? Sure it’s the closest section to Beijing, but it’s honestly not worth visiting due to the crowds. Yes, you can take a tourist bus there, but just imagine how many other people are doing the same thing.

It’s so easy to avoid the crowds in China. You just have to break outside of the typical Chinese tour bus route, and you’ll be fine.

Seriously, the only reason I will ever go to Badaling is just to have a first-hand account that will scare all of you away.

Casually hiking the Wild Wall!

Why I Love the Wild Wall

While there are plenty of accessible sections that are crowd free (I’ll cover those later), my favorite kind of Great Wall hike is a wild one.

By wild, I mean unrestored sections of the Great Wall that aren’t officially open to tourists. 

Seriously. My favorite type of Great Wall hike is one where I pay a farmer 5RMB ($1 USD) to climb a ladder onto a section of the Great Wall that’s closed.

Is it illegal? Technically. Does anyone care? Not really. Is it dangerous? … Actually, yes.

Today I’m going to tell you the story of my most recent Wild Wall adventure, and then I’ll fill you in on how to have a Great Wall adventure of your own!

Our room at the Orchid!

Great Wall Birthday Surprise

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend Chris created a surprise adventure to celebrate my 26th birthday. After booking a room at the Orchid, my all-time favorite boutique hotel in all of China, he set up a driver to take us to a secret, wild section of the Great Wall.

Dressed head to toe in hiking gear, the two of us wandered out of the Gulou hutongs where a car was waiting for us. I knew we were headed to the Great Wall, but I had no idea where!

After over an hour of driving, we hit our final destination: the Huanghuacheng Wild Wall.

A to B! So easy!

A Confusing Introduction

Our driver led us up a steep hill into a sleepy village where he pointed us in the direction of the Wild Wall. After a lot of Chinglish chatter that consisted of: “hike to the lake” and “A to B”, we set out in search of the Great Wall.

Alright, we thought, Let’s find the wall, we’ll hike from A to B. 

Eventually, we hit a section of the Great Wall with a few Chinese locals posing for photos. I pulled out my phone, checked the GPS map and saw that if we hiked along the wall to our left, we would eventually hit Huanghuacheng Lake. Perfect!

Hike to the lake. A to B. Great! 

If you haven’t noticed already, this paragraph is some serious foreshadowing of what is to come.

Be careful Chris!

A Warning From the Locals

Underneath the wall, the trail continued, but we were able to find some hidden stone steps up to the top where a villager and a group of Chinese locals awaited us.

The villager asked for 5 RMB, a standard fee for any section of the Great Wall not officially open to tourists. After taking a few photos with our newfound Chinese friends, we were on our way.

As we started climbing up the steep stone steps, one woman shouted a warning:

Be careful! It’s very windy today. She explained to us with a concerned look on her face. Stay to the left or the wind will blow you off the wall! 

The others seemed shocked that we would even attempt such an unrestored section. But having hiked the Great Wall three times before, I knew most Chinese tourists didn’t actually hike the entire thing, especially not unrestored, unopened sections.

We waved away their concern, stopping for one last wave at the group before we headed out of sight. After all, if this route is online it can’t be too unsafe, right?

THIS is what we were hiking on most of the time

Hiking the Dangerous Wild Wall

For the next two hours, Chris and I hiked along the Wild Wall, slipping on rubble, climbing up piles of overturned stones, and teetering on sections of the wall so thin that I was sure one gust of wind would blow us right off.

No wonder the woman told us to stay to the left! At least if we fell off that way we wouldn’t break all the bones in our body.

There were points where the brush was so thick that I felt like I was in a forest, not on a wall. There were moments where you couldn’t even see any stone at all. Then, suddenly you’d find a guard post tower right in front of you with no warning at all.

At one point Chris and I had to climb through a window of a guard tower over a 30-foot drop below. All I’m going to say about that experience is that I’m very glad neither one of us died.

Sure, there were scrapes, bumps, and bruises along the way (and a very nasty scar I have on my shin from walking right into a broken root protruding from the ground), but it was worth it!

It was the best picnic ever!

Great Wall Picnic

After two hours of hiking (and a few breaks for rest and photos), we FINALLY saw the lake.

The Huanghuacheng Lake from the Great Wall above is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my entire life. Having worked for it for a solid two hours made it all the sweeter.

Once we found a good spot with a nice view of the lake, the two of us settled down for a Great Wall birthday picnic.

Sparkling wine, strawberries, smoked salmon, goat cheese, homemade pickles, fresh bread and more were shoveled into our mouths at a voracious speed as we laughed and enjoyed the incredible view.

We celebrated a hike (and birthday) well done, and prepared for the short hike down to the parking lot below.

Or so we thought.

That was not fun.

Neither was this.

Wild Wall Disaster

As we began our descent down the winding path to the bottom, I knew right away that this wasn’t going to be easy. Every single step I took sent rocks and rubble rolling down the wall and off the side of a cliff.

I couldn’t get my footing. Every step was a cautious tale that left me shaking and exhausted. After twenty minutes of this excruciating ordeal, it felt as if I’d gone literally nowhere.

How is this a recommended hike?!!

Chris had found the driver and hike through Beijing Private Driver, as one of their suggested hiking routes. If a website is offering this route it has to be safe, right? How do other people do this?!!

I needed some refurbished stairs. I needed a rope. I needed something. 

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…and I thought we were almost done.

How is This Hike Possible??

After a half-hour of pain and desperation, we finally made it to a dirt path surrounded by dense forest. While I thought my woeful tale was finished, my suffering was far from over.

You see, Chris and I had visited the wall in late April. Why is this a problem? Well, I honestly can’t remember the last time it rained in Beijing.

Beijing is dry and dusty throughout the winter and spring, and with no precipitation besides one or two tiny snowfalls, the dirt path was just as bad as the wall, except without the danger of a cliff to fall off of.

Lurching from tree to tree as my feet slipped around like I was walking on a frozen lake in flip flops, I eventually gave up and slid down on my butt instead.

Not a pretty picture.

Just as I couldn’t control my feet, I also couldn’t control my emotions and I started sobbing from sheer exhaustion and nerves. Not only that, I also felt like I had ruined Chris’ birthday present to me. What an awesome girlfriend I am.

Our Orchid balcony!

Reaching the Bottom

Once we hit the parking lot I literally threw myself onto the pavement. I had never been so thankful to see civilization.

I felt like such a horrible adventurer, but I was alive and that’s all that matters.

Once I calmed myself down, I called the driver, who was beginning to get a bit worried. Last he heard from us, we were finishing up our picnic and were “almost down”. That was an hour ago…

However, once we got him on the phone, we realized he was nowhere to be found.

Where is he?? Did he go to the wrong place?!

Nope. Apparently, we did.

No wonder it’s so overgrown…

No One Hikes That Section Of The Wall

Remember our driver’s instructions? Hike to the lake! A to B! Well, apparently we misunderstood.

You see, we thought we were supposed to hike to the lake on the wall. What he meant was that we needed to hike to a lake, THEN get on the wall. What?!!

Yeah, apparently we were supposed to hike underneath the section of the wall we originally got on until we hit a lake, THEN get on the lake and hike from A to B. Well, personally, I think his instructions could use a little improving, don’t you?

When the driver realized which section we’d hiked, he asked some locals how to find us, and they told him no one hikes that section of the wall. NO ONE. None of the villagers have ever even heard of someone attempting it.

Not only does no one hike this section, it’s also supposed to take about five hours to get from A to B. Minus our lengthy picnic, it only took us three. That made me feel a little better.

Our driver was relieved to see that we were okay and called us “heroes” for the entire ride back. I’ve never been so glad to take a shower and finish a flat bottle of sparkling wine in my entire life.

Pretty. but is it worth it?

So… Should You Visit this Section?

Minus the crazy descent, this section of the Great Wall was my absolute favorite, and the view of the lake from above made every moment of pain worth it.

Would I do this section again? … Yes, but only after it’s rained a few times.

Do I recommend this section to people visiting Beijing? No. 

As painful as it is for me to say it, this section of the Great Wall is not safe. I can’t guarantee your safety if you decide to hike it, and I also can’t guarantee you’ll be able to get down. I do not want to be responsible for any untimely deaths, which is why my conscious will not allow me to give you exact directions and a map of how to get here.

BUT if you REALLY, REALLY want to visit knowing the risks, just contact me and I will try my best to tell you how we got there (after all, we hiked it by accident).

I can’t exactly show you these pictures and then refuse to tell you how to get there, now can I?

There are plenty of wild sections!

How to Have a (Safer) Wild Wall Adventure

Just because I don’t recommend this section doesn’t mean you can’t have your own Wild Wall adventure. There are plenty of incredible sections to hike with almost no tourists in sight!

I can’t guarantee that all of these sections will have incredible lake views, but I can guarantee that they will be awesome and crowd-free!

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Hiking the Secret Great Wall!

1. Go to the “Secret Great Wall”

While “the Secret Great Wall” is a round-trip hike, you’ll get a beautiful view of the reservoir near Huanghuacheng. The hike is much shorter than the one I described above, and the wall is pretty decently restored, but you’ll still get the incredible experience of sneaking on the wall.

You’ll pay a villager 5 RMB to climb up a metal ladder, where you’ll have the Great Wall virtually all to yourself. While the hike is short and steep, it’s an ideal place for camping without getting in trouble with the police!

Luckily for you, I have directions and a map to help you find it.

Welcome to the Secret Wall

2. Visit the Huanghuacheng Wild Wall

Looking for something different? Head to the section of the Great Wall we were supposed to hike. I can’t give you any notes from personal experience, but I can say that there is a lake…. you know, that one we were supposed to find before we got on the wall.

If you want to visit, contact Beijing Private Driver and ask them to take you to the Huanghuacheng wild wall. Just be sure to hike to the lake BEFORE you get on the wall.

Whoopsies.

3. Go on an Adventure Tour

One of my friends recently did an overnight camping adventure tour on an unrestored section of the Great Wall with Beijing Hikers. All of her camping gear was supplied by the company, and they helped to make sure no accidents happened by suggesting safer ways to get around obstacles than most of us could ever possibly find on our own.

If you want to explore the wall with a few adventurous travelers, I definitely recommend checking out their upcoming hikes. I’m tempted to try a camping adventure with them myself!

Gubeikou has some nice views!

4. Hike Gubeikou

Want to visit a wild section of the Great Wall, but not a fan of group tours or breaking the law? I always recommend Gubeikou to Beijing visitors.

Gubeikou is an unrestored section of the Great Wall that’s officially open to tourists for just 20 RMB! While you can’t hike from A to B, you do get a really nice round-trip hike that lasts a few hours.

Just because Gubeikou is open to tourists doesn’t mean there are many there. On my entire Gubeikou hike, I ran into one group of European travelers and a few Chinese tourists right at the start of the wall. That’s it. I’d literally never even heard of Gubeikou until about a year ago and I’ve lived in Beijing for two years!

Hiking the Great Wall in 2012

5. Hike Jinshanling to Simatai

Finally, if you’re looking for a stunning, partially restored section of the Great Wall, I highly recommend Jinshanling. Just like Gubeikou, Jinshanling is officially open to tourists, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see many.

Jinshanling is the furthest of the bunch from Beijing, so expect your car ride to take over two hours one way. Despite the long trip and difficult hike, the views are definitely worth it! Many people say that this is the most beautiful section of the Great Wall.

Jinshanling is the first section of the Great Wall I ever hiked when I was a study abroad student in Beijing five years ago. I’ll also be bringing my parents here in the fall when they visit!

If you’re going to head all the way out here, I definitely recommend either hiring a private driver or going on a Jinshanling hiking tour.

It’s Easy to Avoid the Crowds

Overall, it’s very easy to avoid the crazy Great Wall crowds. All you have to do is skip Badaling!

Whether you decide to stumble your way onto an incredible off-the-beaten-path adventure or strap up your hiking boots for the views of Jinshanling, just pick one of the hikes above and you’ll be sure to have an incredible, crowd-free experience.

Heading to the Great Wall? Which section would you choose? 

Hiking the Wild Wall: A Real Great Wall Adventure This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.  I huffed and puffed my way up the mountain step by step, slipping and sliding on six-hundred-year-old rubble.

#Beijing #Great Wall #hike #off the beaten path

[sarahspringer28]

Mistakes you only make once. Hopefully.

A couple of times over the last 2 weeks I’ve kept saying that I really need to write a list of all our first time mistakes that we’ve made since moving to Brisbane. Mistakes that you definitely only make once and don’t want to make again. So here it goes...some were hilarious, others not so much.

1. Sydney Airport...we had literally been in the country for 20 minutes and we weren’t aware that we had to collect our bags after going through customs. As far as we knew, we had checked our bags right through to Brisbane. We had already been through security and we were in the queue to get on the bus to go to the domestic terminal when we were told this piece of vital information. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to go back. Lovely. We would have to collect our luggage the next day. This killed me a bit. I hated the fact that we would have to inconvenience our friends. And of course the husband hadn’t packed a spare set of clothes in his hand luggage. *evil laugh* Yes, I did say “I told you so”.The next day as we collected our luggage at Brisbane airport, my husband, the kind man that he is, decided to try help the lady put our luggage on a trolley. She firmly said, “Stay behind the line please”. Oops. Oh well. Don’t cut the red tape. 

2. Ground floor...so we had been apartment hunting and we were on our way to sign the papers at the Real Estate office which we had never been to before. We couldn’t seem to find the office in the building, and the sign said that the office was on the ground floor, so we got in the lift and pressed “Ground floor” fast enough so that the strangers walking into the building wouldn’t have to get in with us. The doors closed. And then they opened. And there were the strangers. Yes. We had a blonde moment. Trying to go to the Ground floor when we were already on the ground floor. The floor could’ve swallowed me right there and I would’ve been very happy. We all had a good laugh. It was hysterical. 

3. The bond...The bond in Australia has a very different meaning to South Africa. Basically the bond is your rental deposit. You’ll probably need 6 weeks rent as your bond payment. Just a heads up in case you need to budget. ;) Fortunately we were aware of this. The terminology was just different. 

4. The bus lane...We purchased a car. Yay! An automatic. Yay again! We had walked the city flat and thought we had our bearings. Craig had bought a bike and I had to fetch him from work to go collect it. Yes I was driving. My words to Craig were “please get your phone GPS going so I don’t get lost”. Obviously he didn’t because it wasn’t far and we had walked there the other day. In peak time traffic we very quickly realised that the city is basically only one way streets. I ended up getting stuck in an inter section and the only way I could go was straight. Straight down a bus lane that is. Into the bus stop. Concrete blocks on either side. I was trapped between all the buses. I almost cried. A trip that was literally 2km ended up being about 12km. I wish I was joking. We made it in time and managed to find a parking. Thank heavens. That night we were watching RBT and someone was fined $300 for driving down a bus lane. So yeah, you could say I was on edge every time I went to the mailbox. Thankfully I didn’t get a fine. I definitely won’t do that again.

5. Kmart self service...As it turns out, the self service check outs at Kmart aren’t as smart as the ones at Woolworths or Coles. DO NOT try to be efficient and scan your item and then open the shopping bag to put your item in. The scale doesn’t like it. Alarm bells went off literally. A member of staff had to come and assist. Lovely. 

6. Telstra and Foxtel...So we got super excited when Telstra and Foxtel had a “great special” on. $99 a month for unlimited internet and 3 months free Foxtel bundle of your choice. The husband was super happy to get the sport bundle so he could catch up on all the cricket and rugby that the free channels don’t show. Turns out, not once did we ever pay $99. Every month was an extra charge. They didn’t tell us that you have to pay $100+ connection fee for Telstra AND Foxtel. Thanks guys. That’s great. We did ask about additional charges...apparently connection fees aren’t classified as an extra charge. 

7. Noise...Our first apartment was designed like a bit of a courtyard. All the apartments faced inwards overlooking the garden and pool. So pretty. So lovely. But unfortunately if you drop a pin it echoes like crazy. There was a “No noise on balconies after 10pm” rule. Fair enough. I’m normally in bed then anyway. This time though it was Christmas Eve. We had some friends over. We had a bit of wine. We weren’t ridiculously loud, I was very aware of that. Unfortunately I was not aware that it was 10:03pm. A very unhappy new dad came and told us to keep quiet. Oops. I felt like absolute crap and I wanted to cry. Firstly, it was an honest mistake. Secondly, it was my first Christmas away from home and I really needed to try not to think about it. The air conditioning inside worked out better in the end. Never again.

8. Bond clean...Before moving out any rental property you have to do a Bond clean. The place has to be better than you when you got it to get your bond back. (And you definitely want that 6 weeks rent back). Property managers encourage you to have a professional bond clean done, that way you just produce the receipt and they don’t have to inspect the property as intensely. We also had to have our carpets steam cleaned (even though we were only there for 3 months) and the bed mattress. I actually like this idea because I know that I will always be moving into a very clean place. Unfortunately we were called back to fix our cleaning. Apparently the fluff from my cloth and a speck on a door frame is not allowed. When we moved in, the place wasn’t spotless. The window sills were dirty etc. Unfortunately we lost the photos that we took because we both got new cell phones so we didn’t have evidence. I fixed what needed to be fixed and we got our bond back. It was highly annoying at the time, but now we know. I will ALWAYS take photos if things aren’t perfect and I will send them to the property manager immediately. If we had done that, we wouldn’t have had a problem.

9. IKEA...Such a fantastic place. So big. So many beautiful things. It’s a homemaker’s dream! Until that awkward moment when you decide that you actually want to purchase something. Um...what now? So after asking a couple shop assistants, we managed to print our items that we needed to collect and purchase. Which was great. Until we got to the self service warehouse and location 18 in aisle 17 didn’t exist. We checked about 5 times to make sure that we hadn’t got it wrong. We already felt like idiots not knowing how to buy something. As it turns out our item was on display at the tills. Wow. Thanks guys. Like I really needed to feel like an idiot yet again. 

10. Telstra and NBN...Yes again. We haven’t learnt yet apparently. Me being the organised freak that I am decided to phone ahead and get our internet moved to our new apartment so that on moving day we’ll have internet and I won’t have to worry about phoning and trying to sort it out then. We were informed that we would have to pay a NBN $300 new building development fee because the apartment building is brand new. Lovely. We even googled this. It was legit. Upon arrival at our new apartment, we were told that we could connect to the internet that the building supplies in 2 minutes and we’ll get 6 months free  AND even after that it would be cheaper than anything Telstra could ever offer us. Great! Yay! So the husband gets it connected and phones Telstra to cancel, which costs $359. That’s fine, it still works out cheaper to do that than to continue with Telstra. Until we phone them...unfortunately they are so damn efficient that they had already connected the NBN. The fact that we haven’t even used it doesn’t matter. BOOM!!!! $700. Thanks for coming. (I’ve rounded it up because I’m sure there’s another admin fee in there which we aren’t aware of).

11. The wrong queue...The first day that my husband decides to cycle to work would be the first day in weeks that it decides to storm. A proper Brisbane storm. Lightening, thunder, rain, the works. So after phone calls back and forth, we decided that the quickest way for him to get home would be to catch the CityCat. He has also worked a bit later than normal so the times in between each trip are now 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes. So the poor man is there in the queue with all his bags and his bike. What he didn’t realise is that there are 2 queues. He was in the wrong one. He missed it and he was there. *face palm* He had to wait an extra 30 minutes to catch the next one. Yes, it was still storming.

12. The wrong bus...Our darling cousin had a birthday party across the river. As the crow flies, probably 3kms. Great! We’ll catch the CityCat across and then jump on a bus and viola! we’ll be at her place. Too easy mate. So we get across the river, we spot the bus pulling up so we run for it, only to find out that the bus “isn’t in service” even though it doesn’t say so on the display. Awkward. So we walk to the bus stop and wait with all the other “normal” people. A few minutes later that exact same bus pulls up and we all get on. *eye roll* We have fun at the party, have a few drinks and then we decide to make our way home before all public transport stops. We check our app (a bit blurry eyed) and it says that we get on the same bus because it does a big loop. We jump on and the bus starts heading towards the city. Craig mentions jumping off at the first city stop because it’s so close to a ferry terminal, but I’m convinced that we’ll end up at the same ferry terminal that we originally used because it does a big loop. As it turns out, because it was late at night, the bus didn’t do the full loop. We ended up on the far side of the city. Luckily the bus stopped at a ferry terminal and the CityCat was pulling up and heading in the right direction. We had an hour ferry ride home. It was actually beautiful and peaceful and gave us some time to admire the beautiful sky and city that we live in. Sleep would’ve been good, but hey...sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you just have to relax and enjoy the ride. :) 

xxx

#saffachicklostinbrisbane