Whilst you spend a full day at each, today was a combined trip. This is logical given they are close to each other and given you kept seeing the same faces i was not the only one with this arrangement. If you have plenty of time, i would probably recommend staying a couple of days near one of the locations and avoiding the two hour + journey each way therefore being able to spend a bit more time at each.
I was slightly nervous about seeing the wall. I have been lucky enough to see quite a few famous world sites, such as Uluru, Grand Canyon, Taj Mahal and they have all had the wow factor that goes with the reputation. Before coming to the Badaling stretch of the wall, i had read that it was the touristy one and that "purists" recommended other parts. So i slightly feared seeing hoards of people walking along with their kfc/macdonalds wearing kiss me quick hats.
Not to worry. It was busy, being a Saturday after all, but not uncomfortably so. And yes it passed the wow factor test. You feel quite insignificant walking such a small part of the wall and you can only imagine the effort and imagination that went behind its creation. The views are stunning, but many locations also benefit from that, here in the context that makes it even more special.
The tombs were similarly unique. 13 tombs from the Ming Dynasty (there were 16 emperors but the first built his near the old capital, the second fled after being usurped by his uncle and the last wanted to do his own thing). Only two are open - upper parts only you cant do your Raiders of the Lost Ark Impression and go underground and once again the scale is amazing. Set flanked on three sides by mountains, with a river crossing the plains, the distance between the first gate took about 10 mins by car to the oldest and largest tomb - you can only imagine how long a procession that would have been.
Photos will follow later - i have managed to download from camera to memory stick but yet to upload to Picasa. This might be one of the sites you cant access on China, so they might have to wait until i get home.
I was slightly nervous about seeing the wall. I have been lucky enough to see quite a few famous world sites, such as Uluru, Grand Canyon, Taj Mahal and they have all had the wow factor that goes with the reputation. Before coming to the Badaling stretch of the wall, i had read that it was the touristy one and that "purists" recommended other parts. So i slightly feared seeing hoards of people walking along with their kfc/macdonalds wearing kiss me quick hats.
Not to worry. It was busy, being a Saturday after all, but not uncomfortably so. And yes it passed the wow factor test. You feel quite insignificant walking such a small part of the wall and you can only imagine the effort and imagination that went behind its creation. The views are stunning, but many locations also benefit from that, here in the context that makes it even more special.
The tombs were similarly unique. 13 tombs from the Ming Dynasty (there were 16 emperors but the first built his near the old capital, the second fled after being usurped by his uncle and the last wanted to do his own thing). Only two are open - upper parts only you cant do your Raiders of the Lost Ark Impression and go underground and once again the scale is amazing. Set flanked on three sides by mountains, with a river crossing the plains, the distance between the first gate took about 10 mins by car to the oldest and largest tomb - you can only imagine how long a procession that would have been.
Photos will follow later - i have managed to download from camera to memory stick but yet to upload to Picasa. This might be one of the sites you cant access on China, so they might have to wait until i get home.
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