Mao said that you can’t call yourself a man until you’ve been on the Great Wall. This was my 5th time on the Wall … Does that mean that I am 5 times the man of someone who hasn’t been there … or do they start to cancel each other out? Is it possible to be “overwalled”?
I’m always happy to return to the Wall and try to get to new locations each time … this is a truth with some modifications, because I tend to sleep on the same spot, but since today was a day trip we selected a new location. The reason I was going to the Wall this time was that Kjetil (a buddy from Norway) was visiting me and the blonde duo Kristine and Hanne (also friends from home) were in Beijing (on a shopping holiday, though they “claim” it was for cultural reasons). We joined forces and headed up there.
We took a bus to Huairou and caught a cab from there to this beautiful spot. At least that’s what I had been promised. I was super dissapointed, because it was the worst part I had been to yet … the only upside was that it was virtually free to get onto the Wall, but once on it, you could only stay on about a 100 meter stretch, forbidden to walk on. I thought it sucked, but kept a plain face. They were luckily happy to just be on the wall, so it worked out OK.
All in all I was happy to see that part of the wall, if for no other reason than to never return there.