Woke up at 7.am to climb the Great Wall of China. Thankfully, the bus ride to the mountain was two hours long so I got to get in a couple more hours of much needed sleep. We climbed the Simatai section of the Great Wall, located in the north of Miyun County. Simatai is widely regarded as the most beautiful section of the wall, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. The views were absolutely stunning.
At the outset, the climb wasn’t especially difficult, but as we went further the terrain got increasingly steep and rugged. The western part of Simatai, has 20 watchtowers, which made for great rest stops to catch our breath and rehydrate. Because of its difficultly, Simatai had much fewer tourists than other sections of the Great Wall, which made the experience more fulfilling. After reaching the top of the mountain, I opted to hike back down rather than take the cable car. It’s always harder coming up steep stairs than down, and I almost fell and rolled down like five times, but in the end I made it! The bottom of the mountain had a little town with several restaurants, so to conclude our experience we got some food and then left.
The Great Wall! (ft. yours truly)