Day 123 – The Great China as it was in the past

6am start is an achievement for the group. As we showered Aidan walked into the room, drunk and wanting to give people hugs. As sweet as the adorable teddy bear is I wasn't in the mood for hugs, from his booze stinks, first thing in the morning. Eoghan entered a moment later looking fairly twisted. They had decided to ring in Eoghan's birthday throughout the night. We were called a number of times by the awaiting buses. I was laughing at the thought of the boys climbing the Great Wall for 4 hours with a looming hangover. I had to pack my bags to move rooms before we left. We met at the reception, bought some water and climbed into the awaiting minibus. Thankfully we had our own minibus and the remainder of the tourists were in their own bus. We took off into the morning traffic. Within 10 minutes Drunk and Drunker were having some ridiculous argument. Armed with MP3 players, the rest were able to escape into a more peaceful, calm world.

After travelling through India, it truly prepares you for most other eventualities. Chinese driving is probablly some of the worse in the world. Apart from India. So, when the drivers, hapazardily fly across each other, switching lanes, no indication, racing and jammng to a sudden halt, you always relax knowing its better than India. With this inner calmness in this insane motorway world, I fell asleep with the Beatles lullying me to sleep. I slept for the majority of the journey. Three hours of a nap and then 30 mins of watching the scenery go by and we pulled into a car park with a few coaches already parked. Feeling pretty hungry myself Ian and Eoghan grabbed one of those large pot noodles you see the Chinese eating all the time. A smart lady had set up he stand in the car park with a pot of hot water available. We began the hike to the Great Wall. Aidan was looking a slighter shade of pale. As you enter the wall and climb up on to its parapet the first that hits you is the rolling landscape spreading out to all sides. The wall even though grand, seems isolated by the vastness of the landscape. It works its way, undulating up down and over the peaks of the landscape. Large stone towers divide and give greatness to the overall wonderment of the Great Wall. In comparison to the city wall in Nanjing, it is narrow. I believe no more than 30 metres wide at its widest point. Neither is it the tallest of walls. A standard ladder would easily scale the sides. Nevertheless, its grandeur is in its length. Its wisdom lies in that it sits atop the peak of the highest hills, giving it great height over the surrounding landscape. As you trek along the wall. Up and down the vast stone highways. As you turn each viewable corner, the wall continues ahead, as far as the eye can see. You turn and behind, like a snake it slithers off into the distance. The stone colour is quite beautiful and complimentary of the surrounding rocks and relief.

If you have ever seen the Great Wall in a movie, you have probably seen some action shot where the villain or heroin is racing along it in a vehicle of some sort. This might be possible for 5% of it. The majority of the trek we took, involved climbing up and down giant stairs. There is an unbelievable amount of stairs on the great wall. Make sure you've had your sleep the night before. What makes the trek so worthwhile is you get to see the Great Wall in different stages of disrepair. It feel a lot more genuine than some of the visits I've heard other people have gone on. There are parts where the wall is crumbling beyond belief. The path can be treacherous at times as you climb down some steep descent with only loose dirts and bricks underfoot. I loved the experience. Myself, Eoghan and Peter paced off in front of the crowd. We ran up some steep staircases and raced down the sloping hills like kids. Imagining wars gone by with the Mongolians on our left and the Chinese on our right. One million men employed to guard its 4,000 mile length. As you trek along you will meet a collection of traders offering their wares of t-shirts and souvenirs. You will even find the random person selling Coke, Beer and Water. This can come in useful, especially on a day like the one we visited, with the sun melting us away from above. The remainder of the walk was incredibly satisfying. I left the boys at one of the towers before we got to the end. I headed off towards some sparkling water that caught my eye. The towers came to an end at a river bed. You had to climb down and cross a suspension bridge. Back up again onto the wall for the last remaining towers before finishing our 30 tower trek. I stopped on the roof of the tower closest to the riverside. I sat, took out my postcards and began writing them in the sunshine. After half an hour I completed the last bit of the walk down to the restaurant we had agreed to meet at. Ordered some sweet and sour chicken and a bottle of beer.

Our minibus collected us for the return journey. With headphones inserted we were on the road back to Beijing. Before I knew it i was floating in dreamworld as we raced along. I was awoken just on the outskirts of Beijing by my mobile ringing. My bank card had finally being delivered to the PLoft. When we got back to the hostel, Eoghan, Peter and Aidan headed to catch some Zzzzs before going out. I went to the cafe and rang Bank of Ireland 365 to ask about my PIN. As expected, they didn't really know the answer. BOI: Did I order a new PIN? ME: No, I lost my card and ordered a replacement BOI: Perhaps they'll use the same PIN. ME: Is that standard procedure? BOI: Sometimes, depends if you order a new PIN with it. ME: I reported the card missing to your department, do you not know? BOI: You didn't report the card missing with us, it must have being your branch. ME: So, will the old PIN work. BOI: It might do, it all depends, on whether a new PIN was ordered or not. ME: What happens if the PIN number doesn't work? BOI: We'll order a new one and it will take 3 to 4 working days. ME: I'm in Beijing, China without any money, can it be rushed through as an emergency? BOI: No, it will take 3 to 4 working days. ME: Thanks, for all your help. This is the standard type of service we are so used to receiving as a resident of Ireland. Not to dissimilar to the service I had received from An Post. The lack of communication in these companies. Not knowing what the left hand is doing. The lack of respect for customers and realisation of what situation they may be in. No emergency procedures. No 24/365 hour telephone line to reassure you. Can you imagine this type of management when they went to build the Great Wall. Sure I thought it was Jim's job to order the bricks. What do you mean, its meant to be a wall. I haven't had any complaints before misses. It'll be grand. Don't you worry. Watching how things are done in China you really begin to understand how they have moved forward so fast. Perhaps its communism or the result of it. They just have it sorted. From the Chinese people I have spoken to, they say you can not believe how much China has changed in ten years. Funny thing is, I can. I see it. They have the man power, they have the efficiency. When they do something. They do it. They respect where they have come from. They haven't lost their heads in the prison of capitalism. There is something different about how they deal with it. Can't quite put my finger on it. Let me get back to you on this one.

To celebrate Eoghan's birthday we all went to International Food Cuisine. We were shown to a table and then like dogs on a race track, realised to do our best on the fantastic, All You Can Eat and Drink Buffet. I can only imagine it was Eoghan's dream of dreams. 400 foods from every part of the world. Prepared freshly infront of you. We all went our different ways, plates in hand. My first plate was a collection of sushi, smoked salmon, crackers, and salads. Then a plate of fruits. Finally a plate of meats and vegetables. A beer and a banana smoothy. The lads came back with plates of meat. The conversation was fairly thin as we devoured the feast of tastes infront of us. Seconds were up pretty quick. More meats of plates came back. It wasn't long before the group began to slow. Just enough room for a plate of deserts. Finally people couldn't take any more. Bizarre for us. I think tiredness had something to do with it. Not quite the performance I was expecting. I was happy with my effort. Eoghan had joked the first day he saw the buffet, that he worried about, 'his performance on the night'. The reality was right in front of me, as he lay there, doubled over holding his belly. There were a lot of groans coming from Ian also. We finished with some coffees and left. With little energy left, we headed back to the hostel. Ended having a few drinks with Eoghan, Peter and Aidan in the local. Was in bed by 1.30am after falling in sleep in the common room in front of the TV.