Day 14
After an early night and a good night’s sleep, up at 6am, great breakfast, met Effi and John for the drive to Mutinyahu section of The Great Wall. As we’d made an early start, on the road at 7.30am, we got to our destination before the crowds.
Wow and Wow. We went up to the wall by a ski type lift and then climbed to the highest point of that section, which according to my Fitbit as 66 floors! Breathtakingly spectacular. We went down in a toboggan type of slide and then off to lunch outdoors with a view of the surrounding mountains and wall.
The wall was started in 200 BC when China was divided into 7 kingdoms and completed in the 16th century in the Ming Dynasty.
Note: They drive like lunatics here with no apparent regard for junctions, traffic lights or anything, apparently traffic signs are just a suggestion. Seen a number of fender benders!
After the Wall we asked to be dropped off at Houhai Lake a recreational boating area surrounded by bars (each of which featured a solo musician of questionable talent), street vendors selling varieties of weird and not always so wonderful fare of which squid on a stick seemed to be very popular. The atmosphere with the surrounding Hutongs gave an aura of Camden Market on crack during a dustmen strike!
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- On the way to The Great Wall
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- On the way to The Great Wall
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- On the way to The Great Wall
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- Strange Fruit
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- Fruit Stand
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- Working in the river
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- ObaMao
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- Ski lift to The Great Wall
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- Ski lift to The Great Wall
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- Ski lift to The Great Wall
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- Slide back down from The Great Wall
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- View from The Great Wall
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- View from The Great Wall
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- Sliding down
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- The Great Wall
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- Us on the Great Wall
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- The Great Wall
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- The Great Wall – really steep stairs
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- The Great Wall
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- The Great Wall
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- Drone at The Great Wall
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- The Great Wall
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- View of The Great Wall
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- Very steep stairs
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- Ski lift to The Great Wall
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- This reads ‘Remember Chairman Mao”
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- Lunch with our guide Effi and driver John
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- Lunch spot near the Great Wall
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- Lunch spot near the Great Wall
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- Traffic everywhere
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- On the street surrounding HouHai Lake
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- On the street surrounding HouHai Lake
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- HouHai lake
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- HouHai lake
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- Great posters
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- Lock the car up
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- Wind it up and go
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- On the street surrounding HouHai Lake
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- One of many bars around the lake
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- One of many bars around the lake
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- One of many bars around the lake
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- One of many bars around the lake
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- live music near Hou Hai Lake
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- Hou Hai Lake
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- bars and resturants at HouHai Lake
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- Fishing amoungst the chaos
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- interesting bikes all over the place
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- On the street surrounding HouHai Lake
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- On the street surrounding HouHai Lake
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- not sure what these are
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- Yogurt drinks
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- Squid on a stick
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- Squid on a stick
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- Squid on a stick
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- Squid on a stick – not an ad for Sainsbury’s!
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- Squid on a stick
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- Caramel covered fruit
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- Caramel covered fruit
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- Skyline near our hotel
We heartily recommend you to publish your blog, including all the apt and delicious comments, on your return home. We are amazed at your detailed and amusing descriptions and ‘wish we were there’!
Mum & Frank