I saw the Great Wall from the window of a train , about 14 years ago, right where it petered out into the desert at its most southerly point. I have harboured an idea of maybe some day scrambling over it, that dream has now been fulfilled.
It is reputed to be able to be seen from outer space. Not true, pollution alone stops that, also it is only just over 20 feet wide. Its construction is a bit like a Roman Road, however the base of large rocks is held together with glutinous rice, ever tried to unpick it from a table? A very early morning start was made to reach Simatai, the stretch i visited. I wanted to examine and photograph rather than doing a great trek on it. This particular stretch is particularly steep, with watch towers dotted about every 200 yards. It is set in the spine of steep sided mountains, rather like a dragons back and stretching away into the pollution and dust in the distance. There are precarious plunges on either side, with strong, cold gusts of wind giving me the golly wobbles. I walked in the centre, as much of this section did not have walls at the sides. Heart thumping inclines and leaning backwards on descents.
A cable car car got me up to just below the ridge, then a scramble up to the wall itself. It is constructed of mud bricks, which are grey and much bigger than our standars sie.. These have largely stood the weathering of 2,000 years, most weathering is on the towers.
The return journey on the cable car was truly frightening because a storm blew up. The cable car was stopped with me suspended well up above ground half way back. The pod was bouncing about like a cork on the sea, the quality of the welding and peeling fibre glass made me think that Health and Safety has not been heard of here. It was hard to keep my mind on other things. I was numb with the cold wind.
It is reputed to be able to be seen from outer space. Not true, pollution alone stops that, also it is only just over 20 feet wide. Its construction is a bit like a Roman Road, however the base of large rocks is held together with glutinous rice, ever tried to unpick it from a table? A very early morning start was made to reach Simatai, the stretch i visited. I wanted to examine and photograph rather than doing a great trek on it. This particular stretch is particularly steep, with watch towers dotted about every 200 yards. It is set in the spine of steep sided mountains, rather like a dragons back and stretching away into the pollution and dust in the distance. There are precarious plunges on either side, with strong, cold gusts of wind giving me the golly wobbles. I walked in the centre, as much of this section did not have walls at the sides. Heart thumping inclines and leaning backwards on descents.
A cable car car got me up to just below the ridge, then a scramble up to the wall itself. It is constructed of mud bricks, which are grey and much bigger than our standars sie.. These have largely stood the weathering of 2,000 years, most weathering is on the towers.
The return journey on the cable car was truly frightening because a storm blew up. The cable car was stopped with me suspended well up above ground half way back. The pod was bouncing about like a cork on the sea, the quality of the welding and peeling fibre glass made me think that Health and Safety has not been heard of here. It was hard to keep my mind on other things. I was numb with the cold wind.
1 comment:
I empathise Dad!
Reminds me of the plane I took to Kazakhstan. As we were boarding I saw gaps down the sides of the door which looked like they had been filed with Polyfilla! The no smoking ban was ignored in the toilets as chain smoker after chain smoker went in to blacken their lungs. Hair raising!
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