The Great Wall of China

So on the second day, 20th Sept 2013, dari Ming Tomb, kitorg meneruskan lagi perjalanan selama sejam setengah utk tgk one of the 7wonders of the world, THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. to be honest, ni la antara tujuan kami ke beijing, utk melihat sdr kehebatan great wall ni. 

FYI, great wall adalah sepanjang 8000km,  dan ada banyak bahagian. biasanya kalau pelancong ke beijing, ada beberapa bahagian yg popular dan boleh dilawati, iaitu Badaling Great Wall  dan juga Mutianyu Great Wall. 

Badaling adalah yg paling popular di kalangan pelancong sbb terletak tak jauh dr Beijing berbanding bahagian great wall yg lain. dan untuk ke Badaling, boleh guna public transport jer. but then, since it is the most popular, it tends to be very crowded especially during weekends/public holidays/peak season. disebabkan kami ke beijing kebetulan jatuh pada long weekend (ada mid autumn festival celebration time tu), so kitorg decide utk ke Mutianyu Great Wall. Mutianyu great wall ni lebih jauh sikit berbanding Badaling, tapi advantage dia kurang tourists dan sesuai utk family.

typical kampung di china. surprisingly tersangat bersih dan peaceful. tepi jalanraya memang takde sampah sarap lansung!!

tasik apa ntah, otw to Mutianyu

ok, signage kat China semua tulisan cina. so kalau sesapa plan nk drive di china, pls make sure your gps is equipped with the latest version of china map. 

the great wall di kejauhan

perjalanan sejam setengah tuh sangat tricky, sebab bas kitorg lalu ikut kawasan yg betul2 kampung dan kena cross 7 bijik bukit. dahla jalan kecik cinonet, berbengkang bengkok lak tuh.... sebijik cam jalan nak naik cameron highlands dari Tapah!! to be honest, memang penat gak la duk dlm bas tu. ramai yg tertido, termasukla our tour guide. kekekek

...so after 1 1/2 hour, akhirnya kami sampai ke Mutianyu!!

arca apa ntah. kat jalan utama nak masuk Mutianyu Great Wall.

kami sampai area  Mutianyu dlm pukul 1ptg. sampai2 je sana, jalan jemmmm!!! sampai tahap driver bas terpaksa matikan enjin. so Leo (our tour guide) bagi suggestion, kitorg jalan kaki utk ke next stop- iaitu restoran utk lunch. eksaited punya pasal, semua org setuju. lagipun si Leo cakap tak jauh, its just 10 minutes walk. so semua org decide turun bas dan jalankaki sbb nak kejar masa, so that ada extra time kat great wall nanti..

jalan jem giler. kitorg terpaksa jalankaki. kononnya "10minutes walk only" turn out nearly 30minutes gak lak jalankaki!! dahla jalan berbukit lak tuh! kena naik bukit jalan kaki ke restoran, cuaca lak panas!!! masa ni semua org dah buat muka toya. hehehhehe menyesal ikut cadangan Leo tuh!! in the end, beza antara kami sampai (dgn berjalan kaki naik bukit ) dan bas sampai dlm 3minit jer! hampeh!!! Pffftt!!! :p

so ni la dia restoran kami hari tuh. a la carte lunch, everything is included in our package. Leo promised us that the restaurant does not serve pork, so kitorg opt for vegetarian food,  makan je lar sayur-sayuran dgn nasik putih for lunch that day. sebab penat jalankaki, masa makan ni malas nk snap pics. semua org khusyuk makan, tak borak pon sebab penat. hahahha actually restoran ni terletak di kaki bukit utk ke Great Wall Mutianyu. so lepas berhenti lunch utk 30min, kitorg jalan kaki lagi utk ke Great Wall..

the map

even in Mutianyu, ada banyak bahagian. kiranya boleh pilih nak daki sampai ke tower mana, depends pada keupayaan diri sdr. :p dan utk naik ke atas pun, boleh pilih either nak hiking (makan masa 1jam setengah - according to Leo) or boleh naik cable car. so sebab semua org nk jimat masa, kitorg semua decide naik cable car. utk entrance ke great wall CNY45,  was included in our package. so kitorg kena bayar tiket utk naik cable car je, which is CNY60 (dlm RM30) utk return ticket.

Mutianyu Great Wall entrance

the way to the cable car. memula tu ingatkan cable car yg mcm langkawi/genting tu.. 

but then, tengok2....

this cable car!! kitorg dah mcm, sh*t!! do we need to ride that to top?? is that safe??? saya memang takut, but not only me, mat saleh pun muka dah cuak!! dahla cable car ni jenis tak stop, kita kena berdiri di satu point ni, dan pekerja dia akan tolak kita duduk. tak berani nk snap pics sbb takut kamera tercampak jatuh masa nk duduk tuh! 

so this was how it looks like. kaki tergantung. dan takde sebarang safety intervention pon. no belts, nothing! even pemegang tangan dan tempat letak kaki pun boleh diangkat anytime!! 

life hanging on this rope. hahaha

.....lalalalallala....

tinggi hokeh!! dlm 20min gak kot naik cable car ni. memula macam takut, tapi after a few minutes, baru enjoy dan rasa best. 

camwhoring

hoyeah!!!

map again. a little tips from our tour guide:in Mutianyu Great Wall, route to the right from the cable car is tricky, while the left side is easier and family friendly.

and the following photos do not need any captions... 

*speechless*

the walls are really great!!

great wall ni dikelilingi bukit bukau. cantik giler!!! speechless!!

in one of the tower. bau blh tahan hancing gak lar!!! hahaha

see? not many tourists, eventho during public holiday.

so to go down, we can choose either going down via cable car or slide down with toboggan ride. actually this is the only part of great wall yang ada toboggan. but then, kitorg tak naik sebab queue panjaaaaangggg!! 

toboggan slide - photo taken from the cable car.

so bila dah sampai bawah, sempatla menjamu mata tengok jualan orang2 tempatan. macam2 souvenirs ada. tapi kena careful, kalau nak beli kena tawar betul2. dan kalau memang taknak beli, jangan pegang or try tawar, kalau tak memang diorg akan marah. 

local fruits.

so kat bawah tu sementara tunggu the other bus passanger, sempatla kami pusing2 dulu dan pekena baskin robbins semangkuk..  :p so balik je dari Great Wall, bas terus ke next destination iaitu tengok tea ceremony di Dr Tea di beijing..

perjalanan balik memakan masa lebih 2 jam, sebab heavy traffic. by the time sampai kat teahouse ni, semua org dah pancit! hehehe

tea ceremony

the tea house

tea leaves. sangt bear, hokey!!

tea leaves lagi. tak berselera nak minum kalau camni. hehehe :p

so lepas berada dlm setengah jam kat teahouse Dr Tea ni, kami terus dihantar pulang ke hotel masing2.. tepat pukul 7mlm, kami sampai ke hotel. penat giler. but then happy, sebab mission ke Great Wall berjaya. balik bilik, terus berendam dlm bath tub.. 

if any of u wonder, the total costs for that day trip which were Jade carving factory-Ming Tomb- Great Wall of China - Tea ceremony was only USD30 seorang.. yes, just RM90 searing, termasuk segala mak nenek entrance fees, lunch dan transport (jauh, hokeh!!) + tour guide.. mmg berbaloi baloi, siap dgn service yg tip top dan reliable and efficient. beijingholiday.com is highly recommended!! 

to be continued with more Beijing adventures. :p