Day 3 – The Great Wall

Today started out a little later than yesterday {6:30 instead of 4 something} Yea for progress!!

We headed out to see the Great Wall.  One of the nice things about staying with friends is that you get to go to the best places where the ‘normal’ tourist don’t go.  It took about a hour or so to make it to the wall through the mountains and villages.  The mountains were beautiful! I have never seen anything like them before.

When we arrived at the Wall we chose our route and headed up a dirt path.  It was steep, the ground was dry {which made it slippery} and it was narrow.  There was definitely some calf burning going on as we climbed towards the wall.  Once we reached the Wall we had to climb this makeshift ladder to actually get up on the wall.  Once up there we could see amazing views and the weather was perfect! We could have not asked for better weather.  It was clear skys and a nice cool breeze.  Our friends {Toby and Mac} said that this is the best weather they had ever been on the Wall with. Normally it is either super hot or really cold, but today it was just right. The mountains were huge! And the Wall seemed like it went on forever.  The pictures that we took didn’t do the view justice, but you will get the point.  We climbed to the top of the section where we were and there were some places that were really steep.  I assumed from all the pictures that I had seen that the wall was all steps, but that isn’t the case.  There are steps, but there is also smooth parts that you climb too.  If I got tired while climbing the wall, I would remind myself that my grandmother climbed the wall at 75 and if she could do it so could I.  After making it to the top we spent some time enjoying the views and taking a break.

Side note, when we left home I asked the girls what they would like for me to take a picture of every time I saw it for them.  Sara Kate wanted pictures of Chinese dolls and Chinese fans and Anna Ruth wanted pictures of Chinese butterflies.  Our friends said that they had never seen a butterfly in China, but we might see something when we are at the Wall.

So while we were at the top of the wall we saw  butterflies, not a ton of butterflies or anything but we did see some.  We tried to get a picture of them, but the wind was blowing and they were moving really fast.  We might have gotten one picture, maybe.

Anyways, after we had rested, taken pictures and looked for butterflies  for Anna Ruth, we headed back down to get some lunch.  Climbing down wasn’t as hard as climbing up and some amazing conversations on the way down helped too.

After getting down, we {Mac and I} walked to our restaurant and the guys drove the car down.  The views from the rooftop porch right at the bottom of the two mountains and the Wall behind us was amazing.  Our friends ordered lunch for us and again it was super yummy!! We had an eggplant dish {my favorite}, some kind of string potatoes, a chicken dish, green beans {my second favorite}, some fried bread, and I believe there was something else, but I can’t remember.  The food was delicious! I am really going to miss the amazing food we have been enjoying when we head back to the states.

After lunch we headed to the silver perdogas {some kind of ancient budest worship site}.  They are tall structures with amazing details.

We headed back to the car to head towards home.  We came home for a break and then decided for ‘Dinner’ we would go out to this new place and get ice cream and waffles.  We were so stuffed from our Amazing lunch, that we didn’t want to eat a real dinner, so a dessert dinner would be yummy.  I have never had ice cream and waffles {or chicken and waffles for that matter… only normal waffles} and they were delish! It was a really neat place with cool decor and atmosphere.

After dinner we headed back to the house, FaceTimed the kids and are getting ready for bed.

It’s been so much fun and such a blessing staying with our friends.  We have laughed so much on this trip already.  It’s always nice when there is another couple that you mesh with and I am thankful that we mesh with them.  It has been an encouraging time hearing what the Lord is doing in their lives while they are here in China.

Tomorrow we will gather our things, head out for another adventure {somewhere} and then head to the train station to go to Samuels provence.  Adam is really excited about the speed train and I am sure it will be an experience.  The train takes a little over 2 hrs to reach Taiyuan where our guide will meet us at the station.  From there we will check into our hotel and sleep.  Sunday we will have some paperwork to do with our guide and hopefully see some of our sons home town.  Hard to believe that the next day we will meet our son for the first time!

That is all the adventures we had today, tomorrow will be another awesome time in Beijing and Taiyuan!

Until then,

{Hugs} from Beijing

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