Our guide "Sofie" picked us up at our hotel around 10am and took us to the car parked across the street. We should have known when we saw the light blue piece of crap 1970s car that this was a bad idea. But, we decided to be brave and got in anyway. (FYI, the seats were lined with floral patio furniture cushions!)
Once we got in the car, our guide made small talk with us (Katie wanted no part of that), but it was quickly evident that "English speaking" really meant only that she had memorized a few key facts about Beijing in English. Oh well - no big deal. We told her that we wanted to go to Mutianyu and to the Ming Tombs (which she arranged last night), but she said that first we would go to some Jade gallery and then to Mutianyu, and then to the Ming Tombs only if there is time.
We were a little annoyed by this, since we figured that the Jade gallery was going to be some tourist trap where foreigners were heavily pressured to buy overpriced souveniers - and we were totally right! We arrived at the gallery and were told that she had arranged for us to have a special English speaking guide. However, this really meant that we had an English speaking sales woman. I was a good sport though and listened to the sales pitch and browsed around for a bit before telling our guide that we were ready to go. BUT....
When we told her that we wanted to go, she said "No. You can't go yet." WHAT??? I asked for clarification and she told us to keep shopping and that the car wouldn't be back for another 35 minutes. (This was a lie - the car was in the parking lot the whole time) Katie and I didn't quite know what to do - we were basically being held there against our will and attacked by high pressure sales ladies everywhere we turned. We weren't sure if we had to buy something to leave or what was going on.
Finally, after the super long 35 minutes had passed, we went back to our guide and told her again that we wanted to leave. She begrudgingly took us outside of the store and sure enough, there was the car- in the same spot it was before!
Thank goodness - we were finally free!
Anyway, with that adventure over, we were totally skeptical about getting back in the car - but we were kind of in the middle of nowhere and had no choice. So, we got in and headed to the Great Wall.
This would have been fine if the driver didn't drive at like 100mph and if traffic rules actually existed in Beijing. Seriously, driving here is just so crazy that words don't come close to explaining it. Driving is literally like playing a game of frogger, with bikes and people and cars coming at you from all sides. Lanes are also suggestions only too...with upwards of 2.5 cars or more squeezing in to one lane at a time! I was about ready to hurl from car sickness by the time we got there.
But, we finally got there, and boy was it worth it! We told our guide that she could wait in the car, and we headed up to the top. It's really high up, so we had to take this delapidated ski lift to get up there (made complicated by the fact that there were no English directions about what to do). We were pretty sure that we were going to fall off and plummet to our death, but we eventually made it to the top.
Walking along the Great Wall is definately one of the high points of my entire life! It was one of those surreal moments when I had to pause and say "whoa! we are actually standing on the Great Wall of China - how cool is that!!" Parts of the walk were quite a hike - and soo steep! (I put pictures below)
We walked around for about an hour and a half and took lots of pictures, and then had to take a luge down to the bottom! Total count so far of how many times we almost died today:
- Crazy driver in the death trap of a car
- Being held captive against our will at the Jade Gallery
- Almost plummeting off of the ski lift
- Almost falling on the steep steps of the Great Wall (times 8)
- Taking the luge of death to bottom
But, we weren't almost dying yet! We still had the drive back! (during which, the car stalled twice, and the battery light kept coming on!)
Our guide at this point told us that there wasn't time to go to the Ming Tombs (which we were totally okay with) but that we could go to see the Olympic buildings. So, we said okay, and our guide took off like a maniac down the highway!! We literally came within inches of hitting small animals, small children, bikes, adults, and many other cars about every 5 minutes. Katie and I just kept looking at each other in pure terror!
Finally, our guide pointed out the Olympic stadium on the side of the highway (which we could barely even see because of the incredible amount of smog and polution in the air) and we thought that was it. BUT no...to our amazement, the driver actually stopped on the side of the highway and made us to get out next to the crazy cars to take pictures! We thought we going to be roadkill!
Anyway, after that near death experience, we told them to just take us home as fast as possible. I've never been so happy to see a hotel in my entire life!!!! (or to be out of a car) We payed the driver and headed inside.
The rest of the night has been pretty low key and has been totally geared at helping us recover from the craziness of the day. We went to a Japanese restaurant and had sushi, went to Starbucks to get coffee, and then came back to the hotel so Katie could get a pedicure and I could go for a swim/steam/sauna/massage. After all that, I feel so relaxed now, and I never want to leave this hotel! The Ritz Carlton is by far the best hotel I've ever stayed at, and if I had my way, I would cancel the rest of our trip plans and just stay here and get massages all day haha!
But, tomorrow, we are heading to the Summer Palace, and then leaving Beijing and heading to Shanghai. Hopefully tomorrow will be less of a harrowing experience than today was!
Here are some pics:
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