Badaling Wall

It has been a week. I am still feeling lazy from all the meetings, tracks and travelling. And this morning, I received a bad news. Ok, so it WASN'T AS BAD AS I have IMAGINED when I picked up the call at 3:45a.m. Dem you Wak Li! You SCARE THE SH*T out of me!

Ouhh, nevermind. Let's talk about my trip to the GREAT WALL first! Huhu~

So I've seen, walked and climbed the Great Wall! What a great experience! And especially when I went there ALL BY MYSELF guided by only a subway map in my hand with some notes about which bus to take. Huhu.


So these are just some notes and tips for all you future travelers to the Great Wall:

• Reserve between 7-8 hours for this trip.
• You can take the subway to the Jiushuitan station, and then take the bus no 919 from the Deshengmen station. Note that this bus station should not be confused with the Deshengmenxi station. You will first come across the Deshengmenxi station, but keep walking further down street, until you see the Deshengmen station. If you want some confirmation, just holler down a local and say "Badaling", they will point out the direction for you. Yes, they point, because even if they speak, they would tell you in Mandarin! Lol.
• Bus fare costs 12 Yuan one-way. The journey from the town to the walls will take you approximately 1 hour.
• Wear good shoes. No heels, no skirts, no dress! If you stumble down the wall, it's your fault. If you give free show to the guys, it's their pleasure. Mind you, the winds are really strong up there. Haha~
• Your entry ticket to visit the walls are at 40 Yuan. There will be pulley ride ticket as well at 30 Yuan one-way. This pulley ride will take you to the first tower. When you reach the ticketing counter, some pushy guides will force you to buy the return ticket (60 Yuan) for the pulley ride. Unless you KNOW you will NOT make it to the other end of the Badaling wall, then you can take the return ticket. If you want to climb the walls by foot until you find the next exit, then insist on getting the one-way ticket only.
• O yeah, bring SUFFICIENT AMOUNT of money! I almost went back empty-handed when I only brought with me a total of 110 Yuan! Thank goodness I found out that I should only take the one-way ticket for pulley ride. Huhu.
• Climbing from where you get off the ride to the exit point will take you an approximately 2 hours with some sight-seeing in between stops.
• Some sections are very steep and therefore might require some physical endurance. It is advisable that you carry with you two 500ml bottles of drinking water to keep you hydrated. I only had 1 bottle of drinking water with a piece of muffin and I had to ensure enough portion through out the journey. Huhu~
• Some local tips to keep your body hydrated are fruits and especially cucumber.
• Use caps/hats instead of umbrella because wind is quite strong when you reach the highest tower.
• Buy your food/drink elsewhere. The vendors at the walls can really cut throat.
• Do not forget your camera, and enjoy the trip!

It was definitely a pleasant and memorable journey for me. I wished I had more time to visit the Forbidden city too. Unfortunately, time is very jealous of my journey and by the time I rushed to the Forbidden City which is located back in the town, it was 5 minutes before closing time. Sigh~


* Thank you Lord for giving me the chance to wake up and know that he is living.
* Gift untuk Sepeket dah karam bersame Stella. Uhuk2~
* Why is it that when we purchase/subscribe, we must pay on the spot but if we want a refund, it takes weeks to get it? What kind of policy is this?! O wait, it must be the Boleh-land effect!
* If he HAD SOLD the handphone to return the money, WHY DIDN'T HE RETURN IT YET? It's SIMPLE LOGIC, mind you.
* LAME excuse dude. You know that!