Great Wall at Jinshanling 金山岭
From the guide books to the hostels in Beijing, the hike from Jinshanling 金山岭 to Simatai 司马台 is touted to be one of the ultimate Great Wall experiences. I originally planned to do that, although I think it is late for me to start hiking all the way to Simatai. I arrived at the Great Wall at around twelve noon and it takes five to six hours of hiking to get to Simatai. There was definitely not enough time for me to get there before dark. Additionally, the Simatai section of the wall is also closed for restoration.
Hawkers Waiting for Tourists at the Great Wall
This doesn’t mean that my hike at the Great Wall was anything not nice. I was probably relieved that I didn’t have to do a six hour hike across the mountains all alone. I probably would have gotten someone to go with me but six hours is still six hours. I was already having problems navigating the steps along the way. Not only that, some parts of the wall are also quite run down and eroded. Although these parts feel more authentic, they are also quite dangerous as hikers can easily slip and hurt themselves. Help would be quite far away.
This Shows Why The Great Wall is Called the Long Fortress in Chinese
An important thing to remember when hiking the Great Wall is to bring proper hiking shoes. I stupidly brought along street shoes that are too flexible for serious hiking such as this. By the end of the hike, my feet already start to hurt. I should have brought my sandals along for this trip but I left it at the last minute since I wanted to travel light. Anyway, I managed to come back in one piece and I was glad I did that hike.
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