While on a recent business trip i got to cross off one of the grandest items on my Bucket list.
In fact, its so grand that it spans over almost 9,000 kilometers (thats about 5,500 miles for you non-metrics out there!).
To get to the Great Wall from Beijing, you have several options.I went to one of the nearer locations, which was by Mutian-yu, about a 2 hour drive out of Beijing.
We finally got there and it was time to climb some stairs.And I mean, time for some serious climbing. Steep, straight up hill climbing.
By the time we reached the top, I was covered in sweat and gasping for breath…….which was shortly taken away from me again when I looked at the view.
Everywhere we looked, we saw bits and pieces of the Wall.
Majestic, isn’t it?
After all that climbing, I was so relieved to have reached the top, expecting a smooth flat surface to walk on.Boy, was I wrong! The Wall itself was even more steep than the climb up the mountain.Imagine having to build this wall, carrying brick by brick up this steep hill, only having to climb an even steeper slope to build this majestic wall.. and this for 9,000 kilometers! Phew!
I stood there and only imagined what it must’ve felt like to stand guard on these walls during the night. Then, I decided to take it a step further and decided to see what it would feel like to be a standing guard.
Not too bad of a guard pose, right?
Ha! I crack myself up sometimes.
So instead I decided to go with my (half) Asian roots and whipped out the peace sign. You can never go wrong with that!
I’m wearing my trusted H&M lace peplum shirt (similar here and here), Zara jeans, Repetto flats, and my Yves Saint Laurent Muse bag.
Someone looks happy she made it to the top!
Veeeeery happy.Once we reached the very top, we were exhausted.So a quick, easy ride down sounded very appealing.
But also very dangerous. Still, we decided to risk it and hopped on. And down we went.
And hey! Look, I made it!
Seeing the Great Wall of China has always been one of the locations on my Life’s To-See Bucket List and, I have to tell ya, it feels great to be able to cross it off.
To better phrase what I wanted to say with the above, let me leave you with a beautiful quote by Chinese writer Lin Yutang:
No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.
Lots of love,
Rosalina