Badaling was the last section of the Wall that I visited. No, that is not true. I did visit one more section, a broken down section, where granite was used to build the wall. That last section, the photos of which, I have lost, is completely uninhabited, with the exception of a little village. I remember that the people of the village were extremely hospitable, friendly and fascinated with our cameras.
Badaling is the most tourist friendly of all the sections that I have visited. The walkways have been done up, and the Wall has been substantially renovated. Badaling was built during the Ming Dynasty, and is located in Yanqing county, 50 kilometres north west of Beijing. Badaling was built to protect Beijing, and has access to two strategic passes.
History anyway was far from my mind that hot June day when we climbed the wall. My colleague, and the young lady from Croatia - Pink & Pretty - went up the wall. Despite her pink and pretty glow, she was quite fit and walked up the wall with ease. It was me, much to my surprise and shame, who was huffing and puffing as we made it to the top. My colleague, being much fitter than me, charmed the lady, as I sat at the top huffing. Well, it was hot and I hate hot weather. I think that I was completely dehydrated when we reached the top. I do remember that I did not want to drink too much water, as I wanted to avoid having to pee on the wall. Bad idea.
We came down by a section that was really bloody steep, and I was not too amused by the fact that I saw myself peering down a slope that seemed almost vertical. However, when you have a camera, then photography overcomes fear, and I decided to focus on my photographs.
When we reached the bottom, we came across a bunch of shops selling Great Wall T-Shirts. I was the only one in the group who spoke Chinese, and I decided to use my charm and wit to strike a great bargain.
With mock horror, I help P&P's T-Shirt and told the shop owner, with a broad grin on my face that P&P was too poor to afford the price that was being demanded.
As the bargaining became more and more friendly, I popped my way to the lady behind the counter, put my arm around her shoulders and said:
"Old friend, be nice"
Standing close to me, she rubbed her hand over my stomach, with great fondness, and asked:
"How many?"
"How many what?", I asked
"Babies. In there", came her quick rejoinder, pointing at my stomach.
"Ha!Ha!" was all I managed weakly.
Then, with great inspiration, I held her hand, and asked, while looking into her eyes, "If you don't help me, how will I afford these kids..."
With a big laugh, she reduced the price further. By 1 US Dollar per T-Shirt!
Victory!!
The Wall can be a fun place!
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