The one thing that they don't tell you about the Great Wall is that at points along its length you can die!!! Seriously the incline and the steps in some place at BaDaBing or was it BaDaLing was so steep that I felt really sorry for the older folks that were walking the wall. Either they went really really slowing or simply turned back. The young kids were acting as if they didn't notice anything. I tripped a couple because they were so annoying just bouncing around all over the place and running up the steep inclines and steps like it wasn't an issue while everyone else was struggling. So what couple chip a tooth or two. (only joking)
Ba Da Ling is probably the most touristy out of all the sites to visit but it was cool none the less. You look at the fortification snaking its way along the tops of the mountains and hills and you can only wonder at the people that work of these structures. You can only wonder at the conditions that they works through; summer heat, brutal winters. It's truly a remarkable engineering wonder. I couldn't help but think of that scene in Lord of the Rings where the signal fires are light from tower to tower signally that blah blah blah blah is happening in the movie. This is the feeling I got walking/climbing/looking along the length of the great wall. In the end I think history proved that the Great Wall really didn't do much in terms of protection. The idea behind it was good. It keeps hundreds of thousands if not millions employed during its construction. So that's a good thing.
In the end it's like.....every other tourist draw around the world ____________ . (You fill in the blank.)
- Wil
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I think it was when the horse culture, the riders of Rohan, were setting the beacon fires that were dormant for hundereds of years to let Gondor know that they were ending the bad blood between them and sending reinforcements to Gondor to help combat the Urukai assault on the great walled city of Minas Tirith...or something like that : )
yeah, uh...what else can I say? I lived in the Tolkien world from age 12 to 13 when I had no other life to speak of. I learned many a life lesson...like never boil potatoes when there are Oliphants afoot, always wear your mithril for you may not see the cave troll coming, and of course, never, never, never mention the name of Baggins outside of the Shire.
...and the hobbits taught me how to drink. Those little fockers know how to party.
Afraid toask...did you take pictures ??
Hey mak, the best part of LOTR, for me, was learning that second breakfast is a legitimate meal, not only reserved for mornings when I need a bacon egg and cheese to get over the hang over!
So Wil, what's the second-breakfast of choice over in China? :-)
Missing you my friend!
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