I just got back today from our Great Wall trip and it was easily one of the greatest experiences of my life. We traveled with another group from Austin College. Starting out, many of us prepared for an extra cold trip under advisement from various guides and instructors. I wore 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, and 2 jackets. At the beginning of the day, all of these clothes were unnecessary, but by the end more wouldn't have been unreasonable. We started out traveling up the Great Wall where we trekked for about 2 hours. The view and feelings present are indescribable. I found myself laughing in disbelief constantly at the idea of where and I was and what my eyes were taking in. The wall was beautiful and so were the hills despite the winter time. Photos can't really do justice as to how hard it is to climb the wall, but by the time the group got up there we were all sweating from the effort. After our hike, we then hiked through a valley for about another hour or so to a village where we were staying. Going into this trip, I didn't have high expectations for the village. I wasn't expecting any modern amenities, which I was okay with. After all, a majority of the Chinese live in poverty. In actuality when we arrived, the village had relatively modern facilities and lighting and I was a little upset. I felt robbed of an opportunity to essentially camp in the Chinese country side.
Getting into the village, we all ate delicious food provided by the villagers and hung around a camp fire. I found myself again laughing in disbelief. After all, who imagines that they would ever be in the Chinese country side growing up? Unfortunately a full moon robbed us of a brilliant night sky, but the company was lively. We sat around a fire and talked, the Austin kids were interesting, but also forgettable. Most of them retired to their room early. The girls didn't seem to have much depth to their personality and the guys were your pretty typical frat boys. Anyway, seven of us piled into a freezing cold room wearing all of our layers and slept. We awoke at 5:50 to the call of roosters and prepared to hike up to the Great Wall to watch the sunrise. We hiked for about 2 hours in the dark and reached the top as it was getting light. The hike was difficult because of snow and ice as well as low visibility, but the view on the mountain better and better as our altitude increased. The view from the highest point on the wall was outrageous, awe-inspiring, and surreal. I couldn't keep myself from smiling and laughing. We gazed across the clouds and saw the wall running along the mountains for miles. It was hard to realize how high up we were until we moved across the top and saw the steep drop off near the side. Despite being extremely cold, I felt perfectly fine as I gazed towards the horizon. The serenity of the moment was like something I've never felt. It was nice to realize the fog I saw was probably clouds rather than fog like in the city. As the sun rose over another peak, the world lit up beautifully and for a moment I saw the world how it was meant to be seen, simply beautiful. Naturally, this moment was too brief as the sun eventually rose too high and became blinding.
The descent was difficult. We hiked down for two hours, I soon realized the steep inclines that were difficult to climb had become dangerous declines where falling, sliding, and slipping were very likely. There was a lot of falling, sliding, and slipping and luckily no one was hurt on the descent. When we finally reached the village, I was extremely content. When I woke up that morning I was considering not leaving the slightly warm bed for the bitter cold, but I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We ate a delicious breakfast, thanked our generous hosts, and hiked out of the valley to our buses. The hike out was more memorable than the days before as we could see the natural scenery better in the day time. The great thing about these hikes is it allows a lot of conversation. It's amazing how much you can talk about with someone over the course of an hour or two and how much you can learn about them.
I know I've been updating a lot, but it's because we have done so many things since arriving and it'd be a shame to let these experiences be kept secret. This week will start to become routine as we are getting into a regular class schedule. Chet and I will have to finish up our walking tours this week, I will interview his home stay parents and he will interview my roommate, and I believe we are going to attempt to have suits made this week. A group of us are also attempting a weekend trip to another city because why not?
Best wishes,
Vinh
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