The elusive wall...

One of the nice things about travel in which you are trapped on a train...every day is a sleep-in day...except for the last day. Eager to catch a glimpse of the "Great Wall", we mapped out our progress with Will's mile-by-mile guidebook (Stephen when you go make sure to get one of these, you will love it...lots of facts etc) and located the most optimal viewing points. Unfortunately the best one came at 0615.

The last views we had before night fall were the sandy plains of the Eastern Gobi Desert, so it was a bit of a shock to awaken to the stunning lush mountains of Western China. As with the search for camels, we eagerly pressed our noses against the dust covered glass…searching for the slightest hint of indication of any massive wall like structure in the distance. Frustration turned to hunger, and it as we sat enjoying some type of omelet like concoction, the trees parted long enough for us to see "it". The Great Wall of China.

Now I don't know if the parts we saw were part of the initial build, I tend to think that they were from the most recent construction attempts of the Ming Dynasty. Constructed to try and keep invading nomadic troops out (particularly those Mongolians), the wall seems to have spotty effectiveness. Our Genghis Kahn propaganda movie that we just watched in Mongolia explained that his men defeated the wall by simply going around the end. The Chinese seemed to have become far cleverer since then, and I assure you...not building the wall long enough would unlikely an issue today.

Our last few hours on the train travel were peaceful...young Pete and I gazed out the window at the dramatic countryside, discussing life issues before our train pulled into one of the largest cities in the world and complete bedlam. I had a bit of a "travel advantage" over my mates having been previously overwhelmed by China/Beijing but even with that, I was blown away by the chaos.

It wasn’t just the sweltering heat, constant noise and a pungent smell that greeted us that made me sad…part of me was sad to leave the confines of our train. Noodles, drunk Russians, tiny (often locked) washrooms, excess quantities of beer and daily sponge bathes…not sure why but I’ll miss you.