The Indian Contractor visits Vietnam and China on a Shoestring

We were to catch our bus at 1030 am. We were up early and settled breakfast at McDonalds. Coffee was pathetic. We went back to the hotel and waited for the tour to pick us up. A phone call came and I answered. The tour guide asked us if we could walk to the New Inernational Hotel. So much for "pick you at your hotel". Since it was nearby I agreed.

We met the group at the hotel(5 star) and all the other passengers were from 5 star hotels too. We were, once again the only backpackers in the group. This group was more jovial though and did not pick on the guide's english. It was one by the time we reached the wall. We were given 2 hours to walk the wall. And here came the first problem. The wall was on top of the mountain. It would take half an hour to get to the top by walk. A cable car would take a fraction of time time but cost RMB50. Time was not on our side so we took the cable car, although we were more than ready to climb the stairs after all the climbing at Sapa.

The cable car brought us up and we started walking along the wall. The views were fantastic and I had nothing but admiration for the yesteryear Chinese Engineers. Civil Engineering and the Chinese share a close relationship. The buildings at Shanghai and Beijing vouch for the accuracy of that statement. Most professors in my University's school of Civil Engineering are also from China. But I digress.

We walked as far as time would allow us and took as many photos of the place as possible.

At this juncture let me just clarify that the Great Wall of China is NOT visible from space. It is the equivalent of trying to view a ten mile long thread from a ten story building. Its not the length that counts, its the breadth/ thickness! But at 6400km length the wall is the longest man made structure on earth!

For the history buffs, the wall was started in the zhou dynasty during the chaotic period called the period of warring states. The entire wall was linked up by China's first emperor, Qin ShiHuang. Under him the warring states unified as one kingdom and the wall served as a border between what was then China and Mongolia.

And our short trip to the great wall was unsatisfying. We wanted to spend more time but we were unable to do so. I bought a few keychains and T shirts to give my friends and boarded the bus.

On the way back, we stopped by at a silk factory. As I had already seen silk production in Cambodia, this place did not interest me. Although some of the stuff they had woven looked really nice, they were either beyond my financial limits or of no usable value to me.

That was our last destination. The bus now dropped off the passengers at their respective hotels and we were once again dropped at International Hotel and not our hostel (so much for pick up and drop off at Your hotel!).

During the return journey my friend had asked the guide about famous night spots at Beijing. We happened to be near a famous night spot that was famous for its tradtional chinese beer bars, ie traditional homes converted to bars and clubs.

We had dinner at McDonalds and took the taxi down to the place. It was located by a lake and the Friday night crowd was active. We walked around and took some pictures. My buddy bought some communist posters and a Cuban Cigar(RMB 50).

We took a break and had a drink at one of the bars. Then a slow walk around the lake. It was approaching 11 pm already. We still had to take pictures of the lights at the railway station, so we took a cab back to the station. (20RMB)

When we reached the station, the decorative lights had been switched off. Much to our disappointment, only the regular lighting was on. So we just took pictures of the building as we saw it. Some of the pics are attached below.

The absence of a tripod was painfully felt as we had to rely on fences and sidewalks to support our cameras for long exposures! Lesson learnt: Don't be lazy and leave your tripod behind when you go overseas!

At 1230am all the lights went out, so we walked back to the hotel and the same routine followed. Shower, sleep.