The Great Wall during Transit flight
One of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, The Great Wall of China is on the bucket list of most of the travelers and I being a travel enthusiast, also wanted to visit it. Most people say how great and wonderful it is to visit The Great Wall and share their utmost experiences of their journey which sounds REALLY AMAZING but in reality there is a struggle to get there. Here I am to share my journey which wasn’t REALLY AMAZING.
I was flying from Jakarta, Indonesia to Zürich, Switzerland, it was a transit flight and I had 22 hours in Beijing. Such a great opportunity for me to explore! There are laws pertaining China visa exemption and I got 72-Hour Visa-Free Transit so I decided to visit The Great Wall. I had no idea on how to get there (somebody help this poor girl *puppy eyes*). All I knew was that I wanted to get there so I went to book a tour but it was 1600 Chinese Yen and I had limited budget so I gave up the tour booking and went to tourist information and asked details on using public transportation but the girl spoke limited English and I didn’t understand their language at all so I gave up on her and went on my own.
I saw a subway and somehow managed to get tickets. I was completely lost and I wasn’t even sure whether I was taking the right train or not. I eavesdropped and heard another tourist asking information to get to Great Wall; I followed him and asked if I can join him and he was kind enough to let me join (the tourist was from Prague). By the time we reached the bus stop, the last bus already left and we had to take a taxi. The driver barely speaks English and charged us 300 Yen for the round trip but we bargained and finally agreed for 150 Yen for the round trip.
[ The kind tourist guy and the lady passenger ]
There was another Chinese passenger with us and she was communicating with us in Chinese and all we gave in response was a smile or halfhearted laugh. I was so hungry and thirsty as the last meal I had was in the flight. I thought there would be grocery stores nearby but I was wrong. The weather was so cold (-5oC) and I was struggling with hunger, thirst and I badly needed to go toilet but couldn’t find any place to relieve myself nevertheless I was at The Great Wall and I forgot about it and took a walk till the end of the wall and took some pictures (I finally managed to get there!!).
[ Can you see the struggle on my face?]
We exchanged our goodbyes and I was on my way to the airport but again I was lost and couldn’t find the subway that goes to the airport but luckily I met a guy who speaks little English and I reached airport by 11 p.m and my flight was at 2:30 a.m. I set my alarm at 2 a.m and took a nap. I woke up when the alarm rang and there were lots of people in queue so I again took a nap for 10 mins but when I woke up the gates were changed and it was already the time for my flight to take off. But luck favored me this time too! My flight was delayed and that was my trip to Beijing to visit The Great Wall.
[Happy picture of me, finally]
This is the very first entry and please do excuse my mistakes and thank you so much for visiting my blog. I hope to write more stories. Feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.
