Beijing and the Great Wall

During our search for a hostel, we approached two fellow travelers who happened to be from, of all places, Astoria, Rebecca's old neighborhood in NYC. They ended up accompanying us in our search and even joined us on the "Secret Wall Tour" we took the next day. The "secret" about this tour was that it was to a non-touristy, (literally, we were the only group there) unrestored section of The Great Wall. We hiked 40 minutes up a mountain before reaching the Wall, and then spent the next two hours on the Wall itself as it snaked through the mountains. It was every bit as spectacular as people say! Every time you turned around there was another breathtaking view to soak in (we were surrounded by mountains with no civilization in sight). It was one of the best travel experiences either of us have had to date, and the pictures really don't do it justice.

The next day was a special one, as it was Rebecca's 25th birthday! It started off with a small celebration in the hostel with a pin thin candle and a muffin (Nick had to improvise) and ended with a Peking duck meal at one of the most famous duck houses in the city. In between we wandered the Lama Temple, Tienanmen Square, and the Forbidden City, then hiked up a hill to give us an aerial view of Beijing. We left that night for Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, on a 10 hour, smoky sleeper train on the top of a 3 bed high bunk.

You can find our Beijing photos at:

Rebecca's: http://s609.photobucket.com/albums/tt175/werperipatetic/Beijing%20and%20Great%20Wall-%20Rebecca/

Nick's: http://s609.photobucket.com/albums/tt175/werperipatetic/Beijing%20-%20Nick/