May 15, 2006 - Dave and Paul hit the Wall!

The tour company was paranoid about getting us to the airport on time and so wanted to start the trip to the Great Wall at 6 am! We are going to the Simatai section, about 120 km north east of Beijing. The Great Wall is accessable from several places. The Simatai section is harder to get to, with fewer touts to harass you. Simatai details Driving 120 km wouldn't take 3 hours at home, but it does in Beijing. Traffic at 6 am is light, but the city is so huge we're still in it at 7 am and its already gridlock in some places. They are building...