5th July - Hauhaui to Erics Place

We were both woken up by a lady knocking on the door at about 8. I got up and answered and she told me something in Chinese and walked off. Neither of us had any idea what it was all about and so with a grin on our faces just ignored the situation.

I went to the shop for supplies for breakfast and bought some chickens feet by accident. Oops. I also bought some noodles and fruit so that Dad could experience my normal Chinese breakfast. I don't think he was as impressed as I thought he should have been. We had coffee and a leisurely breakfast in the room.


We were packed, showered and ready to head off into the wilderness by about 10 and went to check out only to find out that we had to pay extra for the room. The lady had woken us up at 8 so we could check out within 12 hours. We had not realised and thought we just had to check out at midday (as I have normally found in China). We had to pay £4 extra! Shocking :-) Worth it for the giggles though.

We had a lovely ride to the Mindu section of great wall. We were out of towns and on country roads, similar to the other ones I have been biking on in China. I was very glad that it was not more built up so close to Beijing.

The houses are different in this area - red brick rather than wooden but village life is very similar. The people were friendly again (unlike Beijing) and I was really glad that my Dad could appreciate this side of China with me. He was all excited about the new sites in China and about cycling through a new country. It was great for me as I enjoyed seeing it afresh once again. It had become normal for me over the last few weeks and I had forgotten that excitement at seeing all of the differences. His enthusiasm rubbed off on me.



We saw this amazing field full of fake white painted pianos, windmills, and hearts with couples having their wedding photos in the middle of all of the flowers. It was very surreal and an insight into Chinese culture...



We stopped off at a restaurant to get some drinks along the way and watched as a couple of girls fished for their lunch from the pool in the middle of the restaurant. There are many of these ponds next to restaurants in the area where you can catch what you would like to eat - very fresh!


It took a few hours to get to the Great Wall. As we got closer we saw loads of tourists and tour buses. The advantage of there being so many people was that there is a infrastructure to support them and in this instance it meant Subway! Normally don't go to chains like Subway in the UK but having only had Chinese food for a long time it was really lovely to have a change. You have no idea how much I enjoyed relaxing and chatting with my Dad over 2 lattes, fresh orange juice and cookies. What a treat! These things always taste so much better when you don't have them all the time and can really savor the moment.


My Dad in my Chinese hat. I picked up this on the side of the road in rural Southern China and carried it all the way through the country. Chinese people always picked it up and looked at it when ever I stopped. They found it very strange that I should have a Chinese hat rather than a tourist hat. It was all worn, old and tattered by the time I arrived in Beijing.


On the path towards the entrance there are many little stalls selling souvenirs and other tatt but they did not hassle too much. There was also this great little old man in traditional clothing that made is money by people paying to take his photo. He had a great smile and a playful way about him and so we could not resist.


We locked up our bikes and things next to a little shall and decided to walk to the top. The majority of tourists got the cable car and missed out on the great climb up. The Chinese had done a great job of the path to the top. It went through a cave of stalactites and stalagmites (probably fake but we were not sure) and the views on the way up were great. It was not very far to the top and only took about 30mins. We only saw one other group of tourists on the climb up.


This section of the Great Wall is very well restored and is no where near as touristy as the section at Badaling and Juyongguan (where most of the tour buses go). The views were incredible even with the haze of the afternoon. It was such a shame that we could not see further and that the photos were not as great as they could have been. We walked along several sections. It was really steep in parts.


There were a couple having their wedding photos on one section. They looked so happy :-)


We were not expecting there to be a bobsledded ride to the bottom of the wall from the top of one section and of course we HAD to have a go. What brilliant fun. Dad was a complete wimp though. I set off 1 minute after him and still managed to catch up with him..... It was very surety to have such a ride on this ancient construction! Great fun though and awesome views down.


We went for another coffee at Subway when we got to the bottom and it was about 6 by the time we got on our bikes again. We headed in the direction of the Ming Tombs and another section of the Great Wall (to the West). We had decided to do a loop from the North East of Beijing, along sections to the West and then back to the city again in about 3-4 days.


There was very little traffic on the roads through the little villages. I tried to find some accommodation on google maps and we faffed around trying to find the Laughing Budda Resort and failed but did see a sign to "Eric's Place" on the edge of a small town/village and decided to give it a go. What a find. It was great.

Eric (his English name) spoke very good English and made us very welcome. We paid £10 for the room for the night (normal for China) but he charged us tourist prices for the meal (it was well worth it though). We had a great room with a western loo and shower. The place is normally very busy at the weekends but we were the only customers there today. The "hotel" is a converted factory with rooms off from the main function room/restaurant.


We had one of the best meals I have had in China. We ordered a fish from the tank and watched as Eric tried for 10 minutes to catch it and eventually sort the help of one of the ladies that worked in the kitchen. Together they managed to catch one and then bang it on the head in front of us!

We had prawns, a meat dish, vegetables and a bottle of wine. It was great to sit outside in the summer evening warmth and natter away with my Dad and then Eric and his friends when they turned up later.


It was such a great day. One of the best of the trip so far. I really enjoyed my Dad's company, the treats at Subway, the bobsled down the Wall, fresh fish caught in front of us at Eric's and generally a fun day exploring the Chinese countryside.

Very happy :-)