MuTianYu (continued)

While looking out between the ramparts, I saw below that there are alternate activities to be had in the vicinity of MuTianYu – one of them being horse riding. This particular horse and rider were not in agreement about the activity involved, and the horse was definitely in charge. This rider disembarked shortly after the photo was taken as the horse kept ramming its butt up against that cement wall.


One of the charming aspects of the wall were the occasional little side openings, like the one in the photo. This provided a nice spot for a rest from the hiking and gave Vida a chance to tell us a little more about the history. I’m going to try to get a short video of her on YouTube so you will get in on the action.


Shuli was absolutely right about “the most fun part” of going to the Great Wall. The Wall was awe-inspiring but the luge (I had to look that word up to find the spelling – and written down is sounds like something you might blow out your nose) was a thrill. As you can see from the photo (and sorry, there’s no photo of me zooming down it) there’s a metal chute. You are provided with a little sled thingy that has a joy-stick; when you pull back, it brakes, and when you push, it zooms. I put my baseball cap on backwards (less wind resistance☺) and away we went. A group of Chinese standing along the way got a great kick out of me for some reason???


Soon after we got off the luge, we saw this unlikely group. Two elderly Chinese fellows dressed up in the ancient soldier’s uniforms, along with the African teenagers, lined up for a group photo. Of course this is a money-making scheme, but it was an interesting combination of faces. Sorry I didn’t get my camera out quicker, but you get the idea.