The end of the Great Wall

Michel: My god….we¡¯re not going to make it!

Elles: Mmmmhh… what¡¯s happening?

Michel: Euuuhh sorry… i was having a bad dream… never mind…better get some sleep.

Elles: Watch out for that car!!!

Michel: Mmmmmmh what do you mean car.. somebody on the room?

Elles: Room….. oh my god.. Now i was having a bad dream!

You can probably imagine that we are still tired after this night and the horrible drive of yesterday. But we have something special to see today. The end of the great wall!! It¡¯s a highlight for Jason as well and we have been looking forward to it as well. We had read some travellers reports about the place being not worth to visit. But we always follow our own instinct and that works out just fine for us.

First we have to take care of something more important. Snowchains! As we leave the hotel a fresh pack of snow has fallen and the whole city appears to be mobilized to get rid of the snow. Hundreds and hundreds of men and women are clearing the streets. (they should do this in Holland to get rid of all the dirt that is thrown on the streets!) Not that it works as underneath the snow is a thick layer of ice. We have the feeling they are making it more slippery! We look all over town for snowchains but nobody seems to have heard of snowchains. Quite strange, as this region is packed with snow every winter. Maybe they just don¡¯t care?

Worried we leave town, sometimes sliding and trying to avoid crashing onto a curb or into other cars. We arrive at the Jiayu pass fortress (better known as the end of the wall) just after ten. The view is allready gorgeous. Although most of it is restored, it¡¯s an amazing sight. Old parts of the wall are still visible from the ramps of the fortress. We watch the desert in silence and imagine ancient battles and arriving silkroad travellers. From one of the towers it¡¯s possible to shoot arrows onto straw dolls placed down below. Ofcourse, we have to try for the 1 yuan per arrow. It appears we are better marksman (or woman ofcourse) then we expected and kill two unsuspecting dolls. We have a great time wondering around and forget time completely. At one of the towers we meet a couple of german architects who are working in Beijing. They had seen the camper and invite us for dinner when we reach Beijing. This reminds us we still have to drive quite a bit today.

When we leave the fortress the roads are better then we expected. The sun has melted most of the ice and 90 percent of the highway is clear. But the road is not new and is quite bumpy. This makes driving tiring and again it¡¯s late when we arrive in Zangye.

Jason decides to have dinner on his own as he had a big lunch. We decide to walk into the first restaurant which looks good and crowded and are greeted by a non-english speaking staff. What to order. Jason has been ordering great food so far and now we are on our own! We know one dish very well by now and that¡¯s gongbao chicken (spicy chicken with peanuts). But the staff doesn¡¯t seem to understand. That leaves us with one choice: walking around the restaurant and point at other tables. The other clients think it¡¯s funny. What we order we don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a matter of wait and see. We order a beer by pointing at a green bottle but when we get it, it appears to be shandy. My god… we hope the food will be better. Proudly the staff returns from the kitchen and places the dishes in front of us. Yes.. gongbao chicken…. but what¡¯s that…? we look in horror to one of the plates and then we realise we ordered pig intestines. Clearly visible we see the intestines right in front of us. Oink….oink.. michel jokes and then sais… you first honey… want some?? We both laugh and know it¡¯s highly rude not to eat it. We decide we have to give it a try. It already smell bad.. imagine the taste. But we try anyway. So here we are, stared at by the staff and the other clients, chewing on pig intestines. Worst of all is that they are not chewable. It takes ages before we can swallow and when we finally do we quickly grab the shandy.

Michel: Mmmh.. Elles…. rude or not but shall we stick to the chicken.

Elles: Good idea…… jaassssssssooooon…..!!!!