We’ve only gone and driven to the Great Wall of China!
We had an early start to be at the Mongolian border for 8am opening. It was already busy.
The overlanders were directed to a car park and were called to the entrance barrier in dribs and drabs. This was just to get through the barrier into the processing area to exit Mongolia.
It was finally our turn. We handed in our car papers and passport to a very grumpy looking lady. After a couple of minutes she threw them back at Colin saying she couldn’t find Lolly on the system. The Polish driver in our group came back looking flustered. He also had the same issue. We kept trying to get her to recheck her system but she kept taking other people’s papers and ignoring us. This went on for over an hour until at last she waved us off with no explanation.
I was taken into the immigration hall to get stamped out while Colin saw the customs guys. It wasn’t a pleasant experience after all the nice experiences we’d had in Mongolia
Now the difficult bit - entering China. I went in to the busy immigration hall where I had some trouble completing the online arrival form - in the end an impatient Mongolian lady behind me filled it in for me with her details.
Colin was with all the other overlanders in the customs area where he’d met our guide Olivia and things went much smoother than last time. No X-ray required, no dogs and just a quick check inside Lolly.
We drove a short distance to a car park full of Chinese motorhomes next to a Dinosaur museum in the border town of Erenhot. We hadn't appreciated how popular having a motorhome is for retired Chinese people. There were some interesting vehicles with roof terraces in the car park. As always we created a lot of interest from the others in the car park. We received a new Chinese licence plate and driving licences after thinking the ones we already had would be sufficient.
Colin went with Olivia to get his next rabies jab at the hospital while I met a local lady who initially came up to me, spoke at me in Chinese and proceeded to stare at me very intently. I invited her to sit with me and we had some discussions through Google translate. When Olivia and Colin returned Olivia told me the lady was the camping grounds cleaner.
Our group all met for dinner in the evening. Olivia ordered a delicious selection of Szechuan food. We were with a small group of 2 German motorcyclists (Sophie & Martin) and 2 Malaysian motorcyclists (Michael & Rose). There should have been another vehicle who was taking Olivia, however he had pulled out at the last minute due to mechanical issues and was stuck in the Gobi area in Mongolia.
We are travelling through the centre of China over 28 days to the Laos border covering over 5,150 kms We have a set route that will take us through some big cities, including Beijing and Xian, that we last visited 30 years ago, so it will be fascinating to see how they have developed and changed. We were taking the guide, Olivia, in the back of Lolly, and she issued routes and hotel/camping options each day. We planned to sleep in Lolly most of the time, but with the idea that we'd stop in hotels in the big cities.
The following day we had a 340km drive to our destination of Ulanqab. The streets of Erenhot were wide and largely empty. It felt like a very newly built town for the cross border freight going to and from Mongolia.
The first part of the days drive was pretty non- descript other than some random dinosaur statues in the fields. Being very much Gobi dry desert landscape there have been many dinosaur fossil finds in the area.
The only attraction for us to visit on this day was the Ulanhada Volcanic Geological Park where we could drive up to several volcanic cones. We called in at the visitor centre to buy tickets. The Chinese seem to put way too much packaging on everything - we ordered 2 takeaway coffees and got individual bags to carry them in, straws in packaging, as well as cup holders.
This was to be our first introduction to OTT Chinese tourism. At the first volcano stop (Volcano no. 3) we could walk up to the top of the crater to see the views. Here we could also rent a goat in a dress to walk up with us. There were loudspeakers and lots of noise everywhere.
We drove past a couple more cones (volcanoes 4 and 5) with black lava flow rocks.
Then we reached out of space bonkers land at crater number 6. Here there were people walking goats, but there were also people dressed up as astronauts wherever we looked. Some were also walking goats. We stood back with our jaws open in sheer wonder. We walked around the edge of the crater where the dressed up people didn't go as they were too busy taking photos of themselves.
We continued on to Ulanagab, another newly built looking city, and parked in another parking lot with Chinese motorhomes. We soon became the centre of attention again.
We went with Sophie and Martin for a tasty dumpling dinner, and were kept awake by big firework displays during the night - Olivia couldn't say what they were in aid of.
We woke up feeling very excited the following day - we were driving to the Great Wall of China - a real landmark spot on this trip. Having visited there 30 years ago, if someone had said to us that one day we would drive here we would have thought they were mad. After a lot of debate within the group of which section to visit we selected the Badaling section, which is closest to Beijing.
We had a photo shoot with the other motorhomers in our car park before setting off on a long drive. We had to stop to acquire a permit to be able to drive into Beijing.
We drove past part of the 2008 Olympic Park before reaching the Wall.
The Badaling section is one of the most visited sections so the crowds were big but not as bad as photos we’ve seen. It was a hot day so I opted to take the cable car part way up with Olivia while Colin tackled the steep high steps all the way up. While we don't recall there being lots of the tourist infrastructure that surrounds the site when we were here 30 years ago, we do remember it was a foggy day and after climbing the huge steps we couldn't see the spectacular sight of the wall rolling into the distant mountains. It was certainly perfect conditions this time.
The wall was built for defense with forts and watchtowers. although Genghis Khan and his Mongol forces managed to smash through the defenses in the 1200's. The earliest parts of the walls were built more than 2,000 years ago, The total length of the wall is 21,196 km (13,171 miles). Despite the popular myth, you cannot see the wall with the naked eye from the moon.
It was amusing the find that Olivia is actually scared of heights and she wouldn't come close to the edge of the wall to look at the views. We were approached by Chinese tourists to have photos taken, and I even had to sign one young guys shirt.
We were just pinching ourselves that we were actually here. We walked back down to the entrance. We wish we could have got a better shot of Lolly with the wall in the background but our car park was too far away.
It was a slow drive into Beijing where we stopped in a hotel west of the city. We watched a robot deliver food to someone in the hotel. We ate some tasty hot spicy food in a nice place near the hotel.
After a very comfortable night in the hotel we caught the metro into central Beijing which took nearly an hour. The metro is spotlessly clean and efficient. The underground map looked very baffling, but we suppose the London Underground map does to visitors to the UK.
We headed straight to the Forbidden City, one of China's most important historical sites and a World UNESCO Heritage Site.. We had last been here over 30 years ago and had forgotten what a huge complex it is - covering 72 hectares with around 980 buildings. It took 14 years to build in the 1400's and was home to 24 emperors. The last emperor ascended the throne at the age of just two in 1908, however he abdicated in 1912 ending more than 2,000 years of Imperial rule in China. It was a little hard work with the tourist masses - last time we were here we had to pose for lots of photos with the Chinese tourists - now we were not so interesting. There were lots of Chinese tourists dressed in traditional clothes, hair and make-up - a thing we would see everywhere on this trip,
After the visit we walked up to the viewpoint across the Forbidden City in Jingshan Park.
We then caught a bus to Tiananmen Square - we couldn’t get tickets to enter it so Olivia took us to a rooftop restaurant in a hotel for a free view.
We then had a wander around the Hutongs (old back streets) in the centre to see life away from the big ticket sites before catching a bus back to our hotel
In the evening we went to a local restaurant to have Peking duck - it was delicious but sadly the first time we’ve not felt like we’ve eaten too much.
Coffee shops are starting to take off in China. Luckin is a bit like the Starbucks equivalent, although Starbucks is also here in force. We admire the way the Chinese blatantly copy other brands such as a finger lickin' good chicken outlet.
It had been a whistle-stop visit to Beijing, but we still have lots more kms to cover and sites to see in the next 24 days.
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