Enjoying the view at 7:30 this morning.
After a day of clear blue sky yesterday, we packed our bags and headed off up Crouching Tiger mountain, hoping for a cool, rain-free evening. We re-traced Freda and Ali's route from last week, this time squeezing two tents into the small clearing on the col [see photo below]. While Ali and the girls set up camp, I took a walk to the highest tower on this Gubeikou stretch. Although many of the towers are still standing, some of the structures are unstable, and I didn't hang about on the rooftops for long. On entering one tower I was warned off with screaches and stones by a small, brown mammal, which I think was a least weasel. Fear of rabid bats stopped me in my tracks, until I saw the little tower inhabitant watching me from under an arch. These small carnivores resort to eating insects when there aren't enough rodents about. That could explain the beetle-ridden droppings Ali and Freda found outside their tent on the last trip.
After a disturbed night (barking dogs, cold, rumbling trains) we got up early and headed back down to the village, completing a circular route that took us along the Eastern flank of this section. The wall is derelict much of the way, and all that remains of many of the towers are piles of rubble [see above photo].
It's one thing to look at the wall from below; it's quite another to be up there clambering along it and seeing the incredible structure snaking away through the distant, misty mountains. If you're at liberty to jump on a plane or train, now would be a good time to come and visit us.
After a disturbed night (barking dogs, cold, rumbling trains) we got up early and headed back down to the village, completing a circular route that took us along the Eastern flank of this section. The wall is derelict much of the way, and all that remains of many of the towers are piles of rubble [see above photo].
It's one thing to look at the wall from below; it's quite another to be up there clambering along it and seeing the incredible structure snaking away through the distant, misty mountains. If you're at liberty to jump on a plane or train, now would be a good time to come and visit us.
Our camp spot on Crouching Tiger Mountain, with the Chao He River basin (and Gubeikou) below.
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