Reminds me when we went to the Great Wall of China at Badaling. A stunningly beautiful place, but all you saw was nonstop hordes of tourists going up and down. My wife was so freaked out by the people she refused to go up the stairs.
One of the bigger disappointments in my life. (Of course, by being there I was one of that crowd.) I have found similar situations at other “famous” tourist destinations we have been to—the Forbidden City and Angkor Wat being two others. Frankly, the advent of easy travel has ruined a lot of things.
Heck the last time I visited Paris, I think there were more Chinese Tourists than French people in the city.
My wife is from China and she took me to the Great Wall last September, definitely not for the faint at heart! They had to shut down the gondola that took you to the top due to high winds. We walked back down and it took almost three hours. There were people up there who couldn’t walk down, I wonder how they got back.
I really enjoyed the experience, it’s a must see if you ever get the opportunity.
I’ve been on the Great Wall several times (long before the gondola), and the first time I became separated from the people I was with. I thought they were ahead of me, so I kept climbing — looking for them. (actually -— they had gone up the other side, but I didn’t know that) So I climbed and climbed and the steps became higher and higher, making it very hard to get up them. Finally I came to an area where the restored wall stopped and beyond it was a broken wall that stretched off into the distance. What a sight! Quite an experience and I’m so glad I did it.
Also, I had taken a pebble from my back yard with me, and exchanged it with a small pebble I found there.)