We bought a day tour (lunch included) for RMB 380 each in the hotel lobby with a company called "Dragon bus tours". We had read quite a bit about the wall and we had hoped to walk from Jinshanling to Simatai but our tour "only" included a 2 hour walk along Simatai. Most tourists seem to go to Badaling but we were hoping to avoid the crowds and any queues. We were picked up at the hotel at 9 am and apart from our driver and our guide Judy we were accompanied by a couple of American girls. We were very lucky with the weather and when we reached the wall the skies were blue.

Getting to the wall is really a great moment. All of a sudden you can see the wall on the mountain tops stretching as far as you can see, like a never-ending snake. As it was so early in the season the cable car that usually takes people up to the wall wasn’t running so we all had to walk up and that was OK with me. It took us about 20 minutes just to reach the wall but all of a sudden we had our feet on a part of world history. At Simatai you can choose if you want to go to the left (to Jinshanling) or to the right where you have 15/16 watch towers before you reach the end and it rise up about 1000 meters above sea level. We chose to walk on the right part of the wall. As it was still only early spring, we saw bits of snow left on the wall and in the landscape itself. The wall was really steep in some places and sometimes the steps were narrow. To start with we had some locals following us and they wanted to sell us different stuff, but they eventually stopped tagging along. Time constraints meant that I only got as far as tower 11, but the view just got better and better the higher I got, and I got trigger happy with our camera. The combination of a great view and the scarcity of other tourists made it a truly special experience. On the one hand it is amazing to have walked on something that I have read so much about and see so many pictures of. On the other hand it is hard not to think about all the blood, sweat and tears that has gone into building this wall (in fact it is not one wall but many walls that has been built in different dynasties). Our guide told us that lots of people died in the process of building it and many people were actually buried in the wall itself.

After walking on the wall we went down to the parking lot again. Here you’ll find lots of little shops and restaurant and we had lunch at one place. We just sat down and they brought out lots of food.

Since every other traveller is shoved to the Great Wall at Badaling, the section of the Wall at Simatai is not surprisingly - and pleasantly - quiet. It is left untouched, which means that most of it is dilapidated, weathered and crumbled down - which is extra special because then walking along the Wall will prove to be both enriching and precariously scary as well! The faint hearted will fare much better at Badaling, since over at Simatai, make just one misguided step and one will fall off the cliff into the abyss below!

Plan to arrive early, and spend at least 4 hours walking up, and another 4 back to where you started off. At some point, you will go so far as to feel that you are the only one in the world, and the howling winds seem to sound like the cries of the thousands who sacrificed their lives building this Wonder. Take heart and savour it!

Of course, bring along a sweater during the cooler months, or a good hat and put on loose clothes during summer. At all times, bring along a well-prepared picnic pack with lots of water, because after you venture off the beaten track, you will not find peddlers offering you food and drinks. Bring lots of film too!

It is worth staying up at the Wall till dusk, because it is when the most stunning views get painted in the sky. But by that time, make sure that you are back near the entrance because walking back after sunset is an absolute no-no. The walls are collapsed at many sections, and as I said, one false step...

One of the most breathtaking views on earth is at the Great Wall at Simitai, about three hours north of Beijing. If you are in Beijing soon, you owe it to yourself to make a visit to Simitai. It will make your entire trip to China worthwhile.

We were there at the end of October, not the time to visit the place, as the frigid, polar gusts and the below freezing wind chill factor nearly turned us into blocks of ice. This is where they get you. None of us were prepared for the weather, so the t-shirt vendors, all of which had plenty of hats, gloves, and overcoats for sale, made a fortune. I chose to venture forth with only a light windbreaker. Bad move. I nearly collapsed.

We paid about four American dollars to take the gondola to a point which is halfway up the mountain. For nearly thirty minutes we eased along in the gondola, ever so slowly, with nothing around us except for chocolate brown mountains as far as the eye can see. The desolation of it all is what hits you first. You can't realize how remote certain parts of China are until you actually get there. The wall was omnipresent, twisting and turning its way in, around, and between the sharp mountain tops.

The grueling hike up the rest of the mountain was one of the most difficult 45 minutes I had ever spent, due to the 70 degree slopes, the piercing winds and the freezing temperature. After a rough climb totaling 500 meters, we nearly passed out from the cold.

Once we finally made it to the top, took in the Great Wall and reveled in its grandiosity, the rigors of the climb all became worth it. The overall magnitude of the structure transcends any possible photograph of it. The view was unreal. Again, as far over the horizon as our eyes could see, was the wall, all by itself amidst miles and miles of dirt-colored mountains, most of which were sharp, jagged, and irregularly shaped. It was hard to fathom that the wall itself stretched across China for 1800 more miles than what we could see at this particular location. Like Chinese thought, the whole scenario was a pair of opposites: noble and awe-inspiring, while somehow austere, grim, and uncompromising at the same time.

There was also an intriguing element of danger, since parts of the wall at Simitai have not been reconstructed yet (unlike Badaling), leaving a 1000 foot drop off the edge at certain places. You have to be very careful.

If you go to Simitai, bring lots of film. You'll need it.