I plan to keep this post really short! - Apologies for that, but I'll compensate it by putting a bunch of pictures with the post. 

So, July 3rd 2010 marked my tryst with the Great Wall of China. On the way to the wall, we were told that the transformation from men to Real Men is completed only when one conquers the great wall of china. On the way to the Great Wall, we came across the Beijing Olympic headquarters. Its an AMAZING structure. Check picture number 3 in the gallery below. The first tall building looks similar to an Olympic torch while when you look at all the buildings together, it looks like a dragon. Thats the beauty of the structure.Its amazing how much of thinking has gone behind every little preparation for the 2008 olympics.

Coming back to the point - So, in effect, we (the guys) had gone there to regain/gain/restore our manhood (In hindsight, this sounds an extremely weird sentence but I am going to let it be there. Rulers of the Ming/Ching dynasty did not know back then that technological advancements would make the process of  ripening to a real man, all the more simpler. A ropeway (cable car) took us to the top of the wall (preliminary stage). The wall is about 6000 km long and so its almost impossible for them to build a cable car that goes all the way. But wait, its the chinese - Who knows I might have to eat my words later! They are a really hardworking bunch.

So, yea, to the first stage of the wall. Its an amazing structure. It does not seem that amazing when you are actually walking on it but when you stand back and think that this is the entity with which where dynasties as old as the ones in 5th century bc used to defend themselves, you get goosebumps. The views from different portions of the wall were simply breathtaking. I'll try and put some good pictures along with this post. 

We walked it down after getting up via the cable car. The way down was excellent. Being a tourist spot, the vicinity of the great wall swarms with hawkers. Chinese wares, are without a doubt the most colorful ones I have ever come across. Interestingly, everything in those shops cost about a $. I was walking down with Jason who kept wondering if there is any logic in that. How can everything be for a $. He missed a critical point in the midst of it all though. The hawkers were actually telling the Americans, their own currency. If you are an American and reading this post, you would be able to relate - A $ is almost equal to nothing for you. So when a person is holding , say, a tshirt and telling you it costs only a $, you do not think twice before buying it. As against this, consider if the hawker were to tell you his wares were priced at say 15 yuan, it puts the effort of conversion on you - inconvenient isnt it? Here, the calculation is carried out by the hawker and in essence , he/she also ends up selling something to you which may not be worth even a dollar after all. I found this to be an excellent strategy. 

I spent a good 2-2.5 hours there with the rest of the gang. When i got back - Real Hero or no : I aint sure. Real tired : I Definitely was!

For those of you who are looking for the pictures of the Great Wall, here you are :