The Great Wall of China
Mileage
| Date | – | 9/25/2019 |
| Travel From | – | Dun Huang |
| Intermediate Location | – | |
| Ending Location | – | Jiayuguan |
| Starting Odometer | – | 34,880 |
| Ending Odometer | – | 35,110 |
| Miles Driven Today | – | 230 Miles |
| Total Trip Mileage | – | 10567 Miles |
| Countries visited Today | – | |
| Countries visited on trip | US, Canada, UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China |
10,500 miles ridden, 5,500 more to go.
Today’s Ride
Departure
We started our day at 9:00 AM. After riding about 210 Miles, we came to our first historical attraction of the day. The Great Fort, near The Great Wall, located just outside of Jiayuguan. The total distance for this day was 230 miles, and we ended up arriving at the hotel at about 6:00 PM, after getting gas, late in the day.
Saying hi to a fake cop
China seems to have these caricatures of policemen along the highway, just about everywhere. To be honest, from a distance, they kind of look like a cop, waving a flag, while standing on the side of the road. But, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
On this morning, as we approached a turn, Marc decided to give one of them a high-five, and I captured it on video.
Lunch
Here are some pictures, taken with complete strangers, who love the bikes, and love all of us Adventure riders.
We are rock stars
At our lunch stop, a strange thing happened. Well, actually, it’s a strange thing that happens over and over again. After we parked the bikes, a commotion began, and lots of the locals began to gather around the bikes, and around us. It doesn’t take but a minute or two before they ask to take pictures with us, and we happily oblige.
I have been thinking about this for quite some time, so today, I decided to film the locals, as they filmed us, and took pictures with us. here’s the result…
A BMW owner from China
At a rest stop, at about noon, I met John, who owns a BMW RT, and a GS 700. I enjoyed meeting him, and his wife, so I took the opportunity to get a short, quick interview.
The Great fort and Great Wall
The Great fort?
Really, this is a great fort? I don’t think so. Ok, I won’t be so sarcastic, but really, the charged a whole lot of money to visit this fort, and it was not much to look at.
it seems that much of it is recreated,and is not original, and that seems to go for all of the exhibits within the fort. The fort consists of several large areas, protected by walls, and connected to one another. Within these areas, there are a myriad of rooms, which served multiple purposes. I’ve taken a number of pictures of these rooms, so that you can see what life was like at the fort, but it’s really not very compelling.
That said, enjoy the pictures…
The Great Wall
Many people don’t realize that there is not a single Great Wall of China. There are, in fact, several different walls, built at different times, to thwart attacks by different types of peoples, often called barbarians.
The great wall of Jiayuguan is significant because it may have been the first of the Great Walls to be built. It was certainly the western-most wall, and it was intended to ward off the barbarians come from points West.
Walking on The Great Wall
it’s customary to visit the great wall, and to walk on top of it. But, in my case, I saw an opportunity gained, and an opportunity lost at the Great Wall. First of all, with my drone in hand, I might be able to capture footage. On the other hand, I would miss the opportunity to walk on the wall, as we were only given 45 minutes to do whatever we preferred to do, at this historic location.
See the Great Wall from overhead
I found it compelling to try to capture some footage of the wall, from the air. I had not recharged the batteries from my last exploration, but I figured I had enough battery life to do a quick recon flight, followed by a video capture of the wall, over the course of about a half mile distance.
So, I took the drone out, walked 100 yards to a spot where I could launch the drone, and I launched. I was amazed at how well the drone captured the wall, in all of its glory. I was able to capture video of the wall from the side, flying the drone all the way to the end of the wall, as the many steps led up to a viewing platform at the top. Please enjoy the footage.
Report from the road
Gas and refueling
We are now in Jiayuguan, and the manner and method for filling the bikes with gas has completely changed. We’re now able to fill our own bikes, and it seems that in this city, in this province, they do not fear that our motorcycle will spontaneously combust, so they treat us like cars.
it’s a miracle. Look into the Report from the road for details of this final stop of the day.
Hotel Arrival
We arrived at the hotel at about 5:30 PM. I was looking forward to a quick dinner, and then some time to catch up on email, the Blog, and sleep. it seems we almost never get enough sleep.
What will tomorrow bring?
Tomorrow, we travel about 150 miles to Linze. We hope to arrive early in the day, but you just never know, do you…
