Jiayu Pass Fort: Great Wall

Simatai: Remember the liitle friends are scared of heights so they hid in Sue and Ken's bags

Overhanging Great Wall

Mr Jeremy Fisher and Friend

You know how bunnies have long, soft ears which makes which  them superb empathic listeners. They really can listen for understanding without thinking about what their next point in the conversation will be. A rare trait in humans but it abounds in rabbits.

 So first thing this morning Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit were eavesdropping on Ken’s conversation. He was telling someone that last night he received an eleven pm phone call “you want some nice girl to come to your room and give you massage” He was non plussed  and  it was his wedding anniversary but it turns out that everyone else in the group got the same call and in a four star hotel! Maybe that’s why Marco Polo stayed in Zhangye for over a year seemed to be the consensus of opinion.

Later that day  they heard Ken say that he had been checking the car engine, as he does each night after the day’s drive, and upon closer scrutiny he found a missing split  pin which connected the brake pedal to the master cylinder. Lucky find!  This could have lead to a pretty serious accident when traversing those alpine mountain passes. Talk about travel luck. One can only think it is all those good luck and safe travel petitions Susie has been making at temples along the way, the red ribbons tied to the car and Sal’s safe travel rock which Susie carries in her bag.

And to think that today Susie had taken the wheel for the first time, despite some comments that if she drove slower than her husband (which she does) she should give the driving a big miss. Doesn’t give the old  girl much confidence but the  Billy Joel provided some inspiration  as they were travelling along with his rendition of “My Life”  She thought it’s today or never! Anyway she made a pretty lame attempt at driving, second gear still a little tricky.  The convoy seemed to slow down considerably which was pretty helpful.

Anyway Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit were a bit put out when Jeremy Fisher returned  to the back pack with tales of the ride of his life in the real China. They were polite and interested but decided that today was their day and they would pay Fisher back. He’s not a team player they thought so they’d teach him. You know how sometimes friends can get narky turn on each other.  

So they were off and out at the crack of dawn. They determined that they would visit the two sites of the Great Wall around Jiayuguan. They had already seen the biggest part of the wall at Simitai out of Beijing. That part of the wall was the longest expanse ever built but there were other separate walls which were built at different times and are loosely referred to as the Great Wall of China.

Their first stop was the Jiayu Pass Forte which was considered the furthest outpost and boundary  protection for the Middle Kingdom in the Ming dynasty. It is set against the backdrop of snow capped Qilian Shan and the Hei Shan mountains. The cheeky young rabbits had a great time peering over the wall, burrowing into holes in the mud bricks and scurrying around generally drawing attention to themselves. They even tried using a sling shot from the forts parapet hoping to get a camel but soon pulled their heads in when they heard that the general who had built the fort was beheaded by the emperor because he spent too much on the forts construction. Better be a little low key cause you never who’s lurking around they thought.

Next stop was the renovated Overhanging Great Wall some six kms from the fort. And who should they meet there but Mr Jeremy Fisher. He was fishing with the help from a new friend. He was using the longest fishing pole they had ever seen. Fisher was in his element, back to his roots, doing what he knew so well, fishing. After some discussion, the three friends reconciled their differences and resolved to climb to the top of the wall.  A  pretty steep climb but it provided a magnificent view and they were the centre of attention as people posed for photographs with them and they continued to make new friends.

They spent the next hour discussing why Marco Polo stayed so long in China and trying to get a bit of an over view of the effectiveness of the Great Wall in providing protection for each dynasty. They really need to eavesdrop to get a few more facts on these matters.