The hike.

Ok. Since I (still) can't read my previous posts or comments, I am going to start where I think I left off on yesterday's post.

The Great Wall. I think I talked about how the stairs were all sorts of weird. The other really difficult thing about the climb was that some of the stairs were so narrow that I had to put my feet sideways in order not to fall backwards! There were four forts that you can climb to in the Jyong Pass. One aunty, two uncles and I made it to the fourth one. We climbed up this really sketchy staircase to see the few from the top of it. Absolutely amazing! Only problem was coming back down. I wanted to imitate my 2-y/o nephews and scooch down the stairs since they were SO narrow and there was a solid 18 inches between each stair. We made it all the way down without incident (mostly because we were holding on to the railing for our lives) though I think I flashed plently of people. Word to the wise - while it is really hot in July in Beijing and a skirt might seem like a great way to stay cool - as you climb these uneven stairs, one medium force breeze will be enough to show your chuddies to the folks below.

After the Great Wall, we decided to skip lunch and head straight to the Ming Tombs. We didn't spend much time there since the tombs are under renovation in preparation for the Games. It was pretty cool seeing some of the really ancient and fabulous stuff that the emperors rocked back in those days.

We then headed to what is known as a fake market. And here my IAA came out once again. I was so mortified by the high-pressure sales and without my master negotiator, RC, with me, I felt a little lost. I shouldn't have worried because I soon realized that RC learned to negotiate from his mother. I got suckerd into looking at some fake purses and while I tried to walk away, I got pulled into another store. For a solid five minutes, I "negotiated" this woman down from RMB600 (Chinese money) to RMB200. But since I had not gone to the bank yet, I didn't have any money. I went to Mom and asked her for the money and she refused to pay that much for the purse and about 1 minute later she walked away with the purse for RMB100 ($25). The leather on this totally fake Tod's purse feels like my baby nephew's bottom. Not too shabby, right? Then I wanted to buy some souveniers for my friends. The woman was trying to sell it all to us for RMB900. Mom walked away with all of it for RMB300. I was laughing hysterically along with Mom because it was just took funny. I never had respect for haggling until I saw this Aligargh girl in action!

Our dinner last night was at a restaurant called Mallika. Yah - Indian food for the second night in a row. So far, despite being in China for three days, I have yet to eat one Chinese meal. I have however, had Pizza Hut. =)

After the dinner, we went to this Kung Fu show. It was so amazing but unfortunately, since we were all exhausted from the heat and physical exersion, we were falling asleep while watching the show. We came home and I literally dragged myself to the Internet cafe to post last night and send some emails to people.

Today I am equally tired but it's earlier and tomorrow is an easier day.

This computer however, is making me feel like I am back in my university dorm computer lab lab with the crappy keyboards so I think today's events will just have to wait until Sunday. Tomorrow, there will be no post because I am heading to Xi'an via airplane tomorrow night. Terracotta soldiers here I come!!