Saturday, October 07, 2006
Road Trip... Day Five... Dandong, North Korea and the Great Wall
On day four when we left FengCheng, we headed into Dandong. We stayed in a very nice hotel on the Yalu River which serves as the border between China and North Korea. Becky, Leslie and I had a leisurely evening walk along the Yalu River. In the dark of the evening, Dandong is all lights and glitz; in dark and stark contrast there is North Korea on the other side. There are few, if any lights to be seen. It is almost as if the land across from Dandong is a no man's land.
Even in the day light there are few structures to be seen and very few people. We had driven into Dandong on the third day before driving out to the spa town. We ate lunch at a restaurant near the river and had walked up on the bridge that goes half way out into the Yalu River and then stops. In 1950, the American had strafed the brige and then the Koreans proceeded to dismantle it to the center of the river. There is a new "Friendship Bridge" that spans the river and there were people walking across it. It is possible for some people to get visas to visit North Korea, but I do not know what that takes. While China is starting to make overtures toward North Korea to open lines of communication, the history between the two nations is strained and the Chinese people are not overly enthusiastic about either North or South Koreans.
The evening of the fourth day after our evening walk, we met Mr. B for a tasty Korean barbeque dinner. Korean BBQ entails grilling a variety of meats and wrapping them in various greens along with cloves of garlic and a popourri of sauces and seasonings. We also ate grilled prawns and skewers of tastily seasoned meat...mutton, maybe? Tasty, tasty, tasty when all is washed down with Yalu River beer.
Wednesday morning (the 5th day) dawned brightly and we trotted down stairs to the buffet breakfast. The buffet was very Chinese style breakfast food ( meats, vegetables, congee, etc) and we ate under the careful scrutiny of fellow guests. We then walked to a coffee shop whose logo and colors are remarkably Starbuckesque and I enjoyed a latte... quite good! Becky and Leslie had tea drinks.
Thus fortified, Mr. B picked us up and we were off for a walk on the a piece of the Great Wall that goes along the Yalu River and looks down on vacant North Korean land. Did not even see crops growing across the river. It is very close, so perhaps noone is allowed in the area.
The Hushan (Tiger Mountain) Changcheng section of the Wall is restored and was originally built during the Ming Dynasty. It is a pretty steep climb up to the the main towers and then an equally steep climb down the other side to a very interesting albeit small museum. Conditioned from our previous three days of hiking, the Wall hike only took us about an hour. It was very warm so we were relieved that it was not longer or harder than it was.
While we could have walked back over the wall or down along side the wall along the river to get back to the main gate and restored tower, we chose to take a boat back. I mean really, we had to as we had told so many stories about being a stones throw from North Korea and cracked so many jokes about the possibilities of yet another visa snafu.... but we made it back in a small wooden boat with a small motor and with a capable driver at the helm, with no incident whatsoever. Quite anticlimactic really, but all good adventures really ought to end happily.... what NO ICE CREAM!?!? Well then at least end.
Mr. B made a b-line for the expressway and in just 3 and 1/2 short hours we were pulling up to the Kerren Hotel. The afternoon of day five and the road trip was over. What a way to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival and the Chinese National Holiday.
Even in the day light there are few structures to be seen and very few people. We had driven into Dandong on the third day before driving out to the spa town. We ate lunch at a restaurant near the river and had walked up on the bridge that goes half way out into the Yalu River and then stops. In 1950, the American had strafed the brige and then the Koreans proceeded to dismantle it to the center of the river. There is a new "Friendship Bridge" that spans the river and there were people walking across it. It is possible for some people to get visas to visit North Korea, but I do not know what that takes. While China is starting to make overtures toward North Korea to open lines of communication, the history between the two nations is strained and the Chinese people are not overly enthusiastic about either North or South Koreans.
The evening of the fourth day after our evening walk, we met Mr. B for a tasty Korean barbeque dinner. Korean BBQ entails grilling a variety of meats and wrapping them in various greens along with cloves of garlic and a popourri of sauces and seasonings. We also ate grilled prawns and skewers of tastily seasoned meat...mutton, maybe? Tasty, tasty, tasty when all is washed down with Yalu River beer.
Wednesday morning (the 5th day) dawned brightly and we trotted down stairs to the buffet breakfast. The buffet was very Chinese style breakfast food ( meats, vegetables, congee, etc) and we ate under the careful scrutiny of fellow guests. We then walked to a coffee shop whose logo and colors are remarkably Starbuckesque and I enjoyed a latte... quite good! Becky and Leslie had tea drinks.
Thus fortified, Mr. B picked us up and we were off for a walk on the a piece of the Great Wall that goes along the Yalu River and looks down on vacant North Korean land. Did not even see crops growing across the river. It is very close, so perhaps noone is allowed in the area.
The Hushan (Tiger Mountain) Changcheng section of the Wall is restored and was originally built during the Ming Dynasty. It is a pretty steep climb up to the the main towers and then an equally steep climb down the other side to a very interesting albeit small museum. Conditioned from our previous three days of hiking, the Wall hike only took us about an hour. It was very warm so we were relieved that it was not longer or harder than it was.
While we could have walked back over the wall or down along side the wall along the river to get back to the main gate and restored tower, we chose to take a boat back. I mean really, we had to as we had told so many stories about being a stones throw from North Korea and cracked so many jokes about the possibilities of yet another visa snafu.... but we made it back in a small wooden boat with a small motor and with a capable driver at the helm, with no incident whatsoever. Quite anticlimactic really, but all good adventures really ought to end happily.... what NO ICE CREAM!?!? Well then at least end.
Mr. B made a b-line for the expressway and in just 3 and 1/2 short hours we were pulling up to the Kerren Hotel. The afternoon of day five and the road trip was over. What a way to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival and the Chinese National Holiday.
# posted by Sidney @ 9:22 PM 
