I got this amazing and once in a lifetime opportunity on the Jiayugnan western section of the Wall. It is a small but absolutely amazing and completely non-touristy section of the Wall. It has been renovated by a couple of locals with their private money over the last couple of decades. They charge a small fee to camp in the area and to climb the Wall. We bush camped at the base of the Wall, washed in a cold wild stream nearby, cooked and ate a simple camp dinner by the camp fire and then several of us climbed the Wall (steep and sweaty) in the dark with our sleeping bags, wine and “fire water” (local and very strong spirit). It was an amazing night. Lots of laughter and telling ghost stories and taking amazing night pictures of the Wall and the mountains. About 6:30 am it was time for an amazing sunrise on the Great Wall of China. Truly an unforgettable experience...
Speaking of ghost stories, I feel obliged to share with you a little night-time scary story that bunch of Australians on my truck have been trying to frighten me with. They have told me about a very scary animal called drop bear that lives in Australia and kills quite a few people every year. These creatures (that I’ve never heard of before despite having visited Australia twice) look like Koala bears and are vicious man-eaters. When you’re walking in the forest, they drop down from the tree when you least expect it, land on your shoulders and start chewing off parts of your body. Evidently they’re deadly, everyone is scared of them and the safest way to protect yourself is to stay away from the forest. Well, as ashamed as I am to admit it, it was a while before I found out that the whole story about drop bears is complete fiction and my evil Australian friends made it up just to scare me
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