10,000 Steps to North Korea: The Ride

The trips taken during the May Holiday were great. That about sums it up, but since I'm slightly more verbose than my students you might might as well buckle in for a nice long recount of the two trips Corey and I went on. The first was to scenic Bing Yu Gou (gou means Valley, so from here on out, I think I may sub that for clarity - plus, you just learned a new Chinese word) right outside of Dalian with pretty much the entire staff from our school. The second was to the Chinese/North Korean border in the Chinese city of Dandong. With an itinerary like that, you better believe there are some stories worth telling.

And pictures too. I have some visual aids for you too, but for the real bread winners, scroll down to the previous post where Corey posted some pretty jaw dropping images (especially of the border at night). And I'm not just saying that because I have to...

Bing Yu Valley

On Monday, 50 odd people - including majority of the Future 2 teaching staff, friends, relatives, and random people picked up along the way - borded a bus that had much needed seats that folded out into the eisle so that more people can fit (only in China). That night's activities sounded minimal on paper, but somehow a dinner with Lamb Blood Sausage, Lamb Entrail (and friends) Soup will stick with you. Especially if you combine that with an after dinner roast of a lamb carcass.

Mmmm...

Bright and early the next day, we headed to the valley. It was nice scenic and relaxing. Here, look.

The real standouts of the trip though were the nutty little extra flourishes that are distinctly Chinese. There was one portion where to cross a bridge you had to choose which method you want to pay to cross with. There was an almost standard bridge with parts of it replaced with rollers. That was the closest to normal. Then there was a swing bridge where you move from swing to swing, a contraption that lets you cycle across in a circular doohicky, and finally what was essentially a GIANT FREAKIN' HAMSTER WHEEL!

You want to guess which one I took?

The seemingly tranquil nature of our trip evaporated when amidst our hike, we stumbled on a concrete staircase. Now, stairs are a strange thing to encounter on a hike, but its happened before. While climbing them, Michael, the school's principal, made some comment about there being 10,000 steps. We had been walking up them for a whilE, so I thought it was quite an appropriate joke.

Turns out he doesn't joke. At least not about stairs. Ten. Thousand. Stairs. I don't want to sound like I'm whining. It wasn't that horrible, and I wasn't even particularly winded afterwards, but man... 10,000 steps suck. No two ways about it.

There was a cool temple nested in the mountain at the top which (almost) made it worthwhile.

By the time we got back to the bus to head back to Dalian, my legs were twitching (seemingly due more to the trek down a set of stairs interestingly enough) and my shoes smelled worse than... I dunno... something lamb carcass related.

All in all, Bing Yu Gou was a nice get away from the city, but it was nothing compared to what came next...

Dandong



I'm honestly not sure where to start here. Dandong itself is a rather unremarkable city. It's rather considerable draws lie outside of its city limits, but they're enough to make this one of the most memorable trips I've taken. The first order of business was the North Korean border. I'll spare you the political undertones, and the significance of being an American. It's enough to know that you're spitting distance from a place you're not only not allowed into, but will probably be shot on sight.



We took a crazy cool speedboat along a bit of the border and got a close up look at some beached, wrecked boats, some factories, and even a few errant North Koreans.






(Look closely... real live North Koreans!)

Afterwards, we walked along the Chinese side of the border and crossed a bridge destroyed during the Korean War. Only half the bridge is still standing.



Once you get to the end, you can see a North Korean Ferris Wheel that was obviously built to make people thing the place isn't as shit poor as it really is.



You can also see a bridge built parallel, that is most definitely in use... with people walking too and from China and North Korea.

We returned at night to see the much ballyhooed "North Korea at Night". It definitely lived up to the surreal hype. The whole country was pitch black, while China had all sorts of lights and light shows. Even the connecting bridge was only half lit.



It was eerie, and strangely moving. I dunno how to describe it.

The next day, we headed to Dandong's portion of the Great Wall. It is billed as the Eastern most section of the Wall.



For better or worse, having seen the Great Wall at Simatai, this place wasn't much to write home (or on the blog) about. It was severely reconstructed, in parts even looking like the brickwork on my house in Queens.



What was very cool and different comparing this chunk of Wall to Simatai, is the view. While Simatai had beautiful valleys, and a steep wall that seemingly went on forever, this part had North Korea. And North Korean views never get old. Boasting clearer views of North Korean soldiers/farmers as well as camps and the actual flag, the area around the lackluster wall was anything but.







We were really close.



Like... really close.


(Left side, China. Right side, North Korea.)

Dandong was great, and I only really did two things there. Hell, we didn't even make it to the "Museum to Commemorate U.S. Aggression". No, I'm not kidding.

The trips were great, but like all good trips to come before them, they just leave me hungry for more...

Stay tuned,
Shawn