Hi,
Sorry upfront for so many questions, but I usually get really good answers from this site.
A few friends and I are taking about hiking portions of the Great Wall as well as heading to Tibet
Questions-Any help would be really appreciated.
1) There are three main starting points to walk the Great Wall, which is the best one? (we'll be flying into Beijing and are trying to manage money)
2) What is the best time of the year to travel to China? (Price and reasonable temps are most important)
3) Is there a cheap and reasonable way to get from China to Nepal (Flights seem to be expensive online)? We'd like to see the Himalayas and maybe a city to see the culture.
4) Would 2 weeks including fly time be enough to see either or both places?
5) Any good places to stay?
6) Anything you can think of that is a must see?
7) Is it safe in most places in the outlaying cities?
8) What shots are needed?
We just got back from a 2 week trip to China last week and we're going back again in June/July... we had a wonderful time! I'll try to answer your questions the best I can...
1. Many people hike from Jinshanling (sp?) to Simatai as a good longer day-hike. It's quite steep and un-retouched in places, but gorgeous scenery. You have to catch buses or hire a car as we did - the expense was worth it. It was about a 2 hour drive out to Simatai from Beijing (including crazy traffic!).
2. It was still pretty cold when we were there (mid-March) - but I know summer can be sweltering - April/May are probably good months, as well as September. Don't forget about the national Chinese holiday week in October - all the people we talked to there said it would be crazy.
3. I'm not sure if you need to go to Nepal to see the Himalayas - I agree flights are quite expensive and most flights out of Kathmandu go south to New Delhi or Dhaka, not to Beijing or other parts of China (although I believe there are a few). We went to Lijiang (which is in Yunnan province) and got our fill of beautiful mountains (Jade Dragon Snow Mountains - not the main Himalayas, but at least relatives!) and great local culture (outside of old town!). You could also venture toward Tibet - Absolutely stunning from all the reports of people we ran in to. We bought our airplane tickets on www.9588.com with much success - they mostly deal with domestic tickets - very easy to use and you can use a credit card online.
4. Two weeks would be very much pushing it for a China/Nepal trip. We felt rushed just within China for two weeks (it's all the vacation we had at that point).
6. We really enjoyed the desert in Gansu province - around Dunhuang and Jiayuguan - haunting, beautiful dunes and a very different feel than the eastern cities.
7. Yes, it's safe - but no English in most places.
8. Standard shots (all the Hepatitis shots)- only if you go south in the spring/summer do you need Malaria precautions (we were told). Definitely drink bottled water the whole trip! We did and didn't have any problems.
Good luck!! It's fantastic - and it will leave you feeling like you barely saw the tip of the iceburg!
1) Jinshanling-Simatai.
2) First choice: September/October; second choice: April/May. Avoid the 1st weeks of both October and May at all costs.
3) What's your definition of "cheap"? That's a relative concept. I didn't know there're any "cities" in the Himalayas.
4) Fly time from where?
5) Good places to stay in where? When? What budget?
6) How would you define "must-see"? Where are you asking about, Tibet/Beijing/somewhere else? What are your sightseeing preferences and interests?
7) Which outlying cities are you thinking of? What safety issues are you concerned about?
8) Would depend on where you're going.
Cheers!
Thanks for both replies.
Ellyse-to your comment/questions
Cheap to me means reasonable. I went to Peru earlier in the year and our room was 15 / night and was awesome.
I went to Oktoberfest in Munich this year also, and our room at the Holiday Inn as over 400 per night (due to the festival)
I meant the cities that border the mountains.
Regarding question 6 I mean exactly that. teach in above gave me what they enjoyed and thought were must sees. There's no wrong answers, just asking
My safety concerns are voilence, disease, being a U.S. tourist-things like that. When we were in Lima Peru the police had Machine Guns and we were told not to leave our hotel at night even thought the city was amazing.
No need to be sorry-Thanks for trying to help.
We'd be working with U.S. currency.
I honesty have a bad habit of seeing something in a book, on television...etc and talking 1 or more into going. Example: I rent Motorcycle Diaries (such a great movie) and called friends and said I'm going to Machu Picchu want to go. I had no idea about any of it until I asked on this site and bought books much after I committed.
Any thoughts are welcome
trusted partner
