TO BADALING GREAT WALL WITH BUS 877

Today i want to tell u how to get to The Great Wall by bus. I guess bus would be the easiest option but not the cheapest. Mahal dlm 2-3 RMB lagi dr train. Tp naik dan terus sampai.  

We left Harbin on the 3rd day, quite sad as we missed out one day due to the unexpected haze. It shoud've been 4 days instead of 3...sob..sob.. anyway, what to do.. Life goes on!

This was actually my 2nd trip to the Great Wall. In 2011, I went to Joyongguan Great Wall.  And in 2016, Christmas Day, I brought a few of my friends to Badaling...(dah boleh jadik tour guide dah ni....hahaha).  What's the difference bet Badaling and Joyongguan?  The Badaling (八达岭) Great Wall section is situated 80 km northwest Beijing. This is the best preserved and most visited section of the Great Wall of China. Meanwhile, The Juyongguan (居庸关) Great Wall section is a mountain pass located 50 km from Beijing. It is the closest section to Beijing, and one of the greatest forts defending ancient Beijing.  I really want to go to Mutianyu as I want to visit Ming's Tomb but time didnt permit as we were short of time. Perhaps one day..one day...

So, this is how you get to BADALING GREAT WALL, on your own... Here goes... 

1. Mula-mula kita kena naik Subway ke Jinshuitan,  Line 2 of the Beijing Subway. Kami dari Dongsi Station, so from Dongsi (line 5 and 6) ke Jinshuitan  . Sampai Jinshuitan, saya kluar exit B2, exit ke bus station. Outside this station is located Deshengmen terminal, terminal bas. 

Ni Dongsi Station, subway kat hostel kami. Cantik kan?

2. Kluar aja exit B2, saya ikut aja sign yang sangat banyak untuk ke bus station. Insyaallah takkan sesat sebab ada banyak sangt sign. Agak jauh juga nak sampai sebab bas 877 yang nak ke Badaling ni jauh sikit terminalnya. Kena lalu sungai bagai. 

Ada banyak sign ni di setiap penjuru

Masuk bangunan lain pula

Akan lalu bridge dan sungai. Still jalan lagi, jangan risau...

3. Sampai satu masa, kita akan sebrang jalan untuk ke stesen bas ke Badaling (877). Masa berjalan dalam 10 minit la mcm tu, kalau jalan slow. 

Sinilah kita beratur nak naik bas. bas sentiasa ada. Jalan satu, mari satu lagi...

Alhamdulillah masa kami p, orang tak berapa ramai. Kami beratur dalam
5 minit dan terus naik bas. Ada kawan p, orang ramai giler, brator sampai
ke sungai... line laju tapi panjang. 

 4. Kita bayar tambang  masa dalam bas. Tambang yang dikenakan hanyalah 12 Yuan one way, dalam RM7. Murahkan?  Train lagi murah tp hari tu, receptionist dekat hostel bgtahu yang train station tengah renovate, so mungkin ada service interruption. Since we didnt want to tak any risk, kami naik la bas.

This is the bus! Selesa. Macam bas ekspress.

5. Sebelum bas jalan, ada jualan... Memang murah pakcik tu jual.. Kebetulan hari sejuk, kami nak belik xtra muffler n earmuff.. die jual dalam RM8 macam tu... kami siap order 3-4 helai.. memang sangat tahan sejuk.. sesuai for winter. Sampai bas nak jalan, kami still belik lagi.... hmmm typical Malaysians...hahaha... tp ini memang betul kami perlukan barang2 tu.. memang sejuk betul pagi tu.. sampai ke tulang, about 3 degree celcius. 

6. Bas meluncur laju meninggalkan pakcik penjual... dalam bas siap ada tour guide dok explain this and that, Too bad we didnt understand the language. So, i just looked outside and enjoy the view, from metropolitan city to the countryside and the mountains. The journey was about 70km, approximately an hour journey. Faris n Farah dah berdengkur, letih agaknya.. kesian pulak tengok travelers kecik ni.. nasibla nak oii, ikut mama travel memang penat ler... bukan luxurious style..

The 1st glimpse of Badaling Great Wall. Bus tour guide
siap ajak kami countdown lagi...3..2..1...there u are!

7. Masa nampak Great Wall tu, hati excited sangat..walaupun ni dah kali kedua tp still rasa excited. To me, Great Wall is very unique. There is something special and so mysterious about this wall...  I wonder what would it be like to be standing there in the past....

8. Kami terus turun betul-betul depan counter ticket. Bus stop 877 just a few steps away.  Di bawah ni bus station di badaling. Bila kmi turun, commentator td dok siap tlng kmi belik tiket.. explain pd kmi (dlm bahasa dialah kn..) yg ada 3 options: menapak, sliding car n cable car... kmi mmg dh bertekad dr mesia lg mmg nk bersliding..hehe... tp sorang kwn kami ni mmg kaki pnjt gunung, die memanjat.... 

Waktu balik pon tunggu kat sini..

Station 877

9. Turun aja dr bus, kmi belik tiket sliding car (100 yuan return) dan tiket masuk ke badaling 40 yuan. Knk2 dan remaja bersekolah dpt diskaun, byr 121 yuan mcm tu klau x silap saya.

Sekian sahaja coretan saya tentang DIY nak ke Badaling. Hope this info will help travellers out there to travel to The Great Wall on your own. Jangan risau. X susah, insyaallah sampai.


farikica
Date visited: 25th Dec 2016

HARBIN ICE FESTIVAL 2017

Salam, dah lama x bersiaran... busy sangat.. so new entry dah nak jadik old entry yang diperam....huhu...

Very well, let's continue... I guess Harbin Ice Festival was one of the highlights of our Beijing-Harbin trip besides the Great Wall. Well, id been to the Great Wall once before but my friends havent. 

So, the night we arrived, we spoke to Jenny of Kazy International Hostel @ Harbin. It looked like she was the only person who coulc communicate in English at that time. So, we booked the ticket to the Ice Festival through her. We paid 100 yuen per person as deposit. The whole package cost 300 yuan per person inclusive of transport and ticket. Kids half the price. Jenny ada juga ski package yang sangat murah. Just 100 yuan (RM63) each person complete with gear. 8 hours journey. Rasa macam murah betul tp sayangnya kami x da masa nak p coz masa dah dipendekkan akibat air turnback semalam...huhuhu....

Cozy rest area at Kazy.

Discussing with Jenny

Dekat Hostel Kazy ni juga ada jual macam-macam winter attire. Bagi mereka yg x sempat nak belik gloves, warm pad, semua ada sini... Boots pon ada. Harga ok2 ja... Warm pad tu kamu belik 1 yuan. Sangat berguna di kala sejuk beku.  So, lepas sembang-sembang dngn Jenny, kami pon janji tunggu di Kazy around 4pm. Bas akan jalan pukul 4.30pm.

THE NEXT DAY...

Seperti yang dijanjikan, kami pun tunggu ditempat yang dijanjikan. Gang lelaki tiba2 ubah fikiran. They decided to go to the mosque. So, kami yang tinggal ni ajala yang meneruskan jejak beku ke Harbin Ice Festival. Wang 100 yuan deposit mereka tu burn begitu aja...huhuhu.... nasib x bayar full lagi.

Perjalanan x lama, kejap ja..x sampai setengah jam.

No bus kami. Berkali2 tour guide ti suruh kami hafal no bus. Bukan apa,
ada berpuluh2 bas di parking lot, so dia takut kami tak ingat. Bas semua
dah la lebih kurang sama. 

Guide tu bagi personal instructions in chinese berkali2 diselang-seli dengan sign language. Takut sangat kami hilang.... from the sign language, we knew that he wanted us to wait at the bus by 8pm. Kami pon angguk tanda paham, still dia ulang lagi dan lagi dan lagi....

At the entrance. Ramai orang beratur tp sangat cpt
proses masuk. Kami x perlu beli tiket lagi sebab tour guide tu
dah belikkan.

Kat luar still seronok lagi..warm and cozy dalam canopy... tunggu la bila
masuk dalam....

Masuk je dalam...tu dia... terasa tulang mereput dek kesejukan yang melampau. Kami cuma boleh berdiri kat luar tu rasa dalam 10 minit ja secara normal... Lepas tu jadik abnormal... Maafkan kualiti gambar ya... Kamera x boleh nak guna coz tangan dah numb...so, we just used our phone, itupon dok ketaq2 macam parkinson dah....

 Tapi bila kat dalam tu...memang very amazed with all the sculptures..penah tngk yang mini aja dekat Shah Alam dan Hatyai, salji pon fake..tp kali ni tengok ice betol dan sangat besar. Gigantic btl! Terlopong kejap... sngt teruja! Rasa mcm x percaya pon ada.  Jom layan gambar yang terketar2 ni...

Ada musang kutub.. nak tangkap gambar byr 50 yuan rasanya....

Ice skating area dari kejauhan... apa kan daya, x berdaya
nak menapak...sejukkkkk....

Dalam kesejukan yang melampau

Since kami p December, dan ice festival baru ja buka beberapa hari, still ada sculptures yang sedang dibina... Nampak mcm ada KLCC tp nun jauh di sana, x larat nak jalan...haha...

Kami terjumpa train, apa lagi, p bayar dan naikla..mereka bawak pusing ice festival...Panas dkt dalam tu...seronok... pusing the whole area rasa kejap ja..x nak turunnnn... x moooo!!! tp apakan daya, kena turun jugak...

Apa lagik akal nak memanaskan badan ni? nak p makan, x halal... TIba2 kami nampak satu canopy... ada fashion show kat dalam tu.. Kami pon belik jagung dan makan kat dalam tu sambil tngk fashion show...

7.45 kami bergerak keluar...takut kena tinggal bas... Nasib baik jumpa bas... tp bas jalan lambabt dalam pukul 830 sebab ada ah so sekumpulan lambat balik.

Kami kat sana x lma pon. Dlm beberapa jam. Ok dah tu, x blh tahan lama kat sana... beku.. nasib ada pkai warm pad... bnyk membantu... my advice to those who are going... wajib tepek warm pad ya...!

All in all, my trip to Harbin Ice Festival was a trip to be remembered for the rest of my life! Amazed, excited and of course, freezing cold..... once yeah..again? i dont think so....hahahha....

My suggestion, Harbin Ice Festival admin should build more indoor areas or at least some covered seats for the guests to warm themselves.... memang sejuk sungguh..... anyway, unforgettable experience n no regret 😀!

Despite the crazy cold weather, we were back in the warmth and coziness of
Kazy Hostel...waiting for the guys to come back form the mosque.