:: zone3 ::

While was there visited three places that were the 'Western end of the Great Wall', going to have to check on a map which is actually the Western end... The Great Wall was built as a series of walls over time that began to join up, so it is not actually a single wall spanning across the top of China to protect from the Northern invaders.

Visiting the Overhanging Great Wall was maybe the most amazing part of the Great Wall I have seen. Not so much for the wall itself (it has been completely rebuilt) but for the view... After a 20 minute climb up the Wall, you have an amazing view of the hills around and over the Gobi desert from Western China.

Jiayuguan Pass was an interesting place (although only if for a short stop), marking the fort that people during the Silk Road times had to pass through from the west and wait for permission to travel further east. Quite a large complex, but still did not take a long time to get around. Seemed to be a lot more local touristy than Western ones.

Now the 1st First Beacon Tower was just fun... Not a whole lot to look at, it marked the Western end beacon tower to send signals along the Great Wall. It took a couple of hours for the series of beacon towers to transmit a single 500 or 600 miles.
Was a fun part to visit due the flying fox out over the gouge to the other side of the river below. Faster than the other flying fox had been on.

Today was a pretty un-exciting day, a 6 hour bus ride from, Jiayuguan to Dunhuang. Dunhuang seems to be a bit more touristy than Jiayuguan, but a nice little town.