北京重點之行就是登長城，令我更期待的是我們要登上的不是八達嶺、不是居庸關、更不是慕田峪長城，而是金山嶺長城。金山嶺有「野長城」之稱，與其他關嶺的分別在於這一部份未有過份修葺，仍然保留最初的原貌，部份段落路面不平，所以比較危險；地點離北京比較遠，需要兩小時以上車程，每天8時一班專車直達長城，其他時間便要到金山嶺服務區再乘坐長城接駁車。以上兩大原因，令到金山嶺的遊客少之又少，這也是造就我們選擇這個地方的原因，因為我們不想看「人頭長城」。
The must-do for the Beijing Trip is to rock the Great Wall, I was so excited because we chose the JinShanLing Section rather than BaDaLing, JuYongGuan or MuTianYu. JinShanLing Great Wall is also renowned as “The Wild Great Wall”which retained the original structure and without excessive maintenance and repair of the path. In other word, it is relatively danger, but more down to earth. It located quite far from Beijing, taking at least two hours by bus. There is only one express bus at 8am daily going directly to the gate of Great Wall. Passengers have to switch the shuttle bus at JinShanLing Service Point. Due to the above two main reasons, the numbers of tourists head to JinShanLing are countable. This is the reason we decided to go to JinShanLing to avoid seeing the Great Wall with only heads.
出發前在網絡上查詢交通路線，大概掌握了數個方法，1) 在東直門坐980專車到密雲後包車到長城，2) 到望京西坐每朝8時專車直達長城，3) 東直門汽車站坐942專車(RMB 120連門票)，太多不同的說法，所以決定到北京後直接到旅客服務中心查詢。可惜得到的回覆是，他們不知道，只硬銷我們參加他們的旅行團，索價RMB 450。我們當然不會參加，雖然未得到確認，但決定採取第2個交通路線，到望京西坐專車。
In Hong Kong we have briefly checked the transportation from Beijing to JinShanLing. We concluded three ways: 1) Take local bus route No. 980 (Express line) from DongZhiMen to MiYun (1.5h), then get a privately operated van (RMB 200 or up); 2) Take the Great Wall route bus at WangJingXi sharp at 8am; 3) Take express bus route no. 942 (RMB 120 including admission ticket) to Great Wall. To be honest, there are so many suggested ways, we cannot figure out right away. We decided to clarify with the tourist information in Beijing. However, it was very disappointed because they do not have an idea about the public transport. Instead, they kept asking us to join their tour and offered us a rip-off price at RMB 450. Of cos it would not be the deal. Although the transportation information is not confirmed, we decided to go for the second option – bus from WangJingXi at 8am.
在望京西地鐵B出口過橋後，左手面便是金山嶺專車的巴士站，我們到達時專車剛好走了。
Once we got off at WangJingXi metro station Exit B, crossed the footbridge, the bus stop is located at the left hand side. When we arrived, the bus just left us and we were puzzled what to do.
正在煩惱怎麼辦時，有輛黑車在拉客，說只需RMB 50便可把我們載到長城，我看到車上已經有乘客在等著，心想應該沒有問題便上車了。上了車才發現原來車上只有我們二人會到長城，而這輛黑車目的地並不是金山嶺，只是途經金山嶺服務區，結果我們便在一條高速公路收費站前下車，當時我覺到相常無奈。司機離開前告訴我們可以在這裡等待免費的接駁巴士到金山嶺正門，但他沒有把殘酷的真相告訴我們便絕塵而去。
A driver from the privately operated van approached us and offered RMB 50 to the Great Wall. I believed nothing will go wrong because some other passengers were on the van already. However, I discovered that we were the only people heading to Great Wall and the destination for the van is not the Great Wall at all. It just passed the JingShanLing Service Point. That’s why we were dropped off in front of the toll on the highway and I felt super helpless. We were told by the driver that a free shuttle bus will pick us up to the gate, however, he did not tell us the whole story before he left without looking back.
在等客的的士司機看到我們，便告訴我們接駁巴士剛走了，要等一個小時才有車，不然給他RMB 20便可載我們到正門。那一刻我在想，為什麼又是這樣？為什麼又是剛剛走了？眼前的的士司機跟黑車司機是同一黨的嗎？我們一口拒絕，想向其他人查問，在服務區眼見只有其他的士司機和一間簡陋的便利店，可惜便利店職員聽到我們要去長城，也是說坐的士，另一個司機居然開價RMB 40，令我更加生氣，當我是生金蛋的雞嗎？一氣之下我們決定繼續等，寧死也不再掏出一毫坐的士！
The taxi driver who was waiting came to us and told us the free shuttle bus just left. The next one will come in an hour. He could take us to the gate with RMB 20. At that moment, I want to kill someone and a big question mark on my head. WHY? Why this guy told us the same story – the bus just left. Were all the drivers we met today belong to the same group? We rejected without hesitation and decided to ask someone else. There are only some other taxi drivers and a small convenience store in the service point. When the staff learnt that we would like to go to the gate, she recommended us to take taxi as well. The other driver offered us RMB 40. This really made me so angry. Do they think we are golden geese? We were so pissed and swear to god that we won’t spend a penny to take taxi.
等待期間其他的士司機再次來遊說我們坐他們車，說在這裡浪費時間不如花點錢早一點到長城，不然到時趕著時間下山坐尾車回北京，什麼也沒能細心看清楚便要離開，多麼掃興；還說為什麼這個老外一點錢都掏不出來，老外不是很有錢的嗎。我其實差一點便被遊說，心想錢能解決的話就不要計較，但Moritz說不是錢的問題，是原則的問題，本來我們就不用多付錢，所以再次拒絕了他們。
While we were waiting, the taxi drivers persuaded us to take their taxi. They said we should pay a little bit more to get to the Great Wall earlier instead of waiting here for the next bus which will be rush to catch the last bus back to Beijing and we cannot spend much time to cherish the beautiful view of the Great Wall. They also mentioned that why can’t the white guy next to me spend just a little bit of money to make our life easier. They think that White equal to Rich. I was almost persuaded and just wanted to solve the problem if it just the matter of money. However, Moritz does not mean to be cheap, but it is the matter of principle because we were not supposed to pay more at all. So we rejected them again.
我堅決地表示我們絕對不會付錢坐車，希望他們不要花時間在我們身上。他們說在這裡等著沒事幹，樂意跟我們聊天打發時間，然後聊了一會不知他們是否良心發現，說在這裡等，其實可以走路去正門，大約40分鐘，總好過等1個小時。雖然說是大直路沒有分路，但烈日當空下走40分鐘不如保留體力爬上長城。
We strongly told them we will not pay extra to take taxi and hope they do not spend extra time on us. They were willing to talk to us because they have nothing to do but just waiting. We started chatting and perhaps they were out of empathy, they told us it takes 40mins to walk to the gate. It is better than just wait for an hour here. Although it is just a straight way ahead, it was hard to walk directly under the sun for 40 mins. We believed it is way better to save our energy for climbing the Great Wall.
過了一會，第一位司機走過來說可以免費載我們，我滿心歡喜，但那有這樣便宜….
Another 5 minutes gone, the driver approached us at the beginner came to us and offered us a free ride. It was unexpected and made me happy. Is that really happened and F-R-E-E?
(待續/ To Be Continued…)
No comments:
Post a Comment