Great Wall, Houhai Lake and the Hutongs

Saturday Morning.8.30 am.Sunny day,quite windy too.Our friends Chinmay&Rashmitha planned the whole trip. We hired a car for the day. It took us just about an hour from Sanyuanqiao to the (Mutianyu) Great Wall. We took the cable car to get on the wall. It just takes about 30mins if you want to trek up the whole way.It was quite windy up there but it was just so beautiful. It was Abhilash's and my first trip to one of the Wonders of the world and it took time to sink in that we were actually at the Great Wall.We took the cable car back down as well , and both times we got lucky. The first cable car we sat in was used by Clinton and the other by the 70th Lama.

It was around lunch time so we headed back into the city and on our way down we stopped at a local roadside Restaurant. They catch fresh fish and cook it the way you like. We ordered Roast Fish and Rice.

After lunch, we got the driver to drop us off at Houhai Lake. We then went boating. Took a battery run boat and went around the lake. Got to click some nice pictures. It was a fun ride coz the winds were directing the boat more than us steering it around.

We then hired a two seater cycle and cycled around Houhai and its so beautiful.We decided we are going to do it more often.

As it was getting darker, we walked towards Nanluoguxiang.
Nanluoguxiang is a modern hutong. It has some cool shops on either side,among them is the smallest bar in Beijing (about 16m.sq)
It's a must place to visit for visitors to Beijing. Don't miss the rickshaw ride while you're here and don't forget to haggle while buying those funky souvenirs.

We had dinner at Mirch Masala there. We ordered Chicken Vindaloo and it was just curry with too much chilly powder. They don't serve water, so we had to "buy" mineral water..The service was sloppy too.

Anyways, we didn't let the dinner at Mirch Masala dampen our spirits. We had just been to one of the Wonders of The World and had a fun filled day with the boating and cycling.I can't wait for the coming long weekend. We're off to Shanghai :-)