Marjolein Katsma

Wherever I go, I always try to taste the local beer, or beers. Some great surprises can be had, such as Meta beer in Ethiopia (see picture), Beer Lao in Laos, and several local beers in Cuba (not the stuff they sell to tourists, the real local beers!).

I only recently found 43 places and it’s a fun site. If I can help to to make it even better I’d be glad to help!

Missed it in 2004 – my foot hurt enough that I didn’t dare walk the unrestored stretch of wall most of my travel mates were going to (it only turned out later my foot was actually broken!) but in 2005 I did manage to go! I actually managed the whole stretch from Simatai to Jinshanling (only the two ends are restored) in spite of a heavy cold and a sprained foot (the other one!) – a very impressive experience that I’ll never forget.

There are parts of the Great Wall that are like Disneyland (China’s very own brand of tourism) but this is the real deal.