What a great wall

Today has probably been our greatest day since we arrive in China. We headed with a group to the Great Wall of China. Luckily we could avoid the 2500 step climb to the wall and take a cable car up instead which not only maximised our time on the wall but also saved our legs for the wall climbing instead! Walking the wall was spectacular. The views were just breathtaking and every time you looked back it looked even more incredible. Choosing just 6 photos was hard! We were aiming to make it from turret number 14 we came in on to 20 where the wall changes from the restored version to the original ruined wall that hadn't been touched since it was built. From there we hoped to reach 23 which is the highest turret on the old wall and where it becomes impossible to go any further. We were doing well the ups and downs were tough but then we saw it... the biggest uphill staircase climb ahead. To say it was hard would be an understatement but 475 steps and some climbing with our hands later we made it to the top of the turret. Our journey wasn't over yet! We still had more climbing in store to get to the highest tower of the wall or the peak of the tourist section. This is where we discovered the old wall. With trees growing on the path, rubble everywhere and little of the sides of the walls remaining this is what we came to see. We negotiated plants and boulders to climb even further along. We were unsure on our timings but decided to push to one more turret and we were so glad we did. The view of the mountains and beijing was worth every step. We made it! We were 2 turrets off our target but time wasn't on our side; we wanted to be back to make the most of our free lunch that was offered with the group deal. We did hear the last 200 metres to the top turret is pretty much a vertical climb using your hands. It took 2 hours to get up and only 30 minutes to get back. Our knees were tumbling after that 475 staircase down at one point. We rounded off the day with a visit back to the lake we had food at previously and it was nice to just walk on flat ground for a while!Meer informatie