The Great Wall of China
I woke with bags under my eyes to catch a three hour coach ride to part of the Great Wall of China. It felt great to get out of the rush of Beijing and away from the traffic and pollution. As the coach drove out of the city we saw industrial works and lots of building work, it seems like progress is top of the agenda here right now.
As we journeyed further the scenery soon turned to rolling green hills and mountains, the scenery is very hard to put in to words so I won't even try. After walking around various temples and sights I was looking forward to a long hike and a bit of real exercise.
The sun was beating down on us as we began our trek up to an old part of the wall and it was hard work. Everyone was feeling the heat, sweating and taking on lots of water.
We finally ventured down from the wall after a four hour hike to grab drinks outside a remote shop at the foot of the mountain. I opted of a cool beer, not a normal sized beer like back home but a big one! The whole group sat outside to chat and recover as I spied a great photo opportunity on the guides motorbike.
After we had recovered sufficiently we headed down the road kicking a football with our guide to our surprisingly quint guest house surrounded by huge rolling mountains.
In the evening we all gathered for dinner, a few drinks and some cards. It was great to finally get some fresh air and exercise after a week of Beijing. I really enjoyed Beijing and the sights it had to offer but I had been there longer than the rest of the group and was craving to see somewhere new.
