Sun 8 April: The adventure (and pain) begin: Juyong and Badaling

Sunday 8th

Early start with breakfast at 7.30 - arrived to eat which trying not to think about UK time (just after midnight!). A strange mix of fruit, yoghurt, bacon, French toast, egg fried rice, spring rolls, braised pumpkin, boiled sausages and some unidentifiable things that we decided to leave for tomorrow (perhaps!). Onto the bus at 8.30 and straight to the Juyong section of the wall - a circular section that used to enclose the soldiers' barracks. Very busy with lots of very uneven steps - ranging in size from a single block to 4 or even 5.

Apparently this was done to confuse the enemy as they tried to escape and cause them to fall. We discovered this technique was quite effective, even at a slow pace! We found ourselves at the mercy of hundreds of Chinese tourists desperate to have their photo taken with the 'strange looking people'!

Lunchtime saw us arrive at a buffet style restaurant with some toilets that were slightly less scary than the ones we previously encountered and an opportunity to peruse the local craft stalls in search of the obligatory Christmas decoration. In the afternoon we transferred to the more remote section of the wall at Badaling. This was a lot more challenging as much of the wall had completely fallen away leaving rough trails of broken stones and some very steep drops. Apparently the men who built the wall had to carve their names into the bricks so that they and their families could be killed if it fell down.

  Well, these bits certainly had - but I suppose we have to forgive them as it was put up 600 years ago (though the were several moments where we felt slightly less sympathetic!!) We managed to get to know the doctor quite well, along with Nigel, another mad person who'd signed up, as the doctor always walked at the back. Nigel stayed at the back to take good photos so we copied this technique to hide the fact that we were exhausted ha ha! Sadly the tiny automatic wasn't quite as convincing as the full kit Nigel was carrying but we think we got away with it...

4.5 hours later the bus arrived to collect us and the driver informed us that he had a large fridge full of beer at the front that he would sell us at 50p a can. It would have been rude to refuse, so we drank one on the way to dinner. We arrived at a lovely restaurant in our sweaty, dusty clothes and filthy boots. For the first time that day, Anya was at the front - she had spotted the toilets... Which were very clean, but unfortunately the 'squat style' - not ideal when you've walked miles and can barely stand up! After a couple of near misses, it was back for the meal and then a short trip back to the hotel. A quick walk around the local area to ensure we could still walk, a beer in the bar and then off to bed to prepare for the 'thousand steps' tomorrow ( that's 1000 steps just to get onto the wall, never mind the rest!)