Wed 11 April: How far is it to Gubiekou?

Wednesday 11th April

The lodge did not look any more luxurious when we woke up this morning - and breakfast lived up to (low) expectations. . . We didn't have to make our own lunches today but the heavy reliance of spam at the breakfast table had not left us with high hopes . . . Closer inspection revealed we had been given spam and tomato sandwiches (6 slices of bread), cake (like the bread only slightly sweeter and with a distinctly fishy smell) and a peperami style sausage which revealed more spam with the aroma of dog food - so our packing included many snacks!

We didn't know it when we left but today's walk was a 7 hour brute covering more than11 miles - before we left Lisa and I both confidently felt that although the walk would be steep to get onto the wall it would be reasonably easy once We were up there. how wrong we were - the guide described the walk as undulating - I describe it as almost impossible. . We walked over 25000 steps covering 20 kilometres and at least 197 flights of steps. . . The only reason I could carry on was the amazing view that homed into the viewfinder every time things became too much. . . The view really was spectacular - as I type I am gutted that already the mental picture is fading. The end of the walk back down to Jinshanling Lodge was a bit blurry and even the poster exhorting us to come in and buy some soluble coffee didnt raise much of a smile.

However, a quick shower (it had to be quick as the hot water tank was tiny!) and a much more passable 'barbecue' meal - most of which appeared not to have been barbecued at all - left us feeling more positive. We had much entertainment watching the nearby youths get drunk on a single glass of wine and then it was into the Chinese name writing competition. We weren't good enough to win, but we were at least fortunate enough not to come in the bottom three. Rather surprisingly, Dave also managed to avoid being in the bottom three, despite us having added a number of 'embellishments' to his effort - as a punishment for him showing off about how easy it was. After a few bottles of cold Chinese beer we returned to our 'cells' to continue the party. However, a quick look at our room indicated that our time might be better spent packing as it resembled an explosion in a clothes factory. Tomorrow will be our last day in the wall... What a strange feeling.

Tue 10 April: Near death at Black Dragon Park

Tuesday 10th

Another early call and the rucksacks seem fuller than ever if that is possible. . . This morning we get the great news - it makes Subway sandwiches look a real treat - today we are going to stop and make our own packed lunches. . . - gasp horror! Cue 32 people queuing up to collect slices of 'Bingo' processed cheese, processed ham and what later turned out to be 6 month out of date wagon wheels (not really but they did taste like that) We arrived at Black Dragon Park in lots of clothes we had been told it would be cold and wet. . . Of course no trip would be correct without the obligatory toilet stop first - grim is not the word! It took every bit of strength Lisa possessed not to fall in - And I was not any more impressed - little did we know that just 20 metres away was a new toilet built specially for westerners - made of marble can you believe - thanks for telling us . Black dragon park really is spectacular - beautiful ponds with the mountains towering above-

 and yes there was evidence of cold - the ponds were thickly iced over - with workers using pick axes to try and break it up ready for the main Chinese holiday in a couple of weeks where they will spend the day frolicking in small boats on said iced over pond. . . The lunch didn't actually taste that bad - which was a good job given the afternoon ahead of us . . .

The afternoon started at the temple celebrating the black dragon that gives this region rain . . . Hundreds of feet above lay a new gleaming road - with a goat path leading up to it - but hang on a moment we haven't seen any goats this week- before this thought has settled Michael or guide has begun whizzing up the path at what can only be described as warp speed. . . . Ten minutes of this and I was having a mild asthma attack (aka a good sit down and a rest) and we eventually reached the road. . . To my horror there was no bus waiting there for us . Instead a short walk down the main road and then we were back on the wall - at least what was left of the wall - a tiny ledge with a sheer drop either side and a gradient downhill of 45 degrees - scary scary scary. . .

 Add to that lots of loose stones - at least we could see the bus now - several hundred feet directly below us - however we knew there was cold beer on board - and a marble toilet to visit!! I slowly learned not to shut my eyes when the drop was really scary and Lisa learned not to look over the sides! I am happy to report that we all made it down safely - although we had taken too long for the Chinese - the marble toilet was locked up and we had to content ourselves with a beer-

And so on to Jinshanling lodge - the rain finally arrived so we were an hour late arriving - it looked quite quaint but quickly we discovered there was no water, the electricity was interesting to say the least and rumours spread like wildfire about bed bugs. Harry another guide set us the challenge of teaching us to write our name in Chinese - apparently my name means Peaceful and Calm - something I am sure my children will find hard to believe - and Lisa means Beautiful Beautiful !!! Will our resident doctor was a bit horrified to discover his name meant small woman and NOT Big Warrior as he hoped - oh how we laughed!!!

The beds were more concrete than ever so the end of the day was not met with great optimism for sleep - Gubieku tomorrow!!

Mon 9 April: Stairway to heaven (nearly) at Mutianyu

9 April 2012


A bad night's sleep for both of us meant the wake up call went unanswered and we woke up to an irate lady shouting "wakee upee" at us - not the best start to the day. We had repacked our rucksacks as it was on to the next hotel today and both Lisa and I were appalled to find that despite having used many of our provisions the rucksacks were far fuller and far heavier that when we left Heathrow. . . The nerves about the forthcoming walk (climb) meant that I had to sit on the bus with an Ethiad sick bag and Lisa slept through the journey including a half hour chat about chairman Mao - not the best start to our restart following our original bad start. . . So how do 1000 steps to get onto the wall feel ? Long, unending, painful and thankfully behind us . . . . What they failed to mention was that the 1000 steps were only to get us onto the wall - and didn't include the other 1000+ up and then down again. However we were rewarded for our efforts with a traditional Chinese delicacy - the Subway sandwich (!) We took plenty of photographs (from the back as usual) but it was difficult to capture the fantastic views well because of the haze. We will try to add some pictures later when we can get onto the blog site properly. After climbing some more steps we decided against the 1000 steps down again and opted for the chairlift from further along the wall. By then, our feet were hurting so we decided to hang them below the car. Unfortunately, we hadn't realised that the safety bar was actually kept in place by the pressure from our feet... Cue us hanging precariously above a large drop in something resembling a garden chair with nothing to keep us in... Help!!!

By 4.30 we were back at the bus having been harassed by the many tourist touts - "Hello laydee, you wanna buy postcard?" "Hello laydee, you wanna buy great wall t shirt only $1?". Sadly the bus driver had no beer for sale tonight, so we resolved to buy some later... Which is another story. A quick shower was followed by a trip to another local restaurant where we were treated to some 'hard to identify' meat & veg dishes (all delicious) and some sort of soup made with what appeared to be chicken skin (not so delicious). We sloped off a bit early to get a few cans of beer - and found a lovely selection at the local shop. We quickly decided what to buy and handed them over to a (supposedly) trusty male to carry. He then spotted a 'bargain' size pack which he exchanged for the previously chosen cans and swiftly made his way t the check out. Moments later we had been accosted by a Chinese supermarket assistant who was shouting loudly and pointing at the pack. Dave was convinced he had done something terribly wrong and was about to be arrested by the security guards on the front door. However, a quick investigation revealed that he had picked up a large case of 'pineapple beer' in error - a disater narrowly averted!!!! We did buy a single can to try later... And it was just as revolting as we suspected. Anya quickly used hers to water the tree in the nearby foyer. While we were there, we also managed to pick up some 'numb and spicy flavour, intense and stimulating' crisps, chosen from the vast array of flavours on offer, including cucumber, cheese lobster, Italian red meat and lemon tea... Yum.

Tomorrow's forecast is not brilliant, but we are off to the Black Dragon Pool Park anyway and then onto a 'rustic lodge' (=rough b&b as far as we can tell). Not likely to have Internet access for a few days but will update as soon as we can.., watch this space!

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!)

Sat 7 April: An Auspicious Arrival!

Saturday 7th

Fourteen hours of flying, lots of quite nice food, not much leg room, one drunk passenger, five stewardesses to look after him, two bags searched at security, three episodes of Downton Abbey (but not for Lisa who was watching the far classier Fawlty Towers episodes) one nearly missed connection at Abu Dhabi and very little sleep made us begin to wonder if it was really worth it - first stop in Beijing was the Auspicious hotel 70 km north west of Beijing - which looks just amazing. Big concrete block from the outside and inside a real taste of china - olde worlde china type travelodge where people hold doors open for you and are nice to you - and where the shower floods if you have it on any setting higher than drip. . . .

Out for lunch where we ate a lot of things I am still not sure what they were. . . We spent the afternoon wandering around Changping sniggering at the clothes shops - what can I say about a fully grown woman dressed in trousers with 3D angry birds knee patches? A quick trip to wal mart (yes, really!) for some water and teabags - where we avoided the pigs trotters, sea slugs and free use of a female companion (??) I was persuaded to try some bimbo - fortunately managed to be stale White bread!!

After that jet lag took over and the evening meal and briefing seem a bit of a blur - possibly helped by janjing beer !! Early to bed - if beds are rocks of concrete with duvets as decoration? Tomorrow we head for the wall...

Fri 6 April: Abu Dhabi stop off

We've completed the first leg of the journey and sitting in Abu dhabi drinking tea with frothy milk - think cappuccino and you get the idea!! To be honest it's not easy to tell we're in the middle east as there are no windows - it could be Cardiff st David's shopping centre really! There also appear to be an excessive amount of women wearing pink pyjamas - although don't let them hear you call them that - apparently they are lounge pants !! Next stop Beijing !!

Thu 5 April: The Last Supper

So Lisa has arrived after the first leg of her journey - I went to meet her at Victoria and nearly messed up the whole trip by flying head over heels on a McDonalds smoothie - casually left on the platform! So near yet so far!! Luckily the only thing bruised was my ego and the adventure continues!

Time for a few hours kip before silly o'clock get up to meet Speedy Cabs at 5.30am - watch this space for updates - hopefully not too many from the gridlock that is supposed to be Heathrow airport! Next stop Abu Dhabi!!