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My first mistake was to take my entire bag with me, my second was the thick polo shirt and my third was taking only one bottle of water. When you hear 'The Great Wall Of China' you think of some massive stone structure that goes on as far as you can see. It's beautiful, ancient and one of the wonders of the world. I too thought this until I realised what was happening.
We started walking at about 10am towards the wall, it was overcast (I'm sure the pictures can show you), humid and about 300 degrees. None of us had showered in a couple of days so the smell of masculinity was strong with the group. We walked across these open expanses of concrete slowly giving way to the trees and general foliage the walk wasn't too bad and if I had known what was to come I would have savoured the level ground. So we made it to the check point leading onto the trail, there sat one grumpy looking local he didn't even stand as Alicia strode forward to interrupt his gaze with some savvy mandarin. He nodded and motioned us through although; I still do not know what he was motioning us towards as clearly there was nothing there. This was when I met my demon. I slid a small comment that the small 'path' going up into the trees would be a rough track and that anyone who was going to go up that way would be stupid. My hear fell as I saw Alicia pointing to it and cheerfully saying that we were in fact taking the high road. The 'path' (and I call it a 'path' out of respect) was about 1 meter wide winding in-between trees, it was dotted with rough stone serving as some sort of staircase onto a 65 Degree incline. To be fair it was similar to a ladder in some places.
So on we walked, I looked up into the misty sky to try and see the peak of the hill but the fog meant there was nothing just us and the path with no telling how long it was. So the sporty people lead the group heading off/up into the mist with the rest of the group splitting into smaller platoons. One foot in front of the other was all I could think about, that and nearly there. The sheer humidity made it an issue with the air almost too thick to breathe and already being high above sea level we were struggling for air from the start. The 'steps' soon became more treacherous with loose stones falling behind me I realise it was just me and Mat, who could tell where the rest where. We forced ourselves to keep going clinging onto the fact we were nearly there but, 45 minutes later I can safely say that we were wrong. Now the path started to twist up like a spiral stair case and I dare not to look behind myself. Around another corner and there are three of the girls sat down in the path, Mat instantly reacts. Flashing a smile and engaging swagger the saunters through them his jeans deserving a special mention as the best choice of leg wear for a day like this. I try to pick it up and force myself a long standing tall pretending my limitless energy is yet to be exhausted. We keep this up about 2 minutes and around the next corner it is time for a rest. We flop totally worn out, my pyjamas (told you I brought everything) are pulled out and used to wipe the sweat from my brow and the bottle of water is nearly drained. We sit for a while admiring how far we have come. The bottom of the hill (starting to believe it was a mountain) is no longer visible, just a blanket of white mist covering everything what can be seen is spectacular scenery lots of trees ect. (Look it up online I can't be bothered to type what it looked like)
Well rested it was time to start again, more uphill struggle and generally feeling like my legs where going to fall off we pressed onwards. Another difficult 10 minutes wishing we could stop again we pressed on until we heard something beautiful. A cheer from up ahead, the first group had reached the peak. My spirits where lifted and I felt the ability to press on. So we kept walking, not having any clue how much further all we knew was that there was in fact a top and eventually we made it.
I must say it was the greatest think I have ever seen, that small door into the wall surrounded by tree's it seemed almost story book. We went in dumped out bags and looked across the expanse of the wall. Had it been a nicer day you could have probably seen more but the small paths and trees that could be seen on the neighbouring hills where enough for me. When on the wall you can really see why it is referred to as the 'wild' wall, trees and foliage force their way up through cracks in the ancient stone and all sorts of bugs wind their way through them. Naturally it was time to climb up the turret. Although it was not really much more than a stone box the stairs where hard to locate, well I call them stairs more like a stone ladder. Upon reaching the very top I was greeted by the sight of topless men posing with their pipes at the top. Needless to say I was surprised but if there is anything that represents England, it's smoking a pipe atop the great wall of china.
- comments
will good, so you won't be fat when u return! ; )