Post 113 - Day 4 - Ohhhhh, my leaking bladder!!!

Woke up really early, actually, didn't really wake up as I didn't really get any sleep!!!  Somehow and somewhere, trains were running through the campsite and the drivers of these said trains found it necessary to sound their horns on the hour and every hour all through the night!  It literally sounded like they were hurtling through the trees on top of us.... what with that, and cicadas as big as your hand clicking away so loud that it mimicked a rendition from the Gipsy Kings, massive red and yellow spiders with extra long legs crawling behind your head and the sound of small rhino's snoring from the yellow pods, it was quite a concerto!


Morning took ages to come and when I sat up I noticed that the bottom of my sleeping bag and all under my mattress was soaking wet!  I couldn't have wet myself, I would have known, I didn't sleep... on closer inspection I noticed that it wasn't "my" bladder that leaked but that of my water bladder that I had packed all ready for excursion the night before!



A certain amount of panic came over me as I searched for my mobile phone and camera... located, both soaked and both 'not working'.  You know that feeling of your heart going all warm and a tightness in your chest (probably quite similar to that of Pam's when she realised her bum bag was missing)... well, that and feeling sick over came me.  My camera, for those who don't know, is a little like my left arm!  It comes with me everywhere and taking photos is what I do... especially as I knew what sights lay before me!

I have to say, I had a little cry.. Pam was wonderful, forthright and confident that they would dry out and all would be well.  I had an idea to ask the cooks at the campsite for a little rice so that I could pop them in to suck up all the moisture.  I heard that this works a treat.  "Rice, no we have none" they said in broken English!  I was quite suprised!  May be they didn't understand me.... again I said... please..rice.... "no, there is none!" Now, correct me if I am wrong but it would be like asking for coals in Newcastle or indeed Tea in China...... Puzzled, I felt deflated and for the first time since I arrived, the smile of my face faded - I knew a bladder would leak at some point in my trip but I didn't think it would be that one!

I then thought that the insurance company would really have a field day with this.... last month making a claim for Craig weeing on my wii and all the electrical equipment, Sky, DVD Player etc., and this month.... my leaking bladder on my camera and phone (that incidentally was less than a week old).

I pulled myself together and one of my beautiful companions gave me her camera to hold just to make me feel better... and it did....

We walked and walked and climbed and climbed until we reached a spectacular section of the wall above the Gubeikou valley.  Distant 2000m mountains framed the walk along this little visited section of the Ming Dynasty wall.  It was exclusive to us and no other tourists were there.  It was beyond my wildest dreams (well so to speak - they have been quite wild at times).  It was stunning and like nothing I had ever seen before, we were totally off the beaten track.  You know, I loved every step - each one I took I repeated to myself... perfect fitness, perfect health, perfect fitness, perfect health, and I strode like a mountain goat until I reached the summit.  When there... I lost my breath..... and... my camera started taking a few photos..... how can life get any better?

Another note to self:  This is not a good look!

nor is this!

or this!!!!

Nikki & Hannah - Marie Curie Team and a couple
of the most beautiful ladies I have ever me

This is Laura from Corporate Responsibilities!!!!! We were told only very few climb this as it is very dangerous - one slip on the way down and you are a gonner!!!!!!!

Then, finally back to camp after 8 hours trekking to our crew who was preparing a delicious Chinese meal for us and a little added bonus of some CHIPS... CHIPS CHIPS CHIPS - They must of got wind to the fact that us Westerners are quite partial to a chip or two and they were devoured in seconds... 

We soaked our feet in warm water and exhaustion took over.. we slept and slept well after Pam & I giggled in the tent like a couple of teenagers!

Post 112 - Day 3 First sight of the Great Wall at Gubeikou

We were promised just a short stroll today to warm us up for the rest of the week.... note to self.. never believe an Ozzie when he tells you you are going for a short stroll......

We were up early for breakfast today and ironically it was a mixture of yellow bread, very sweet jam and the contents of the left overs from last nights "take-away" - bucket loads of Chinese food spread out buffet style for us to choose from.. the smell alone at 6am was just a little too much to handle.  Have you ever tried to spread jam on a bit of yellow bread using a chop-stick?  My breakfast consisted of a hard boiled egg, this sweet sweet awful jam (especially as I had become accustomed to Andrew's home made jam) and a plate full of garlic broccoli washed down with copious amounts of Jasmine Tea.  I managed to sneak my Herbalife special energy tea down to breakfast with me and locate a flask full of boiling water so all was good and I was raring to go... literally.

We drove and drove in our air conditioned coach, Andrew & I were at the helm (good ol Andrew, he was always looking out for me and managed to nab the front seat and claim it for our own throughout the entire trip - this enabled us to see straight out to the ciaos of the roads, have a little more leg room and chat nonchalantly to Ken, gaining untold amount of information on China).

We finally arrived at a rather dilapidated noodle restaurant where we found ourselves looking at each other nervously.  Some needed to the toilet due to our long coach drive and on inspection came out still needing the toilet.  Now, seeing as these people made the i-phone, it baffled me how they were just not capable to either clean a toilet or have one that you didn't need to use every leg muscle and the balancing skill of an acrobat in order to just do a pee.  I did contemplate getting out the she wee but having no change of clothes and no where to change them, it was not an option.  I decided that after lunch I would find a friendly bush!




Lunch consisted of noodles, great big thick juicy ones that had absolutely no taste whatsoever but were quite good to get you used to using chop-sticks.  I slurped them into my mouth like I hadn't eaten for weeks with the on look of a rather disapproving Pam....

We were off to our wall... I was so excited I felt like Barbie with a constant grin that I just couldn't remove!!

We trekked and trekked up rocky pastures and steep inclines before we even managed to get to the wall.  I strode with confidence with my new purple walking sticks until Andrew told me I was holding them all wrong (I don't usually go to Pinner with them so how was I supposed to know?).  He carefully and considerately showed me how I was supposed to grip them so that it didn't break my wrist if I were to fall off the wall.... I was a little more concerned about breaking my neck if I fell but I listened intently and followed his lead.  I did promise Savannah that I wouldn't die after all.

Doctor Alison

It was tough, it was very tough, IT WASN'T A GENTLE STROLL.  The heat was intense in the 30's and the humidity was a challenge in inself, the sweat was dripping off us.  One of our party was violently sick half way up and another, very fit police lady Lorraine had disco leg where the muscle in her leg jumped violently and uncontrollably and she was unable to walk.  This day proved challenging for our "on tour" Doctor Alison who was literally running from the front of the group to the back to tend the sick!  She was remarkable.

Half way to the wall, James stopped us all, he looked back at our red blotchy faces and said, or what we thought he said was "there will be lots of RATS", we were not yet used to his accent and in turn we all looked back at each other in wonderment... it transpired that what he actually said was "you don't need to rush".  It was my first real game of Chinese Whispers!!!

After what seemed like hours, we all managed to reach the point where we could see the wall for the first time.... words just can't describe what we saw before us.... silence overcame us all and we just stood, all 42 of us with our parched mouths open, starring in amazement at the height we had just climbed and the shear extent to our walk ahead... and of course the beauty of it all - it was stupendous!!!

The photos do this no justice at all!

Andrew:  He was like my big brother & looked after me!

James & Tom (Camelot) clearly up to the top before me.... actually, to be honest... I ran back down to take the picture and went back up again!!!

Everyone was sucking on their water bottles which looked like they were on oxygen (most of us wished it was).  For some reason my bladder was rather hard to suck, I don't usually have a problem with sucking but I do recall thinking that I would end up with a lot of wind at this rate with all the power sucking through a little tube for a dribble of water.  I asked Andrew to see if the tube had twisted or indeed if I had finished my 2ltrs already!  On closer inspection and rather a lot of laughter to my expense, Andrew exclaimed "you stupid tart... it's upside down"

After 5 hours of trekking (certainly not strolling) we arrived back at the campsite at Gubeikou, our first Camp of the week.  The little yellow tents in the woods looked like aliens had landed from out of space and the looks from the locals seemed to emulate this.  Camping in China is somewhat strange to the locals, they stopped and stared in wonderment at these strange people who had funny eyes and smelt of milk!

                                                                                                                      Kieron - The camp comedian
                                                                                                                          (funny, not camp!)

Was a luxury to have a portable shower to wash our hair
Abbie-Anne 

This was like Tequilla 45% rice wine.. yum

We all chose our tents for the night, ours was by the toilets as we thought we were being clever.... not clever at all it turned out!!!!  We were exhausted, mats and sleeping bags out first, a wet wipe wash and we were ready for dinner.  Chinese on the menu again tonight... yum.

It was delicious for camp food... it made me wonder what we would feed the Chinese if they were to come camping in London..... scramble egg and bacon wouldn't really match up to the mark!

We played a few games and had a giggle before crashing for the night...

Savannah's first day as Mum: I'm never having children.

Found Savannah's attempt at blogging today, I guess she just didn't have the time to finish it!!!

She did a sterling job but think she is pretty happy to have me home..... lol








So it's my first day as Mummy number 2 and what a day it's been... I now understand how difficult it is for Mum to cope, plus she works three jobs too. Kitchen has been cleaned 5 times, lounge about 30 times and 2 loads of washing, oh and how can I forget about following the kids round clearing up after them as I go. For some reason they think its cool to leave their stuff everywhere? Erm no Thank You. I sound like such a hypocrite right now as I do the same.

Post 111 - Day 1 & 2 of Great Wall of China Trek

My nerves are creating a strange tingling sensation - ooh, it's quite nice really, haven't had a tingling sensation for quite a while.... So, excited, can't wait to get going! Been up all night packing with Judith (shall I take the She Wee or shall I not take the She Wee? Shall I ? Shan't I?).

Cassidy and I walked to school (last minute training) and I had prepped Cassidy with her new school shoes, new Moshi Monster lunch box, mobile phone and my little gold ring so that she could remember me - she felt grown up and looked at me with trepidation in her eyes at the school gate "Mummy", she said, "I just want you to know that I am very proud of you for going to China and that I am pleased you are going!" - Well, at that point, I couldn't hold the tears back any longer. My beautiful little seven year old girl giving me her blessing to go on this challenge of a lifetime and I felt so proud of her.  Her comment made the whole trip doable and my confidence increased 100 fold.  Nobody could have said anything better to me at that moment.

So... ready and packed (with she wee), Andrew arrived dead on time and we bundled into the car with Mum and Dad who took us to terminal 5 departures.

Brief goodbyes and Andrew and I went for a delightful lunch at Carluccio's before we met up with the group.  We donned our blue Marie Curie T-Shirts and made our way to the meeting point.  42 very nervous people all looking the same were gathering slowly....some welcome hand shakes, hugs and first day school antics followed as it was time to board the flight.

3 films, 3 meals and 9 hours later and we arrive in Beijing in good time.  We slept as much as possible to alleviate the jet lag and boarded the train to arrivals.
As we left the train I heard a scream just behind me "BEEEETHHHHH,  I have left my bum bag in the toilet just before we boarded the train!!!!".... It was Pam, not used to having a bum bag on her possession she took it off putting it next to her!!! There was no way back and a three week wait to get out of Beijing without a passport.  It contained everything, money, phone and all those important documents you travel with!  Bless her, Pam is one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure in meeting, a major part of the Camelot Team and it was a frightening hour ahead.  I spoke to a little Chinese Lady in uniform, neatly presented with bright red lipstick and she spoke zero English.  I took out my phrase book and attempted to explain what had happened in singular words and broken Chinglish!  It transpired that one of our group handed in the bum bag to a security guard when she found it in the toilets.  Success, finally our dainty "new best friend"  radioed ahead and managed to arrange for the security guard to send the "found" bag and forward it to "Lost and Found" on our side of the station..... at least we think that is what she did.

We giggled at the sign in the coach!

A few hours later, thank goodness, Pam collected the bag and all it's contents were safe and sound.... it was a hairy start to our adventure but ended with a few extra grey hairs but nothing more.

We boarded our coach, met our guides, Peter and James (they were of course their English names) and headed for our hotel.  The traffic was unbelievable, I don't think you will ever hear me complain about the M25 again!

We were all exhausted and on arrival we were shown to our rooms.  I was sharing with Pam and our room was not quite ready for us!  Electrical boxes and wire were everywhere, I could do nothing but laugh out loud!  It was like a scene from Fawlty Towers.... they spoke no English and two little men were faffing around with screw drivers and cables in an attempt, we think, to get the air conditioning working... it was hot... very hot!

We showered and a small select group (of which I was one!) grabbed James and went out for lunch with him.  He took us to a fantastic restaurant where we tried some rather exotic looking food, it was incredible and we ate so much that we weren't too sure how we would climb the wall in the morning!

Back for 6pm and a briefing by Ken, he was our head guide from Tazmania and a fountain of knowledge on the Great Wall and Chinese Culture, he was fluent in Mandarin and he quickly became our confidant and best friend.

Ken & Me!

James & Peter - These guys were absolutely amazing!!!
They looked after us like we were royalty

We then headed out into the back streets of the central city district of Beijing!  The poor markets and dirty streets took me back to those of India (only a little cleaner).  The smells of roasted Scorpions, marinated cockroaches and barbequed crickets became a little pungent after a while, the streets were dirty and lined with bric a brac for sale and cages full to the brim of live chickens, men flipping noodles in their woks by the side of the street, hands and faces filthy and clothes covered in dirt holding the garment together - it was a scene for all the senses.

I got caught in the line of fire by a lady who was throwing out her dirty water after washing her hair, everything tipped in the street.  Stalls with amazing elephantitus fruits and vegetables that were so large they looked unreal, grapefruits as big as your head and gourds as large as footballs.  Spices in every available canister or linen bag.  The freshness of the vegetables almost made up for the live food, the poor crabs that were strung together unable to move, desperately trying to use their pincers to unleash themselves.  The noise around us was loud and obnoxious, the Chinese shouting and angry even if they weren't, it just seemed that the whole city was in turmoil!

After an interesting evening meal - similar to lunch, we went back to our rooms desperate for sleep.  Air conditioning working, bum bags safely in our possession, we snuggled into our rock hard beds that we were all thankful for knowing what was ahead of us and slept restlessly until 6am.......... no peace for the wicked.

Day 110 - Up since crack of dawn OFF I GO ! XXX

Good morning all my fellow bloggers... this morning has come around so fast that I am not sure that I have slept at all or really well!  I am bathed (after another mishap with the She Wii) and feeling rather calm.

Thank you all for your kind words of support and help over the past months, this is it... I am off and I am going to go for it.  Feeling fitter than ever (don't laugh Ruth, I was really really unfit before!!!), packed and just waiting for the kids to wake up!

If you are passing.... check on kids with food parcel! However, don't feed them too well or they wont want me home.

Type this link into your browser, enter your postcode and you will see me go by your street on my plane.

https://www.facebook.com/britishairways/app_388207294549278

Love you all and I will try to "Blog from the Wall"

Keep safe, well and happy and stories to tell on my return.

Thank you again to all my beautiful friends and family who have been so supportive and helped me to make this happy... x  Zai Jien

Blog 109 - ONE MORE SLEEP! and I have peed myself!

The excitement is killing me!  I am all packed and ready to go... had a phone call from Sarah to remind me to practice with the She Wee..... unpacked it and took it into the toilet!  Five children in the bedroom playing and me in the loo with the strange thing that I need to figure out!.. I thought that I would first practice by peeing into the toilet, there I stood, with this thing that looked like a thin purple willy sticking out of my lady parts and suddenly I felt something warm and wet trickling down my leg and into my socks and all over the toilet floor!  Yep, it had leaked, I tried to hold it firmly to the place that I thought it needed holding firmly but obviously I was doing something wrong.  I then had to strip off and see if I could duck into my bedroom without any of the five teenagers spotting me!  I waited for a quiet moment and zoomed out with my bum akimbo leaving my sodden clothes all over the floor.

Nigel said "it isn't a sex toy!!!"

I know, I thought,... wait for Mum, there is little she doesn't know about that department and she would figure it out in a minute.  I handed her the device as she rang on the door and never one to pass on a chance to pee, she took herself into the loo.  Success.. apparently, I had the thing the wrong way round!  I asked Mum how it felt and she was rather pleased with herself that she managed to "pee like a man", (there is nothing that us women can't do now!!!).


Now, I am bursting for the loo and I too want to pee like a man and I am quite prepared to give it another go...  I am slightly concerned that I am needing to go too badly and that the pressure would create an overflow but it must be done... here goes.................

For goodness sake... better? yes, having it pointing in a downward flow does seem to be an improvement.. but I have still got pee all over the front of my jeans and down my leg and from having all my washing done and dusted, I now have two pairs of jeans, two pairs of socks, knickers and the toilet to clean yet again!!!  I think I need a lesson in anatomy cause this thing doesn't work for me... will try again later.. more water and of course.... Thank you Sarah for the best "tip" yet xxx

THIS IS JUST RIDICULOUS... I AM NOT TAKING IT WITH ME.... NOW HAVE YET ANOTHER PAIR OF KNICKERS TO WASH AND A PAIR OF JOGGERS!!! IT IS OFFICIALLY NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO PEE LIKE A MAN!!!!! 

Having read this out to the Judith and the kids, Luke said "can I try it?  Oh, no, I am already a man!!"  Savannah has now taken it into the loo and is trying to use the now, communal she wee.. I wonder how she will get on? 

This is UNFAIR... the competition is on..... She did is and now my 17 year old daughter is giving me a lesson in anatomy... I will try again before I leave! Wish me luck xxx 

See you all soon and Savannah, Luke & Cassidy, thank you for everything you make me so proud to be your Mother xxx

108 - Harry Potter

Wow.. that was fun... took the kids on the Harry Potter Tour, it was really quite amazing...

We explored the magic of the Harry Potter films and went behind the scenes and saw some of the amazing showcases and incredible sets that were used for the film.  The costumes and props were just something else along with the special effects and animatronics, really hard to believe. These are a few of the photos....

Hogwarts Bridge
This is the actual bridge that cast members used 

The Great Hall

 

                  
 

Diagon Alley 

Chloe on the Motorbike