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.