Blog 116 : Day 6 - 12 feet high, 6 feet thick

Up ahead this huge wall seemed like it was never ending, extending towards a range of grey mountains.  Twelve feet high, six feet thick it gradually transforms to a thin line of granite rocks weaving diagonally up the ridge.  I actually didn't imagine the wall to look like this and had certainly never seen anything like it in photos.  The mountain slope just got steeper and steeper.  I tightened my ruck sack on my back, pulling the straps tight, took a big swig of extra hydrated water from my bladder, took a deep breathe and marched on wards - precipices begin to appear revealing drops of at least 200 feet I recon... it was breathtakingly scary, we couldn't breathe through exhaustion as well as having our breath taken away by the beauty of it all.

I just grinned from ear to ear most of the time. I was actually there  - on the Great Wall, I felt very small but at the same time very big!!!  After all I had been through over the past few years, this was something that I never thought possible.  This time last year I couldn't even walk up the stairs at home but I will tell you more about that another time.

There was an amazing sense of camaraderie as our group gee'd each other on to get to the top section, where there was an even more indescribable view.  It helped that there was a little old man of about 105 at the top with cold beer and sprite for sale... how he got there, no body knows!  Our faces red with the heat and exhaustion from climbing a thousand steps, throats parched and almost unable to speak and there he sat, bright eyed and bushy tailed very happy to see us in order to make a quick Yuan!!

Every step I took I loved, we were more like mountain goats clambering up the rocks and up the steepest steps you can imagine.. apparently, the steps are so big because the Chinese believe that evil spirits don't have knees so they can't climb up them!  There were certainly no evil spirits there with us... we felt the calmness and sheer magnitude of it all under our feet.

Andrew practicing with his chop sticks