The good …

Sunday was a great day. I climbed the Great Wall of China. Now when I say climbed, I mean climbed, not walked. The section we went to goes to 1,000 metres elevation. There are a couple of hundred steps between each watch tower, and by steps I don’t mean like in a building, but ones which almost come up to your knee. Fucking painful, let me say.

I took lots of photos, and will blog them when home. Forgot the download cable! Here are some other photos of the Badaling section which I was on.

I was one of the less than 2% who claimed to the very top, through all 15 watch towers. The view at the top watch tower was pretty amazing. The wall stretched as far as the eye could see, over ranges of mountains and hills.

Personally I don’t know why they built the fucking thing. Any invader who could get his hordes up the mountain, would not be daunted by a little wall to climb over. I suppose it was useful for lookouts and to move guards along.

The climb up was really tiring, and only the clinically insane do it without rest breaks. However going down was almost worse, in a different way. You’re struggling to keep your balance, yet moving quite a bit faster. It was not so tiring, but really pounds the legs. When I got to the bottom my legs were almost jelly. I seriously couldn’t take a normal step larger than a shuffle. Even 24 hours later it is still painful to walk, but no regrets.

It was one of those days you just remember for ever. The climb, the views, the people you meet on the way and the sense of tranquillity and achievement at the top. If only I could have stayed up there 🙂