Great Wall

The Great Wall.

Words can't begin to describe how it felt to take a walk on this wonder of the world. First of all, I must tell you. The hike up was the biggest ass kicking I have ever had in my life. I don't know if it was the incline, the humidity, dehydration. But there was a moment that I thought I would actually pass out, and I probably would have if I didn't take a break when I did. Once I pulled myself together, I downed some Gatorade, ate my banana and felt almost instantly better. This is by far the most insane piece of history I have ever explored. The wall is so large that the one person who actually explored all of it took him 3 years to do so. We hiked for about 3 hours and I climbed until I thought I couldn't climb anymore. It was just breathtaking, and of course you aren't going to give up. The Great Wall was built about 600 years ago to protect China from the Mongolians. After 3 hours of hiking we decided to take the luge down the rest of the way. This luge is made of tin and you ride a piece of plastic sort of go kart down, this felt a lot like Cool Runnings (Canadian reference). The guys that supervise this ride were yelling for people to slow down but they were yelling at me to go faster. I'm a baby. I just didn't feel as safe as others, especially when the signs said things like "don't go over edge"... : ) It was a cool, one in a lifetime experience. My tour group, by the way, is so fabulous. A mix of really great people, 4 Americans, 2 English and 1 Australian. So far the blend is perfect. After 3 weeks that might change, but for now it's great!

Today we toured Tiamen square and the Forbidden City. It was all very interesting and there is so much history in one small space. It was really hot again today and I wasn't feeling to great so I came back early to rest. I'll attach more pics of today later on this week. Tonight is a free night and we are going to the Pearl Market in Beijing. I'll fill you in on that later. Tomorrow evening we are taking an overnight train to Shanghai. Can't wait to share more!