Another day with shadows we even created havoc and got the local police involved! It was then said that we wouldn't have shadows at all for the day and that we had to help each other, which was fine for most of us!
After our usual warm up, we started our journey towards SiMaTei which was going to be a little bit more touristy to our dispear: we would have to share 'our' Wall with more tourists!
We had to go through around 32 towers before we got to SiMaTei.
There again the scenery was amazing, you had more of an idea of what it was like then. There were some restored and unrestored sections which made this even more spectacular.
Once we arrived at the top, we had the option to walk down or to go on a zip slide for only 100Yuan which is around £8, most of us then did this and that was brilliant. I've never done anything like this before and once i relaxed a little bit, i really enjoyed it, as going above the lake was so peaceful and quiet, all you had to do was appreciate the moment!
At the bottom, we had a little journey on a very slow boat and then we could go into a hotel and have a drink.
We then got the bus back and headed off to Gubeikou to stay in the lovely hotel we had on day 4
Day 7 - MuTianYu
We were now heading for a little more section a little where we were likely to meet more tourists. Mainly Chinese i have to say but still tourists!!
We started that morning by walking on the road for a bit in the heat with no air. Everyone was suffering. I was ready to give up as my ankle and achille tendon were hurting but i was at one day to the end of the trek and didn't want to give up so decided to put headphones on and listen to something else to take me away from the pain! I ended up listening to some French humorist (Coluche) and some French music that had enough beat to keep me going as well! It was very steep and hot but we got to join the wall by lunch time and stay in one of the tower to relax and keep away from the sun!
The rest of the afternoon was more enjoyable and not as difficult!
We met few Chinese students who kept wanting to have their photos taken with us. They were asking in a near perfect English, quite impressive. We actually found out that they start learning English at a very young age (i think it was 3/4)
At the end of the walk, we had 3 differents ways to reach the bottom, Cable car, walking or Tobogan ride. As you can imagine, most people went for Tobogan ride. That was great fun apart from having to suddenly break because someone had created havoc by stopping where they shouldn't have but never mind, felt like a little kid enjoying a new toy! (no shame to admit it either!!)
Once we got to the end, we were able to go to a little market where of course the stall holder were very keen to sell us their products. A lot of bargaining took place. I was very good and bought nothing there!
After a refreshing ice-cream and a bit of shopping we went to a ceramic factory where they were using the "Cloisonne" method. Copper base, then small bits of copper are put on the container or jewellery, baked then colour is added and baked several time and to finish the product, gold plated is added.
We did a tour of the factory which helped us understand better the process.
After that we went to our hotel and had another celebration birthday!
Day 8 - JuYongGuan/ last trekking day!
Last day, we were all a bit sad as we knew that it was the end of the trek and we were soon going to go back to our lives. We all had a really great time together and spoke at least with everyone, even if not a lot being said or just a word of encouragement. From not knowing each other, we became in the space of 8 days a close group!
JuYongGuan is situated about 1h30mns from Beijing and is a very touristic place. This is a circular section of the wall one of the last ones. As it was our last walk and we did quite a lot, it was decided that we would only do an hour and therefore a semi circular section. When we arrived, we were a little frighten to see so many people on one side of the section. I think we would have felt a little clostrophobic! but luckily we were going to trek on the opposite side where there were less tourists.
After an hour, we all had to wear our China Trek t-shirt for the final bit! We had to go down some stairs, doing the conga! and then our finishing line (our Chinese guides were waiting for us with a China Trek t-shirt and one with 'I climbed the Great Wall') Everyone found the strength and the energy to run up the steepish stair to get sprayed with Chinese "Champagne" which was actually cider!
We were all proud of ourselves and what we had just achieved.
We then went on doing group photos and charity group photos and as we had done everything, it started to rain slightly heavily. We had been lucky so far but it was as if they'd been waiting for us to finish!
We headed us to the bus which was going to take us to a Jade and a Silk factories. Again we got to see how it was done and also spend a lot of money, not too bad in pounds though!!
We, then headed back to hotel to get ready for celebration dinner and pack our bags ready for the next morning in case we intended to stay up all night!
We had Peking duck and i have to say it isn't at all what we get in UK. It was Duck breast instead of crispy duck. It was so tender that i could have eaten everything or even just that but had to share!
After dinner some people were going to have a massage done down town. I was going to go but decided not to after we got stuck in traffic for about an 1 and knowing the massage would last 1hour and half, i decided to go party with the others!
We had a very good time out and stay out nearly all night, only had an hour kip but in a way that was good as would be able to catch up on the plane!
Day 9 - Going back home!
We had a very early start which was quite hard after only an hour sleep, luckily i was not hungover that would have been worse. I didn't really hang around the breakfast buffet and didn't want to face looking at some very odd dishes!!
We said goodbye to the people staying on and went to the airport.
We were all sad having to leave and to cheer us up, we were already talking about our reunion and the kind of things we would want to do! It looks like we are going to be doing Hadrian's wall next!!
After a long journey, we finally got to London and then back to normal life!
I believe that i will cherish this trip for the rest of my life. I had such an amazing time and saw some very beautiful scenery but mainly met some great people and that is also what made the trip so special.
-THE END-
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