After our rappelling experience we finally set out on our hike towards the Great Wall. We were all pretty excited since we had heard from the other group that the view was amazing!
Alec, Morgan, Steve & James
For the first part of the hike we had to climb up some VERY VERY steep steps! The stairs felt almost completely vertical, I was very afraid of falling backwards. It was very exhausting but completely worth it once we got to the top. I still can’t fathom how they built this! Our guide told us the Great Wall was built by successive dynasties over a period of more than 2000 years and that the number of deaths is not known with certainty but I can only imagine the thousands of workers that must have died in the process.
The steps were all irregular in height. Some were HUGE while others were tiny, they ranged maybe a foot and a half to 3 inches tall.
For the next part of the hike there were no stairs. Believe it or not we went through all that path covered in trees to the guard tower you can see at the other mountain in the picture. This trail was more difficult than the stairs. Some parts were uphill while others were downhill there was never any flat surface and the ground was just gravel or broken steps so it was easy to slip down. We had to be really careful, otherwise we would end up sliding. Our guide kept encouraging us saying, “加油！(Jia You!)” which is kind of like saying Come on! or You can do it! although the literal translation is to add oil. He told us that anyone who climbed the Great Wall was considered a real man.
Group picture! Steve, Cathy, Alec, Liu Xin Lu, James, Morgan, Jonathan, Ahsan and me.
Daniel, Steve, James, Alexander, Harris, Jonathan & me
We returned to the farm village were we had started our journey the first day feeling very accomplished and ate a delicious meal prepared by the locals. Everything that was put before us had been grown or raised in the village.
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