Excursions!

Hey guys! So, remember how I said that we had big plans for yesterday? Those... ended up not happening. Instead, yesterday was a day of rest, during which I curled up in bed with a book and a movie. And to be honest, that's quite a good thing, cause you know what we did today?

We climbed the Great Wall of China.


Which, let me tell you, is some HARD. WORK. I think it's mostly the fact that we went to a less touristy area, but at some points you had to clamber hand-over-hand up ridiculously steep steps that were a few degrees away from being a wall. And that's only when there were steps left to climb... it was hard work, but man, was it worth it.

We headed out by bus, then from a town hired a guy to take us the last leg of the journey in a van with no suspension and seats that were not bolted to the floor. On top of this, the guy drove like a madman, flipping lanes and going into incoming traffic to pass bikes, cars, trucks, anything. We were laughing hysterically, and half-convinced that we were never going to survive the hour-long trip.

But survive we did, and one cable-car later, we were on the wall itself.


The views were incredible. The weather was perfect. And we had the whole damn thing to ourselves (except for a few local guides who helped us along and showed us a shortcut or two).

And the best part? At the end of it, after hiking for a good few hours, we stepped off the wall and took a zipline to the other end of the valley, where we took a nice leisurely boat ride to the car park.

Then it was back to Beijing, via another hair-raising local ride and a more comfortable bus trip.

You guys, I'm too tired to say much else. It was incredible, and I'm so damn glad I was finally able to do this. There are more pictures, so if you wants a look, lemme know. I'll get them up on Facebook eventually.

For now, though? Sleeeeeep.

ETA: Ladies and gentlemen, your moment of Zen: