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Great Wall of China trek day 5

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The final day of trekking we went to do a short warm down walk along the popular Juyongguan section. A loop defending a passage way through the mountains to Beijing. It was very busy here, mainly with school kids on a trip. Exhausted from the 4 days prior, we still found this short trek very difficult walking up and down the steep steps. On the way we stopped by another section out in the middle of nowhere to lay a brick on a part of the wall which is currently being restored. Distance trekked: 3km Max altitude: 480m Time: 3 hours Thus concludes our Great Wall of China trek! We are very proud of what we achieved. It has been very hard but well worth it.

Great Wall of China trek day 4

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day 4: Mutianya and the Heavenly Ladder We started the day with a 1000+ steps ascending the side of the wall. From there we covered 11 watchtowers and many many more step till we reached “the heavenly ladder”; a steep (45 degree) ancient stair case with 460 steps. It was another hot day and this climb was incredibly hard, filling our minds with thoughts of quitting not even halfway up! But we persevered and made it to the top of the ladder and it was well worth it. The heavenly ladder is a famous and challenging section with amazing views from the top. We then had to descend the ladder and walk back another 20 watchtowers to reach the toboggan that would slide us back to the bottom of the mountain. Distance trekked: 7km Max altitude: 780m Time: 6 hours

Great Wall of China trek day 3

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We started the day early at the grandiose entrance, in front of a mural showing the history of this part of the wall. This section covers more of the Jinshanling mountain range we touched upon yesterday. The sky was blue for the first time as the wind had blown the smog away, making the views even more striking and impressive. But without the cover of the smog it got really hot! A lot of steep steps and even steeper slopes, which really put our stamina and will power to the test. This section is very well maintained despite being very old; constructed during the Ming dynasty like most of the original parts. This might have been our favourite day so far. Maybe. Distance trekked: 7.5km Max altitude: 610m Time: 5-6 hours