GREAT WALL OF CHINA TREK

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

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

Day two: Gubeikou, Taochunkou, Jinshanling Today we trekked for 7 hours, covering 27 watchtowers, dirt paths, hundreds of steps and even a bit of forest! Today was a lot harder in terms of terrain and length of the trek. We got to see some of the original parts of the wall, some still in relatively good condition- other parts collapsed and eroded. There were pretty much no other people on this trail apart from a group of training army cadets. The views from this section were even more impressive despite the hanging smog. Halfway in we had to avoid a military controlled zone and detour into the woods at the bottom of the mountains, only to rejoin the wall to finish the days trek. Substance trekked: 13km Max altitude: 430m Time: 7-8 hours