So day 2 of the trip started a number of times, because I woke up a bunch of times because someone was cutting wood with a very blunt chain saw right next to me. He was trying to camouflage it as sleeping but I could tell.
It was chilly in the night but wearing all my clothes (jacket included) and doing up the bag the way they do in on Arctic expeditions, I managed to get through the night reasonably comfortably.
We woke as the sun was starting to come up, about 5:45 I think (that's me on the end, trying to turn the stone floor into my mattress at home)
It was so still and calm, a really nice time to be on the wall. It was also totally freezing as the sun hadn't made it over the hills yet and as we were on the lowest tower, we were also the last to get the sunshine.
Our breakfast was coming at 6:30 so we pretty much just slowly got moving and tried to keep warm. As soon as the sun hit the tower though, it started to warm up a bit and it was fantastic.
A large number of the other campers had gotten up at 3am to head up to the ridge to photograph the sunrise. They're the tiny things on the hill!
We were heading that way anyway though, so after breakfast we kitted up and headed off, leaving our guard tower behind
We were actually walking part of the wall that we'd walked the day before so it took us a little while to get to a part we hadn't visited. Ever get that feeling you're not really getting anywhere? Definitely had that!
That last photo was from on the ridge where the people were for the sunrise. It took a bit of climbing to get there though!
It also wasn't long before we left the carefully restored part of the wall and were back onto the "original".
Also things got a fair bit steeper today, in both the up and down directions
It wasn't long before we were saying "just one more hill, just one more hill" but there was always more than just one more :)
Until finally, (really finally, I don't think I could have walked another step!) there were no more hills and we'd reached the start of the Simatai section.
Incidentally, in that photo, way in the background you can see the valley where we started the trip, just before the wall goes up into the hills.
So Simatai is closed at the moment, and all you will hear from most people is that it's closed and they're not sure of the reason. It turns out that the Simatai section, one of the best preserved and most spectacular parts of the Great Wall, has been sold to a travel company. Not coincidentally, the CEO of the travel company is the wife of the mayor of Beijing and both are high up in the Party. The Simitai section of the wall has been closed for a few months now and will be closed for a few more while it is being "improved" (in the words of our guide) and is being turned into a hot springs resort/hotel/restaurant complex. Having just walked part of this amazing place, I just find it completely bizarre that anyone would sell such an important part of their culture and heritage to make a restaurant. Still, it's clear that the government here has different ideas on preservation than I do.
Anyway, we had reached the end of our journey on the wall, but we weren't home free yet. We still had a 40 minute hike back to the car park (almost all of it down stairs :) before we could have a rest. Also the hills here seem to be infested with giant bee/hornet things which were somewhat disturbing in their giantness and also their willingness to swoop people. The magpie of China I guess, only with a stinger.
Once we got back to the bus, we all piled in and headed back to Beijing. Once again it was a 2 hour drive and I think we all (guide included) fell asleep for most of it. Since Simatai is closed, they had to fill in the extra part of what would have been more hiking with something else, so we stopped off at the Olympic Park to look at the birds nest stadium and the water cube. To be honest, none of us really wanted to get out and walk around any more but we slowly and painfully walked form one side of the park to the other, past the main attractions.
Incidentally, if you're going to call it the water cube, it should really be a cube!
Once we'd made it back to the bus we found a restaurant (the first had a long wait so another one was found for us) and had a huge meal. After that, back home for a well earned rest!
The trip was an incredible one. Seeing the wall this way, being able to hike parts that most people don't get to see, and being able to see the progression between the ruined wall to the repaired and then back to the ruins, really was a special experience for me. I definitely want to come back and do the trip again (maybe I'll bring some more clothes next time) and I highly recommend it to everyone who can get here and do it.
As they say over here "I'm well jeal'"
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