The great wall is greater than great.

I climbed the Great Wall of China two days ago. Without doubt the scariest and most dangerous climb I have ever done in my life. Yet, it was simultaneously exhilarating and beautiful. The hike was over 15k, and we had to climb up the mountain first. At parts we were on our hands and knees crawling up, at some points I really wanted to turn back. I think at one point I nearly shed a tear when the wind caught hold of me and a wasn't fully secure.....hmmm YES. The ice and snow made it more dangerous- and as we went on the hard tour "Jinshanling to Sumatai"- the majority of the wall has not been restored. The bricks were loose, and at parts we were climbing almost vertical faces of stone. One foot wrong and you'd fall. People were slipping and sliding, it was such an adventure to keep yourself upright. The wind made it really hard for me...So I chose to descend the several ups and downs on my bum. If I am completely honest, it scared the shit out of me.

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT. Now that it is over I say this with confidence...

We had to get up a 5.30am as this particular part of the wall is a 3 hour drive out. The early hour resulted in me being a grumpy bugger, but I was soon sleeping on the bus [some might say "snoring loudly".] As it is the middle of winter and freezing cold, there were only a handful of us on the tour. The group ranged from men in their mid-thirties who looked "ready for action" kitted out in full hiking gear...and me wearing Topshop boots with no grip and a fluffy purple hat. I was by no means prepared for the climb which faced me...and when I realised this I was halfway up a mountain sweating profusely [despite the -15 temperature.]

The scenery when we arrived was so stunning and the mountains were breathtaking. We picked a fantastic day, as it was clear and sunny [but freezing.] Okay, the climb itself was scary and dangerous but I did love it [the easier bits anyway- when I wasn't crawling.] We did the Jinshangling-Sumatai hike which is the hard, physically taxing one. We were so high up and there were parts without wall to hold onto and it was so narrow you could fall and pretty much die. Even grown men were scared. There were no other tourists apart from us- given the temperature and the fact the wall was covered in ice. Oh, and the tour guide buggered off so we lead ourselves. The clear day and the snow made the surrounding mountains look even more beautiful... I could just stand and appreciate it when I wasn't too scared and looking at the ground for several minutes for footholds in the ice.

I want to be honest, it was HARD. I am not that unfit, but dear God I felt like a looser being at the back of the group panting and blowing my nose. Jess on the other hand was about a mile ahead of me LEADING the group. I don't know how she did it! Sometimes the steps were so high, inhumanly so- at parts I was spending 10 minutes just catching my breath and drinking my water [which froze solid during the hike.]

...only about 4 of us did the zip-wire at the end of the trek as the death-defying leap was so high up and windy. I LOVED it... A zip-wire to end my climb on the Great Wall?
Yes PER-LEASE.
After paying 3 pounds, a small Chinese lady harnesses you in. [I do not know how she stands on that freezing mountain all day long waiting for idiotic foreigners to throw themselves off it?!] The whole contraption looked a bit ancient and rusty...so I was pretty afraid. The wire was from a high point of the wall, over a frozen lake to the other side where another Chinese lady kind-of "catches" you. As I was apparently too light, she shouted to me [above the howling wind] in Chinese, that I had to do a tandem as it wouldn't go fast enough with just my weight. OH.GOD.
So a huge, fat Australian man volunteered. So we were harnessed in together and then.... we just kind of jumped off the edge of the mountain top...

It was one of the best moments of my life. We shooted down the wire. It was utterly fantastic. Unbelievable.

Overall the experience was the Greatest I have had in China so far. The Great Wall is truely Great. I am proud of myself for sticking it out, as my fear of heights was pushed to its limit. I would advise anyone to do it, as long as they know what they're in for in Winter! I think Summer would have been worse in many ways actually... I am leaving to fly to Tokyo tomorrow so I will save my other adventures in Beijing for another blog entry.

Love to all of you as always! Love hiking wonder-woman Bex xxxx