Trekking ‘The Great Wall of China’ – our #5chicksdochina journey in photos
Trekking ‘The Great Wall of China’ was never on my radar, it wasn’t anywhere near the top of my bucket list. But when I got two emails (within a week of each other) encouraging me to walk or run ‘The Great Wall of China’, it was an omen!
My good friend Kelly has MS and the second email I received was about the MS 10 day fundraising trek. So there it was. It had to be. We would trek (or having now done it I would say climb) ‘The Great Wall of China’!
MS Australia organised the trip with Soulful Concepts as the tour management company. Soulful Concepts is a responsible travel company with aligned values to my own. They offer travel experiences that give back to local communities.
DAY 1 on ‘The Great Wall of China’
Our first sight of the wall was at Taipingzhai Gate. As we drove in and looked up we snatched a glimpse at the wonder that is ‘The Great Wall of China’. What an incredible feeling. We’d been waiting to start our adventure for 12 months and it was finally happening.
Once upon ‘The Great Wall of China’ the views were mesmerising. Surrounded by huge mountains, unfortunately, the air quality wasn’t great. At first, I couldn’t work out if it was low hanging cloud or pollution. Our guide told us it was a bit of both and once the wind got up we would have better visibility.
- This is part of the wall that hosts the marathon. It was about right now I was thanking myself for signing up for the trek rather than a run! Oh WOW! I had no idea there would be this many steps – steps, steps and more steps.
It was surprising at how we had the wall to ourselves. We didn’t bump into anyone apart from these locals who were packing up after a day selling tourist wares. Michael, our local tour guide from Diverse China had done a great job at showing us the real ‘Great Wall’!
After only a couple of hours, we started to underestimate the challenge we had taken on!
The toughest part for me today was the downhill. After following the Great Wall for 2.5 hours we caught glimpses of civilisation but it was a long way down! The stairs down were relentless. I’d trained walking and running up steps but it hadn’t even entered my head to train going down! By the end, my legs felt like jelly and my knees were trembling!
We spent the first evening of our trek at Huangya Mount Villa Hotel. Once a former army barracks the basic but clean rooms are off a gorgeous courtyard. The next morning our breath was taken away when we opened the curtains to an incredible view of ‘The Great Wall of China’.
DAY 2 on ‘The Great Wall of China’
Day 2 was walking on what we named the wild wall and one of the easiest (for me) but longest trek days. The steps from yesterday gave way to dirt track and uneven ground.
The wall here is not restored so there was the odd challenging part!
We trekked between the famous “Crouching Tiger’ and “Hidden Dragon” mountains. The views were breathtaking and once again we didn’t see another human! As promised by Michael our guide, as the wind got up the air quality got better and blue skies emerged.
Gubeikou was the most invasion-prone section of the wall during the Ming Dynasty. This part of the wall was my favourite out of the 5 days, it’s so wild and beautiful. Not the picture postcard vision of the ‘The Great Wall of China’ you have from media but a more genuine feel to it. The enormity of the landscape makes you feel like a dot on the surface of the world!
It was a long day but Ye Shufang Homestay in Dongguan Village sure came up with the goods, cold beer, comfortable rooms, a gorgeous rooftop terrace and such welcoming, warm hospitality.
DAY 3 on ‘The Great Wall of China’
We woke up to the sound of Chinese Drums as they were practising for an Autumn carnival. After a stroll around the village and 5 minutes watching the drum practice, we were off to trek ‘The Great Wall of China’. Day 3 was upon us!
We started today at what felt like a more popular part of the wall. The initial climb to the wall was through a new and well designed landscaped area. Jinshanling Great Wall is 130km away from Beijing and built in 1567.
Mighty mountains either side of the wall give the most immense feeling of space. ‘The Great Wall of China’ stretches into the distance for miles, only interrupted by watchtowers.
With the aid of a beautiful breeze, the air started to clear and the views were spectacular.
The sight of the ‘The Great Wall of China’ is spectacular – this is what we had dreamt of for 12 months. The feeling of expanse and freedom on top of that wall was indescribable.
Once again I felt I was the tiniest dot on the earth surface and knew I was stood on one of the wonders of the world!
Day 3 and the steps were back! After being lulled into a false sense of security we were suddenly slammed. With not only steps up and down but sheer hills – the only way to conquer these were on our tippy toes!
This was the hardest day of our trek (for me). The relentless steps, the unevenness and those inclined hills were tough! Today we climbed a steep section of the wall known as Sky Ladder.
The Eastern Five-window Tower was our finish line for the day. Once we set eyes on it there was an injection of motivation and a goal! A hard day but oh wow the views, sights, impressive landscape and the feeling of enormity were worth it.
After a tough day trekking, we looked for a bar to provide the refreshments required! A lesson we were about to learn was that vodka measures are HUGE in China and bars are not easy to find!!!!
DAY 4 on ‘The Great Wall of China’
Easing our way into Day 4 we took the chairlift up to the wall and got a glimpse at our transport down – The Luge! The wind was up and the sun was out which meant blue skies and clear visibility.
Today was the day when the year of training would pay off. The 1000 steps of Mutianyu Great Wall.
In went the earphones and on went the determination – 1000 steps later and the views were incredible.
And then we had to get down!
As we trekked back it was clear enough to see Beijing in the distance.
A hard day, a fun exit from ‘The Great Wall of China’ and the most expensive beer ever!
After all those steps a blow out was required… I mean, who goes to China and doesn’t go to Karaoke?! Plus it was Kelli’s birthday so we had to go out and celebrate!
DAY 5 on ‘The Great Wall of China’
The great thing about our tour was that we got to experience three distinct areas. The very wild wall with rugged and bush like terrain and where we bumped into no other human. The more picture postcard style restored wall with more people around. As well as the very touristy area which was on today’s agenda.
Juyongguan Great Wall is a loop across the Badaling highway and only 1.5 hours from central Beijing. We started with a decent down, eastwards to cross the river but as always there were then stairs! As steep and tough as ever!
At the top were great views back across to the more crowded western part of the wall. We could also see the Badaling railway, which was the first railway built in China.
Once we reached today’s summit….. we were DONE!!!! Our mission accomplished. 5 days trekking ‘The Great Wall of China’. $120k raised for MS Australia. Personal goals kicked. Physical goals smashed.
4 of our 16 fellow trekkers have MS. What inspirational women they are. Watching them together flying the flag at the end was something very very special.
