Read the first part here

Day 5.

Today was raining, and it rained a lot! We drove to a small town called Gubeiko. Here we started our hike for the day, walked through villages and farms, stopping for warming coffee in another farmers house. We walked back up to the Wall, this section hasn’t been restored but is not fallen down as much as the previous days.

We hiked for 9 miles (7 hours) alongside and on top of the Wall. If it wasn’t so wet and raining I bet the views on top of the hills were amazing. It was an incredible day hiking, stopping to take loads of pictures and also having your picture taken! Whenever we saw a group of tourists (usually Chinese) they kept taking our pictures, it was like we were famous.

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We sheltered from the rain in the watchtowers that were dotted along the wall.

Once we reached the part of the Wall at Jinshanlin, we left the Wall and hiked down to the hotel. Stopping on the way in a small cafe to have western food. I had a cheesecake and a hot chocolate! It tasted so good, whether it was because it was our first bit of non Chinese food in 5 days (we had all been dreaming of eating something different from rice, bread and eggs) or because we were so tired and soaking wet.

Day 6.

This morning we woke to bright sunshine and blue skies, and what a day to have good weather. The scenery on this part of the restored wall is spectacular. So hiking back up to the wall we headed in the opposite direction from the day before and what a sight before us….

The Wall snaking along the tops of the hills for as far as you can see. Often referred to as scales on a dragons back and you can see why. Watchtowers are dotted along the wall, the views were breathtaking, such a sight to see.

The hike this day was 5.5 miles about 7 hours. Not sure if it took a long time because of the steep sections or because we kept stopping to admire the wonderful scenery.
Night sleep was in the town of Mutianu.

Day 7.

Next morning we got dropped off at the bottom of the mountain, and we had to hike up towards the Great Wall. This hike ascended us 2000 ft and it took us 3 hours to hike before we even got to the wall! It was such a humid day and this part was so hard. Everyone was struggling but we helped each other out with supplying water or sweets to those that needed a boost, and also emotional encouragement.

After a lunch stop at the wall, we headed along the restored Wall for about another hour. Here we met more and more tourists, which was a change from us having the Wall to ourselves. The distance was about 7 miles in total today.

Once at the end of out Wall section and in the midst of tourists, (cable cars bring them up to the wall)

There was a choice of ways to get down. A chairlift, walking or toboggan ride! Me and a friend chose the chair lift, while the more adventurous took the toboggan run down.

At the bottom was a selection of food chain places, so some had pizza, some had a Subway, I just had a packet of crisps and a diet coke. After 7 days of only drinking either jasmine tea, water or beer (nothing else was available) and living off of local food, it tasted amazing.
Drive back to the same hotel at Mutianu.

Day 8.

Morning consisted of a drive to Badaling, which is the most visited area of the Great Wall.

Again the weather was misty and raining, but still beautiful.

This was a busy part of the wall, probably busier if it was a nicer day. The restored steps were very steep in places. It was the shortest day only 2 hours walk and also our last. The team leaders were waiting for us at the end with plastic cups of sparkling wine. It was really emotional at this part, as the majority of us had been raising money for charities close to our hearts. We just let it sink in of what we had accomplished over the last week.
Someone suggested we should individually run up the last section of steps, while cheering each other on.

Sadly we left this wonderful place and drove back to Beijing. On returning back to Beijing we all got booked in to have foot massages, which was definitely needed. The evening ended with us having a celebration meal, we ate well and talked about our incredible journey.

Day 9.

Today was just a relaxing day, so we went to a silk factory. visited Tiananmen square and the forbidden city. Haggled at a market selling all sorts of clothing and accessories. In the evening we saw a traditional Chinese Acrobat show before packing and getting to bed early for a 3:30am pick up to go home.
This was a once in a lifetime experience, very hard and emotional but I made some good friends out of it and I would do it all over again.