Chang Chung & Lao Tong Tai

I was the last to wake up and consequently the last to reach the foyer of the hotel. We took a taxi from Shanghaiguan through the old city until we reached the foothills upon which the Chinese built their wall 600 years ago. Now at first glance, it seemed like a nice 1-2 hours walk up the hillside along the wall, until we reached the peak. I assumed we'd then get bored and then walk back down again. I definitely wasnt prepared!

about 30 minutes into the climb, my body was straining from the effort of having to pump blood to my aching legs and dizzy head (through 6 feet of lard!). It seemed like the Great Wall had won round 1. I vowed to fight it another day. So I sat down on the side of the wall and waited with two of the girls in the group while the other 6 had their fill. About ten mins later, Oliver (Canada) scampered back down and said that there were apparently some pools up at the top of the climb which we'd be able to swim in. Now I was sweaty and hot and tired and a nice cool mountain pool sounded like just the antidote for the condition I was in! So I laboured on, up the wall until we got to the top of the hill we were on. Now let's pause to recall that nursery rhyme from school - "The bear went up the mountain, the bear went up the mountain, the bear went up the mountain and then what did he see?" In that little ditty, the bear saw another mountain and having nothing better to do (and in our case, still no pools in sight!), "He climbed the other mountain, he climbed the other mountain, he climbed the other mountain....." And what I thought was going to be a quiet two hour hike wound up grinding on for nearly twice that time!

BUT! It was BLOODY WORTH IT! Anyone who's stood up on the great wall and gazed around them for miles upon miles of country side will tell you that single most rewarding experience is that last step before your breath gets taken away from you by sheer force from watching some of the most beautiful countrysides in the world from atop one of the most awe-inspiring man made wonders still around today. The reaction is pure adrenaline! TRY IT!

We then made our way down the hill on a 30-min cable care ride, 2 to a car. I sat with Sybil (Sui) who had spent the last ten years making her way around South East Asia, Europe & North America until finding some time to settle in China to learn Mandarin. The ride was so quiet, we could hear what was being said in the cars 30 meters behind us! At the end of a really interesting conversation, we boarded a bus shaped like a toy train that took us to a natural cave formation. Following a short hike through the caves, we called for taxis to take us to the Old Dragon's Head.

It was over here where our journey would end. We'd climbed for 4 long hours along a 4 kilometer stretch of the Great Wall. We'd scaled about 1500 meters of vertical height and had hiked for another 2 hours across diverse terrain to get to this one spot - where the wall met the ocean. The best part about it was that the adventure wasn't over yet! We managed to find a local guide who said that he would make the experience different for us. He delivered on his promise. Ten minutes later we found ourselves screaming at the top of our lungs, bouncing all over the place, strapped into life vests and being driven across the open sea in a motor boat! Our "guide", who knew a trick or two with the powerful motor in the back decided that a several sharp swerves over the rolling waves were just what these Lowai needed to give them their money's worth. He did however pull us to a stop just meters from where one of the greatest architectural marvels of the world ended quietly in the sea.

Our boat sat bobbing on the waves for several quiet minutes as we tried to take in everything that had happened to us over the last 48 hours. We'd swam in the Pacific ocean and sunbathed along a quiet beach for a whole afternoon. We then drove for about an hour to the next town where a star-spangled night on the beach was followed up with some boisterous KTV. A long, painful but spell-binding hike up the Great Wall preceeded a peaceful almost cathartic ride down a cable car and several hours after that, we had arrived at the place where it all supposedly began - at the edge of the Pacific Ocean in a small motor boat. 9 travellers from 9 countries who had bonded over the last two days over our common love for discovering.

I hope that Adam, Sybil, Fahti, Fadis, Hannah, Oliver, Ralph & Sheila find what they are looking for. Some of them I may meet again, but for some I might never have the pleasure of sharing another fascinating story with, but I know that it is with them that I began my journey in faraway China - and for all the years to come, I will know that It is with them that I learned that a real reward will always be in the journey and not the destination.