It's Nothing But Steps For Youngcare Team China!

We awoke today to discover that we were quite lucky. A layer of genuine cloud had meandered over, keeping the temperature under 30 degrees! Considering how many steps we were about to take on, this shift in weather was very welcomed.

After another "brilliant" Chinese breakfast it was off up the hill to rejoin the wall exactly where we had left it. 11 kilometers and 21 towers later, we headed down once more deep into the valley floor, where we found our bus, our driver Mr. Lee, real coffee, and the most pristine bathrooms in China that I have ever seen waiting for us.

 

Of course, this wasn't before heaps of laughter, sweat, and some extremely steep inclines. Roughly half way through our walk we came to the second steepest section of the entire wall. It consists of 102 steps set into the hillside at an eighty degree angle. There are points where you very nearly feel like you are walking upside down.

 

I set the challenge at completing all 102 with no stopping and nearly everyone took me on. By the end Bron was wincing courtesy of burning calve muscles but she made it and the prize was well worth it: 360 degree unobstructed views of one of the most dramatic sections of the entire Great Wall. You feel as if you are standing on top of the world.

 

The day wasn't without a fair bit of humour, which one would expect from this bunch of troublemakers and hoodlums. A gaggle of very enterprising Inner Mongolian women spent most of the day with us, using the cunning tool of guilt to invoke a significant number of purchases. They also made some brilliant assumptions about the inner workings and relationships of our team. On that note, may I present Father Kevin, Mother Sherrin, and Son Glenn to you. Ladies and gentleman, the 2012 Youngcare Inspired Adventures China family! A brilliant site.

 

It is onward to Mutianyu section, where we will get a good nights sleep before embarking on what is probably the most difficult and longest trek of the adventure. We can do it!

 

One final note: we would like to send a special shout out to Deborah's Mum, who is our most ardent and committed supporter across every social medium - FB, Twitter, you name it! We love you, appreciate you, and thank you! Even Deb.

 

GO TEAM!