Hello!

Hello, from on The Great Wall of China!!

It's 1:31pm and we are just about to exit the wall and head down for lunch! Our legs are like jelly but it's been incredible! Write more later :)

Good evening... it's now 8:04pm and Tara and I are sat in our very own little Courtyard on a garden swing, there is no place I'd rather be :) What a day we have had!

At 6:30am my alarm for school went off as I had forgotten to turn it off, I quickly turned it off and nodded for another hour before we had our breakfast and walked around the corner to the Beijing Backpackers Hostel to join our tour for the day. The skies were clear and bright blue and the wall was most definitely open after 3 days of being closed because of heavy rains!
We took a coach for 1 and a half hours to the wall during which we both nodded back off to sleep on. On arrival to the Mutianyu section of the wall we first went into a tourist centre to get our tickets before getting back on the bus up to the bottom of a huge mountain. From the bottom we could see the wall stretching across the ridge as far as we could see, it was amazing! We decided to take the cable car up to the wall which in itself was a great experience. When you live in a desert a view of lush green mountains is spectacular!
On arrival at the top it was a short walk to the wall itself which we entered together enjoying a very special moment! It was incredible to be standing on a Wonder of the World hand in hand!

We turned left and walked along the approx 4m wide path on top of the wall. Occasionally we would reach a look out tower and enjoy a few moments out of the sun! It was very hot on the wall but the breeze was lovely when you got to an exposed spot! We took many photos ranging from scenic ones to selfies and almost everything in between! Of course we took a compulsory jumping photo!

After around an hour we reached tower number 19 having started at tower 14. This was the last tower before a very steep incline which Tara was determined to get the to top of! She set off counting each and every step (459 by the way!) and Tom followed steadily behind! You could certainly tell who goes to the gym 4 times a week! The view from the top was brilliant! We were able to look back over all of the wall we had walked along and again took in the beautiful view and took photos. Tom bought a magnet and revived from the steps which had nearly killed him!
After around 10 mins we started to descend which in all honesty was a lot tougher than going up! Our legs were like jelly and every step was a wobbly one! It wasn't long until we had reached Tower 14 and exited the wall. What an experience, what an honour and what a day!
We enjoyed a Mango ice lolly and a coke before getting the cable car down and having lunch in Mr Yang's.
After a 2 hour journey back to the city, during which we both were fast asleep, we returned to our Courtyard to relax and freshen up.
Tonight we returned to the hostel to have dinner in Wiggly Jiggly and both enjoyed a Traditional Chinese Burger, basically Burger and Chips! It was a well earned meal and a bit of normality after 2 days of immersing ourselves in Chinese culture. After our meal we wandered back through the small alleyways of the Hutong and down 'Snack Street'. Here we tucked into a paper cone of ice cream with raspberry sauce on top and 5 waffle churros! It was the perfect end to a perfect day!
Now we have just finished packing up and we are ready to move on to Xi'an tomorrow. We have to be up early to catch an 8:05am Bullet Train!

Anyway, it's time for Love Island now!

Goodnight from Beijing.

T&T x