I am startled out of bed by my alarm, which goes off at 5am, I groan as I realise I have to get all my passengers to Beijing central railway and onto the train. I get up and pack the rest of my stuff and head down to the reception, to my relief the transfer bus, driver and some of the passengers are already waiting for me. I get the driver to open the mini bus and start getting the bags loaded. Everyone is on time and we get away at 6:30am on the button. ...

Early start again this morning, back to the Great Wall of China for the second time this week. Albiet, with a much nicer group of people. The May day festival is on this week so consequentially, we got stuck in four hours worth of traffic on the way to the wall and then another four hours on the way back and had to walk nearly the whole way to the wall, because lots of locals were visiting for the day. I decided not to go up as I had one lady who couldn't do...

Early start again this morning, back to the Great Wall of China for the second time this week. Albiet, with a much nicer group of people. The May day festival is on this week so consequentially, we got stuck in four hours worth of traffic on the way to the wall and then another four hours on the way back and had to walk nearly the whole way to the wall, because lots of locals were visiting for the day. I decided not to go up as I had one lady who couldn't do...

A day off! Amazing. What did I do first after my massive sleep in? Went downstairs to make sure the three old men, one of whom was old cantankerous, got their transfer ok. Their St Petersburg transfer had failed to collect them from the airport, making them a hostile crowd before they even met me. This, wasn't really for their benefit, it was for mine….I wanted to make sure the cantankerous old b****** actually left the hotel. Luckily, for me the transf...

Up at 5am this morning for the Great Wall of China and the last day of this tour from hell. Yay to last day, boo to spending another sixteen hours with this bunch of prats. I manage to get everyone out on time and then it is up to the guide to do the rest for the day. It takes us the usual two and a half hours to get out to the Great Wall and I hang back with two of the older clients, who are about the only two decent people on the trip. When I have escorte...