the wall

the great wall is indeed HUGE and inspiring!!

 

we hiked for 5 hours along the great wall with a guide a few days ago... very hot but really amazing scenery and history and engineering. :) our guide was called "dragon". it was a welcome relief to find a farmer selling ice-creams and cold beer in a rather remote section of our trek. and our group was so happy to get to the guest house and a warm shower. (although the beds were little more than hard plywood covered in a doona.)

 

back to beijing to do some shopping, then jumped on the overnight train to xi'an (she-uhn) for the 11 hour trip. 6 people to a birth (2 x tripple bunks) with not enough vertical room even to sit up. it was fun though, and we got a few hours sleep.