Walking the Great Wall!

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On Saturday 19th October I travelled to Beijing to complete a charity trek along the Great Wall of China (not the whole wall though as it is approximately 21,196km long and we only had 5 days…but I gave it a good go!). 

The walk started with three days in the countryside on the least touristy sections of the wall and it showed. There were steep inclines & declines, steps higher than our knees, broken paths (we were advised to stop if we wanted to chat aswe needed to focus that much on where we were walking) and lots of Great Wall with no sides (while we were level with the tops of the mountains/hills around us). The last two days of the trek were on the tourist sections of the wall which meant as well as navigating the challenges of the wall itself we also needed to navigate the challenges of being on a highly popular part of the wall. On these days we tackled the famous ‘heavenly ladder’ and what our guide would only refer to as ‘the summit’, yes, they were as high as they sound! Each day tested me in a new way but at the end of 5 days, I completed my last steps on the wall!

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The Stats:

ü  Total Steps - 80,683

ü  Total Distance - 45km approx. 

ü  Total Hours Walking - 25 

ü  Total Elevation - 8522ft
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It wasn’t all walk and no play though. Each day, there were activities to teach us about Chinese culture. We learnt about Chinese foods (eaten family style with a lazy Susan the size of a table), practised our chopsticks skills, learnt how to make dumplings, how to create Chinese paper cutting or rubbing artwork, and the importance of Jade in Chinese culture. I also had the chance to experience a toboggan ride down from one of the watchtowers on the wall, a rickshaw ride on the final trek day and visit an acrobat show. Once the trekking was over, I got to experience a ‘Tourist Day’ visiting the Temple of Heaven, a Traditional Tea Ceremony, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. This was followed by a celebration dinner, coach karaoke and after party antics that would rival Thrive Fest!
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Then, hometime!
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Why did I do such a thing you ask? Well, most importantly as a group we have raised over£53,000 so far for a fabulous charity in Leicestershire called LOROS who provide palliative care, day therapy, bereavement counselling and much more.The money raised will mean they can continue to support people and their families the way they supported my family and many of those in my group who went to China.

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I have now been back for 2 weeks, and it still doesn’t feel real. The whole time I was there was unbelievable, amazing and exhausting! If anyone is even tempted, I would say do it! But be prepared for at least a week of tired legs, being part of the 4am wake up club and feeling like a zombie afterwards!

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Tip: you may want to live on the Stairmaster for a least 12 months before you go, and don’t start back at work 2 days after you get home!

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Thankfully I am now (mostly) back on UK time! Time for a rest before figuring out what’s next!

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Below are a few of my many pictures that I took, and the ones that I feel real encapsulated the amazing memories from this fantastic trip! 

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