The Great Wall’ker

I wish you all a very happy Rabbit New Year. According to tradition, one should make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise. That sounds perfect to me now that the walk along the Great Wall is finished. The new computer is set up, but as always there are quite a few problems to sort out. At least now all the pictures are in the same place, and I have started working on the presentation which is a lot of fun.

There are more videos and more information to come here. Sorry for the delay. I need to wrap up a few more media issues before diving in to all the videos and presenting the best ones. Now that the walk is over, I also plan to do some changes on these pages so that the information is easier to find.

Again - a Happy New Year, and may we all stick to a peaceful lifestyle this year!!

After having sorted out a lot of practical matters, I now have a very nice place to live (Many thanks Øystein!) and a monster computer that I will be using for writing the book and creating a presentation about the walk. Can’t wait to get started. As I re-discover pictures I have taken, I want to start writing more here, particularly more about the equipment I have been using. Also some advice to others that are considering or already planning on walking the Great Wall.

If you happen to live in Norway, tune in to the radio program Nitimen Saturday morning for an update on how things are going.

Det kommer et innslag på radio i Nitimen lørdag morgen, om turen, og hvordan det har vært å komme tilbake til Norge.

I have done this walk to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Because of technical difficulties, we have not been able to invite you to make a donation before now.

If you have enjoyed following me on my lonesome walk along the entire Great Wall of China, please help me raise money for Cancer Research by clicking this link. The donation is in US Dollars $, the payment system is 100% secure, and you will receive a confirmation mail once the donation is made.

From the Dana-Farber website: Your support will help fund innovative cancer research programs here at Dana-Farber and bring us closer to finding effective treatments and cures for cancer. In other words, supporting this cause will potentially help people everywhere as the results of research programs are shared internationally.

Now that the dust has settled after the New Year celebrations and people are going back to work, I am also getting ready for the next and probably final chapter of my adventure. In the coming weeks and months, I will be writing a book and creating a presentation about my walk along the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

On the more immediate level, I’m concerned with finding a place to live in Oslo and buying a new computer that can churn through all the thousands of pictures I have taken over the last 20 months. Once that is in place, the book and presentation will become my passion and work in progress!

The story about this walk has reached further than I had ever thought. People seem to get very excited when they hear the story, and how I made the decision to follow a more than 20 year old dream.

The following were published, around and just after the end of the walk: One page article in China Daily, a long article in China Radio International, a radio interview taken the same day I came to Beijing only two days after the walk was finished (Click the Listen button under the picture) . In Norway, there was an article in VG, and several radio interviews. In the UK, this article was published.

In addition, the story has picked up interest in Spain, France, Romania, Vietnam, Russia, Afganistan, Japan and a lot in China of course.

I wish you all the very best for 2011!!! Keep checking by this site - I’m not finished yet   

Since I got back from China I have noticed two things. Time flies, and I have had to use some time to get acquainted with life in Norway.

Bjørn Sindre and Julie busy cutting a Great Wall section

A week ago, I visited some good friends to the south of Oslo, and we spent an afternoon on a typical Norwegian Christmas activity: baking ginger bread.

Keeping in tradition with what I had spent the last 20 months doing, we managed to create a Great Wall ginger bread house, fully equipped with a ginger bread soldier standing guard, and small jelly men (or were they women?) trying to get over the wall.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and hope you will check back in the new year for more pictures, videos and some posts I have yet to write.

Busy at work, all be it less strenuous than walking.

Julie decorating the walls

Putting the sections together.

Julie showing off the Great Wall ginger bread end product. Notice the soldier standing guard in front. He would probably be better off on the top of the Great Wall.

I’ve been back in Oslo for two weeks already. It is starting to sink in that I am not walking the Great Wall of China anymore. It is definitely going to take some time to get used to life here, as is the transition from solitude to a social life. I’ll write more about that later.

When I was walking the Great Wall, starting the day was simple. Eat and drink in the tent. Pack everything, check I haven’t forgotten anything, and start walking.

Yesterday I borrowed my parents car to go to the dentist. Everything I did felt new to me. Find the keys to the house, find the keys to the car. I went out and realized I had forgotten the keys to the garage. Then I remembered I needed coins for the parking meter in town. As I sat in the car, I remembered I should get my drivers licence from the pouch I have been carrying along the entire Great Wall. Oh yes - and don’t forget to turn on the alarm. Sometimes life is simpler in a tent…

I have been dormant for a little while now, but want to let you know that I intend to keep on writing here. There are more pictures, videos and stories from the Great Wall to come.

Walking the Great Wall of China would have been near to impossible if it had not been for all the help I received along the way from Chinese people. I know that in years to come when I look back on the experience, it will be the kind and helpful people I will remember the most. Being alone for such a long time is a tough experience, so to meet charitable people now and again makes it easier.

Picture taken on the evening of the day I finished my journey along the entire Ming Dynasty Great Wall. I was so grateful for the hospitality shown by the management of Zhonglian hotel!

I do not know the names of most of the people who helped me. The bus drivers that bought me a warm meal during the freezing winter of 2009, the people that many times let me into their homes at the warmest time of the day during the summer of 2009, perhaps asking if I wanted some watermelon before the heat resided and I walked on. People that went out of their way to help me find the right bus, or bus station when I was going from one place to another. The shepherds along the Great Wall that I used to stop and talk to.  Many days they would be the only people I met. All the shop owners who gave me hot water for my instant noodles and let me sit down in their shop for a little rest before walking on. Those that after hearing what I was doing would give me a meal for free. All those with a big smile who let me take pictures of them. The people that shared their Kang (warmed up bed) with me - I can’t count how many times I have been let into Chinese homes to spend the night there. The list is long!

Thanks again to my brother Jon and Kelly who are not Chinese, but have lived there for years, who helped me ease into a very different culture.

Thanks to Shelly of Jiayuguan, who my brother and I had contact with for a long time after the beginning of the walk, for helping us with practical matters.

Thanks to Sue who lives in Denmark but comes from Liaoning - the last Province I walked through - for helping me with the Chinese blog she has been running while I have been walking. Thanks for the help underway and for helping me communicate with all the Chinese that have been interested in the walk. When I return to China, I look forward to inviting friends in China for a walk along the Great Wall!

Many thanks to Helen who lives in Yulin in Shanxi Province. Thankyou for helping to translate when I had problems at the Visa office, for helping with the media in Yulin and then for taking on the large task of translating the blog from English to Chinese! I’m very grateful Helen! Also to Xiaoli who did the translation of the same site in the beginning.

Thanks to Vice-President Mr Dong of the Great Wall Society for welcoming me so nicely to China when I first arrived, and writing a letter of recommendation that helped me on occasions in sticky situations.

A big thanks to Pingping, Kelly, Xiao Zu and Beibei in Beijing for all the help underway with Visa’s, equipment, insurance etc - the list is long. Kelly - thanks for all the world problem solving talks we had while having hour long foot massages. They will be missed!

Thanks to Cherry in Datong, Sherry in Qinhuangdao, Frank in Xining and many others that I could and would call now and again if there was some Chinese I did not understand, and needed some translation help!

Lastly - a big thanks to Zhao Fu Qiang, Vivian and her friends at the Zhonglian International Hotel in Dandong. Vivian called me half a year before I arrived in Dandong inviting me to stay at their hotel once I got to my final destination. At that time, I did not know that they wanted to sponsor my entire stay in Dandong. Once I got there, I was shocked by your generosity. Thank you very much! Knowing that someone was waiting for me at the very end of the walk was a great incentive!

After a flight via London, I arrived in Oslo late last night. A bunch of friends, family and girlfriend turned up at the airport which was very nice. Felt so strange, but really really good to be back home in one piece. Another bunch of friends and colleagues were waiting at my parent’s house and despite the late hours, we had a really good few hours together. It was great to see you all again  

Also thanks for the gifts that included enough socks to get me through 2011, foot massages, SPA stay with my girlfriend, Norwegian food that is impossible to get hold of in China, tickets to the Christmas concert of Bjørn Eidsvåg - an artist I listened lots to along the Great Wall and a calendar for 2011. Many thanks!!!

Am sitting here at my parent’s house after a good and long nights sleep. I’m eating some sandwiches that my mother made, noticing how she has cleverly planted a thick layer of butter between the bread and ‘pålegg’. Haha - I’ll fatten up again in no time.

Here are some pictures that were taken yesterday - thanks a lot for taking and sending them Margrete!

The gang…

First hug with my girlfriend since early May… No - I’m not crying…

Finally home!!

Notice - dirty trousers, and my ‘resting shoes’. The other shoes were left behind in China as they had served their purpose.

Back home at my parent’s house celebrating! Had slept 2-3 hours the last 24, but it was so much fun!!

China just doesn’t want me to leave… The staff at Finnair have been inspired by their Spanish counterparts and are on strike.

My flight is cancelled, and I will be flying BA via London instead.

Now arriving 20.10 at Gardermoen so the get together will be postponed by an hour. (and perhaps a half)

Yesterday, I reached North-Korea 600 days after I took the first steps in the Gobi Desert.

The last couple of kilometres I was followed by a TV crew and two photographers. It was, at times, a little hard taking in what was going on as they were taking pictures, asking me to stand here or there and so forth. The truth is that even if I had been there completely alone, it would have been hard to take in the moment.

The Great Wall at Hushan goes over a small mountain. Then it dives steeply down to the Yalu River. This river marks the border between China and North-Korea. The Great Wall was covered in snow and I was happy once again to be walking with the walking sticks. All the time, I was being photographed and filmed from various angles, high and low. A very strange experience after having walked alone in solitude for so long.

At the bottom of the small mountain, there was a large watchtower. We walked up it, and as I walked the last steps, I made a little video, and also took pictures of my feet where they rested on the watchtower. (Thanks for the tip Roxanne - I’ll post the picture later)  At that point, I was about 100 metres from the North-Korean border. In the distance I could hear manly voices shouting something that seemed well coordinated and military. There were two North-Korean border guards walking on the other side of the river.

Luckily, I remembered to pick up a stone close to the watchtower. This is a tradition I have had on all my longer trips. I pick up a (small) stone at the beginning, and then another one right at the end of my journey. A good memory to have in years to come.

What did I feel at that moment? I was happy, relieved and grateful to have reached my goal. At the same time sad that this life of walking is over for now. These are however feelings I have had the last week or two, and there was no big difference at the end point. Sorry - I was not struck by any unique awe-inspiring thoughts… Hopefully they will come when I return to Norway!

I walked back along the river which was an interesting experience. The path could best be described as an obstacle course. A hanging bridge, several very steep steps, winding steps, 180 degree turns etc. At one point the steps were bolted fast to the mountain and the river was right beneath. At the closest, I reckon the North-Korean border on the other side of the river was only 10 metres away. I made a point of hiding my walking sticks. Didn’t want any rifle-like objects to get the attention from the other side.

I go to Beijing tomorrow, and get to spend one whole day there before heading back home to Norway. That might be when the emotions start hitting me.

Once again - many thanks for all your comments - they are much appreciated! I promise to keep on writing this blog for some time yet. Many of you have said you will miss reading the blog entries, and if so, you can imagine how much I will miss the exciting life I have lived here in China. At the same time, NOT living an exciting life seems alluring now.

22 kilometres yesterday
0 kilometres in a straight line to Hushan Great Wall close to Dandong.

About to start on the trip back home now: Dandong -> Shenyang -> Beijing -> arriving in Oslo December 5th at 18.25. Strange how the trip home is now planned down to the last minute, yet has been postponed time and time again over the last year and a half, due to hardships along the Great Wall.

Will write more about my last day walking to North-Korea later today.

I have been walking longer, faster and with fewer rests than ever before, these last few weeks. This is the poem I have been echoing on long days.

          I will persist until I succeed.
          Always will I take another step.
          If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another.
          In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult…
          I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.

          Og Mandino

Walking the final steps down to the end point of the Hushan Great Wall

A quick note to say I’ve made it. Standing on the last watchtower of the Hushan Great Wall now with only a hundred metres spare to North-Korea. Very mixed emotions, but an enormous sense of relief for reaching a more than 21 year old dream 600 days after I set off from the first watchtower of the Great Wall by Jiayuguan.

Will write more soon. It’s getting cold here, and the journalists need to get back to write their stories. I was driven to yesterday’s end point by people from the hotel, and walked alone for three hours. The last hour I was accompanied by several jounalists on the final stretch to the Great Wall.

UPDATE - Thanks very much for all the nice comments and e-mails. Much appreciated! This indeed shows that I have not been walking alone on the Great Wall, which is a good feeling. I am really tired now, and after a long hot bath I’m off to bed. For the first time in 600 days, I will wake up tomorrow knowing that the Great Wall will take care of itself.

Today was a half day, and I’m grateful for that. My many marathon stretches through Liaoning Province seem to be catching up with me. Hard to get up in the mornings, and I almost fall asleep at the dinner table in the evenings.

Today was very good walking-wise. Not so cold. Beautiful terrain to be walking through, and the Dandong signs have been replaced by Hushan signs which is my final destination!

When I was walking in Beijing Municipality several months ago, I was contacted by Vivian who invited me to stay at the hotel where she works in Dandong. We have had regular contact since then, and finally got to meet today. When I got to the Zhong Lian Hotel I was met by Vivian, and some of her work partners. We have had two good meals together today and I am now sitting in a fantastic room with a view straight over to North-Korea! Thank you very much for your hospitality!!! I feel very grateful that you have been able to take time out of your busy schedule to greet me in this way   

Bo Hui Qiang, Wang Wei, Robert, Zhang Guo Cheng and Xui Xiao Feng in the reception area of the Zhonglian Hotel.

Also a very big thanks to Zhao Fu Qiang - the manager of the hotel for being so hospitable.

It’s time for bed now. A big day awaiting tomorrow!

22 kilometres today
About 16 kilometres in a straight line to Hushan Great Wall close to Dandong.

After the news brief sent by the Norwegian Embassy recently, things are suddenly picking up on the media side. Today I have been contacted by Chinese TV, radio and newspapers that want to do interviews. In addition, there will be a second interview with China Daily. I have also been invited to CCTV4 studio next time I come to China, and look very much forward to that! Thanks to Sue in Denmark and Vivian in Dandong for helping me trying to get the most out of the last days here

In addition to media, I want to make sure I have some time alone to reflect a little over what I’ve been doing the last year and a half. After kayaking the entire length of Norway, I spent one night in a tent at the destination (Nordkapp plataaet). It made me settle down, and realize that the trip was over. It feels good not to rush on straight away. So I might pay Hushan a second visit once all the reporters have gone home to edit their stories, so that I have time to ‘edit’ the end of mine.

A cold day again today. But it did not snow, and it was slightly warmer than yesterday.

The definite highlight of the day was entering a small restaurant where all the tables were taken with people playing Majang. The owner of the place was very welcoming and had the most fantastic laugh I have heard for a very long time. And she laughed a lot! Made my day.

Her daughter spoke a little English so as we sat down in a separate room to eat, while the guests played their games, we had a talk. She was 48, but with her constant smile and laughter I would have taken her to be ten years younger. Her daughter was 21 years old. We sat on a kang so it was nice and warm.

As I was about to leave, I asked her how come she laughed so much? She answered that she had a good life and didn’t have any great pressures. Good for her!

I was expecting to walk further than I did today. The walking conditions were OK. I took a lot of pictures of the snow-covered landscape. Under my feet the snow crunched (knirket pga kulden) with every step.

Instead of two very long walking days, I have settled for three slightly shorter ones to get to my final destination. That way I will get to the Hushan Great Wall early so that the interviews can be done without having to hurry.

34 kilometres today
About 32 kilometres in a straight line to Hushan Great Wall close to Dandong.