The Great Wall’ker

There was more thunder and lightning last night and a lot of rain. It had stopped by morning. I spent the night at a guesthouse. Because of the TV antenna wire, there was a slit in the window sufficient to let in adventure seeking mosquitos during the night. They had feasted on me, but luckily the bites didn’t itch much.

Before walking on, I managed to find a place where they could repair my rucksack. The pocket in the top lid had a large hole because the zip had loosened from the rucksack. It took only 3 minutes to fix and means I don’t have to worry about losing small items from it.

The walk today brought me all the way to the most eastern section of the opposite U shaped path here. I got to see some Great Wall being excavated. They were digging around a large square to reveal the lower walls of what looked to be a small fortress at the foot of some very impressive mountains.

I asked the labourers if any of them had tried to follow the Great Wall up the mountains. One guy said he had for less than an hour, but then it got too dangerous.

I have not washed myself or my clothes for some days now, so will try and do that tomorrow morning before moving on. Will be spending my second night at the same guesthouse tonight.

It has been threatening to rain all day long, and although there have been 3-4 downpours, they didn’t last for long. No thunder while walking.

30 kilometres today

I woke up to thunder at 4 o’clock in the morning, but it stayed at a comfortable distance. Then I continued following the Great Wall where the last little stretch went up the Simatai bridge. On a short section from a riverbed going upwards, there were protective walls on the actual wall so that the defending soldiers could beat off any attacking soldiers which had managed to breach the wall. They could fire arrows at the attackers while slowly retreating to their (last) defence which was the watchtower. I will get a picture on the web when I have a chance.

Simatai is closed and there was a lot of activity going on at what seems to be the new tourist centre. I got talking to a couple of guys who kindly offered me cold water. Shortly after, a number of security guards urged me to get off the premises. I showed them the water bottle, and said that I intended to drink it up first. Got talking to the guards too and they seemed to like what I was doing.

In the village just by the tourist centre, I got some breakfast at a cafe. The people there were very nice, and soon I took a picture of four generations of women! Aged 3, 25, 56 and 77! The husband of the 25 year old had heard about the walk and asked if I was Robert. It is strange to be recognized in China. He had read the Sina blog that Sue, who has lived in Denmark, has very kindly been holding. Thanks Sue!

His wife comes from a small village that lies by the Great Wall. They showed me pictures from it. I would liked to have made a visit there, and perhaps I can later when they are also there. In this area the mountains are very wild, and following it only for a short stretch is an expedition in itself. Therefore I cannot take every branch that leads to a short section of it.

Later in the day I pressed on eastwards. It was constantly threatening to rain, but never quite did, luckily.

21 kilometres today