A Serious Test Of Our Endurance

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After a restless nights sleep for both of us, we arose around 6 AM to a dull, rainy morning! Not good for the activities planned for today. We were on the bus at 8:30. The hotel sends a wake up call each morning arranged by our guide but we are always up before it rings. One of the couples in our group from Belguim did not get the wake up call and the guide called their room because they weren't on the bus. The lady got the call, thinking it was the wake up call and hung up. Of course Leo called back and told them we were waiting for them and they had been sound asleep and had to hurry to get dressed and get to the bus without breakfast, shower or hair brushed. What a way to start the day! We wish we could sleep that soundly!

The drive to the Great Wall was about 1 1/2 hours through the city and out into the country. Getting around Beijing is no easy job as there is heavy traffic most of the time even with incentives to take public transit or ride bikes or scooters which have their own lane. It was very foggy. We arrived at The Great Wall which is located in a very mountainous area. In total the wall is 6500 km and was built to protect China from the Mongolians who lived north of China. We had 2 1/2 hours to climb the wall. LOL ! The climb reminded us of our experience of climbing up from the Grand Canyon- only steeper! The steepness is around 55 degrees and the steps range anywhere from 18 to 10" deep. There were four fortresses within walking distance we were told so of course we started out with vigor to conquer the Great Wall! It was an arduous task and after slowing down to a snails pace, Barb stopping every 10 steps or so to catch her breath and hanging on to railing for dear life We arrived at the first fortress. Needless to say we did not go further and were glad we were back to level ground. We spent the rest of the time there walking around looking at the temples. Back on the bus and off to a factory for lunch and see how beautiful urns,vases and jewellery are made. From there we travelled back to Beijing to the site of the 2008 Olympis. From there we went to a very old part of the city to see how the Chinese lived 50 years ago. The area is a called a hutong and it is a crowded warren of little houses of three rooms with no running water for the most part. People in a section use a communal toilet and shower room. We were to take a rickshaw ride here and it was quite an experience! By now it is after 5 PM and everyone is getting weary but the day is far from over. We went to a little lake surrounded by restaurants and bars and observer the lights. Most important here was to use a toilet. We have encountered the squat toilets and we have used them once with success but we opt for our kind if at all possible. We were then taken to a restaurant in a bug upscale mall and had the same kind of meal sitting at a round table with 9 other people. After supper we walked through another upscale shopping pedestrian street that resembled Times Square in New York. The trip back to the hotel took us past all the government buildings and main streets to enjoy the extravagant lights. Finally back to the hotel at 9:15, feet weary and ready to lay our heads on the pillow.

Thursday is going to be another long, exhausting day. We fly out of Beijing at 6:45 to Xi'an after seeing a few more things in Beijing. We are to check into our hotel after 11 PM.

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