We all had a much needed sleep in this morning. Our room got up at 10.30. Laura, Jason and I went out for a walk to find somewhere for breakfast. We found a shop that was a cafe and bakery. We all managed to find something we wanted. I had pizza and a peanut butter sandwich! Followed by the best latte ever. The only thing that was really weird was that all the foods we picked were sugar coated! After breakfast we went back to the hostel to meet with Jessie our new guide. Only 6 of us: Laura, Jason, Rob, Coralee, Adam and I, ended up going with her. We realised by the end of the day that having a smaller group was intact really beneficial. It was much more relaxed. We set off for ... read more

I got up at around seven ish this morning. Breakfast is at eight, but I wanted to get my. Laundry washed early so that it dries before leaving. We are expecting another 40 degrees again today so that shouldn't be a problem. Breakfast was good today. We had toast, cold boiled eggs, peanut butter, jam, water melon and some cold turnip stuff. Everyone tucked in! It was a bit of a treat having peanut butter and jam! 12 of the group went for a wall after breakfast. We knew it was only going to be a short one due to the heat, but to be honest, I felt like I just needed a bit of down time after all the ravelling yesterday. Laura, Zoe, Louisa, Mel and Abbie also gave themselves the morning off. We all ... read more

Day 16 - Chairman Mao's Mausoleum, leaving Beijing, night train to HangzhouToday I totally missed an activity .... By choice! At 4.30 there was an option to go to Tiananmen Square to watch the raising of the flag. I decided not to go? I did see the raised flag, and took photos of it a couple of days ago (day 14)..... I think!I decided that it was mot worth a 4.30 get up to see it actually being raised! The 7 that did go said we didn't miss anything. They said that there were thousands of people there to watch, as apparently, there are everyday. The only reason that they went was because they hadn't been to bed due to drinking all night!At 7.45 I did join the next activity with Laura, Andrea, Sintje, Louisa and ... read more

We were up at 4.30am for the sunrise. We hiked up the side of the wall which is all unrecognisable shrubbery with am overgrown path.... Of sorts! The path led us to a tumble down area of the original wall which we climbed up. I am fairly certain, no I fact I am certain that there has been no health and safety risk assessment done on this activity! But I am afraid, yet again, we never saw the sunrise! Although the walk did wake me up! To be fair, apart from the effects of the cold, the camping event wasn't too bad! My blocked sinuses and cold have definitely got worse over night, but after being vertical for a while, they did seem to improve! I felt so poorly through the night, I am hoping that ... read more

Big day today, We have lots to do, and it will all be physically challenging! I have been dreading this walk! We are going to watch the Shaolin Monks perform in their performance area in the Shaolin Temple area. We got mini buses to the main area, then that is the end of being spoilt. We set of for the performance. It was unbelievable. They are so graceful, yet so strong, and some are very young. The school has about 8000 students being taught Kung Fu there. Fabio and Gloria went on a volunteers, they both did really well. Fabio won! After the performance we set off for Dharma cave where a nun has been living and meditating for four years. It is wwaaaaaaayyyyyyy up towards Wuru Peak on Song Mountain. It was such a hard ... read more