Day 61 - Great Wall

This morning felt like it arrived too soon. Was so exhausted from staying up posting blogs & talking to Sabine, but was well worth it. Been in Beijing a week now & today is the first time actually going to breakfast. Usually breakfast closes early, and since it’s so far away from the hotel it hasn’t been worth it. After finishing eating & a quick run to the ATM, I met up with Deni & Big Bear at the campus entrance. We were off to the Great Wall around 9am. Arriving around 10:30, we were rushed out of the car. First thinking we were super close, but we were bummed to hear that we were actually a few miles away. Honestly should have just kept on walking, but instead walked back & got a cab to take us to the front entrance. This took much longer than expected with lots of long lines. By the time we had arrived to the base of the Great Wall following a quick lunch, it was 1pm. On the plus side, since it took us so long to get there, the light was already looking better than if we arrived on time. 

Starting off by walking up the Southside as far as we could. Steep hike, but beautiful the entire way through. Lots of laughter and joking from the guys. Throughout the entire week, we’ve all seemed to walk well over 10,000 steps each day. Today big bear was well over 20,000. While a long day, I’m so happy I went with them. When we finally headed back to Beijing, we all passed out within minutes of the taxi ride. Happy & absolutely exhausted from the day.