Awoke to the homestay owners preparing breakfast for a group of mountaineers around 3 am.  Had a difficult time getting back to sleep due to the barking dogs and then the roosters.  Finally, the Chinese mountaineers showed up around 5:30 or so and were noisy eating breakfast.  We had a nice breakfast with some great egg, vegetable pancake things before getting in the bus to head to the trail – a few minutes from the homestay.   Hiked almost a thousand metres up to the wall on an okay trail.   It was a warm day today – close to 30 – so it was a pretty hot walk up.   Once on the wall we walked for a while on some crumbling sections.   Wasn’t too bad – just warm.   We then carried on towards the touristy section, meeting more and more tourists.   Finally, we got to a section where someone was selling tourist trinkets, water and cold beer!  Definitely a change from yesterday, where we only saw a couple of people.  We then carried on to the tourist section near a gondola.   Had to go down about 500 steep steps.   One of the girls in our group hurt her knee so some of us opted to join her and take the gondola down the last bit instead of doing an additional tourist infest area and 1000 steps, which aren’t a part of the wall.   Was definitively glad I did as the tourists were not enjoyable and the sun was getting to me. Had some lunch at the bottom and then we got in the bus for the 2.5 hour drive to our next homestay.   This place was in a nice village, which appeared to be modeled after a historic village.  Did a brief walk to a gate to watch the sunset over the Wall. Got back to the homestay and had a beer before dinner beside the river.  Had dinner and then a shower and to bed. 

Woke up around 6 am this morning to pack up and get ready to head to the Wall.  Had some breakfast – fried egg, toast, fried rice, a steamed bun, sausages, fried potatoes and some kind of cake thing.  Checked out and we boarded the bus to take us to Jiankou, with a stop at the Summer Palace. Lots of room on the bus so pretty comfortable even though the traffic was bad.  Arrived at the Summer Palace and toured around, including riding the dragon boat across the lake.  A nice complex with a number of different areas.  We walked up the hill and saw the mock up of the old Water Town, which was built to show the emperor how happy and well everyone lived.  A lot of tourists at the Summer Palace so we weren’t there too long.  The walk up the hill was quite nice as the path was lined with lovely flowering trees. After the Summer Palace we boarded the bus for the 2.5 or 3 hour drive to Jiankou where we are staying.  According to our guide, Jerry, the various sections of the Wall are 22119 km in total, with the western most parts near Afghanistan, the northern in Russia, the southern in Beijing and the eastern in North Korea.  It was built between the 2nd or 3rd century BC and the 16th century. We arrived at our homestay around 1:30 and had some lunch, which was a variety of dishes.    The homestay is pretty simple but the rooms have their own “bathroom” and a great view of the wall. After lunch we got ready to walk up to the wall.  Today’s hike time would only be about three hours.  After a climb up the hills we arrived at the wall to a section referred to as the “Spiderman” wall.   There was an option to walk around or go up but I decided to go up.   It was actually easier than I thought – there were only a couple of spots where I felt concerned if I were to fall backwards.   Made it up to the top and then wandered along they wall for a while.    Went down a few sketchy sections and got to an area where I thought we were going to leave the wall as the way forward seemed to have collapsed.   After a break though, we carried on!  We didn’t have to attempted the collapsed bit but instead had to “rock climb” along the outside!  I was thinking the “Spiderman” section didn’t look so bad.   There was also no option to go around.  Surprisingly though I managed to make it up fairly effortlessly.  We hiked a bit further along the wall before heading down and back towards the homestay. Had a nice cool beer to relax and then a hotel shower before dinner.   Another pile of dishes for dinner and ready for bed after a long day. 

I was super tired last night so I ended up going to bed before 9.  Woke up for a bit around 2 but managed to get back to sleep and slept until around 7:30.   Grabbed some breakfast in the hotel as it was included.   A pretty big buffet so I had some bacon, an egg, a croissant, some fried potatoes and fried rice ?.  Pretty decent for a hotel buffet breakfast.   After eating I got ready to head out to do some exploring before meeting the group tonight.   Took a photo of the view from my hotel room (Forbidden City is in the top right corner). Headed down towards the Temple of Heaven, stopping first to walk through a long narrow park.   Then headed east towards the Temple of Heaven area.   Ended up meandering through some hospital area before finally getting out to the main road.  Bought the ticket for the Temple of Heaven complex and wandered through.   A massive area with a few different structures to visit and lots of gardens and trees.   There was a massive forested area carpeted with lovely smelling purple flowers.   Took some pictures in there and headed on to the main structure.   Quite a few people but not oppressively crowded.  Stopped for a milk tea from the concession and relaxed under a tree for a bit.  Headed north out of the complex down a main road.   Then turned west and walked to Tiananmen Square.  Took a few photos but will be back there with the group later so didn’t spend to much time.  Stopped at the KFC just off the square to add it to my collection of foreign KFC experiences.  Had some kind of meal that came with mashed potatoes with gravy, a piece of chicken, two wings and an egg tart for dessert ?. Headed back towards the hotel and cut through some little area with gardens and what appeared to be old houses.  There was a lot of restoration and construction going on but I managed to get a couple photos.  Got back to the hotel and it appears I walked 17 km or so!  Took a shower and relaxed and then prepared to meet the group.  Had a beer in the lobby bar and waited for the group meeting.   Met the others but no formal introductions so trying to figure out everyone’s name still.   We went to a restaurant for our briefing and for Peking duck dinner.   Started to feel tired from the long day so was kind of in a daze during dinner and less social than I should have been.   On the plus side though, I think everyone else was tired from their flights so no one likely noticed.  Off to bed now.  Tomorrow we start walking the wall and staying in homestays for 4 nights or so, so likely no blog updates until my return. 

Ordered the duck for lunch.   Was hungry by that time and the tuna appetizer was pretty good.   Air Canada apparently recently changed their menu and wine list so it was something new.   The duck was okay but maybe not the best option for an airplane.   The French pinot noir that they were offering was very drinkable though… almost too drinkable! After lunch took a bit of a nap.  Woke up and had a Kit Kat they had out.  Tried to take another nap but could smell some dim sum cooking and couldn’t sleep.    Slept for a bit more and had another snack.   We had to circle around Beijing for a bit (kind of turbulent) while they “changed the runways”.  A bit bumpy but we eventually landed.   Pretty quick going through immigration but the baggage claim was a train ride away! Got my luggage and headed out to look for my ride  – lots of people with signs and he seemed to show up after I stood there for a few minutes.   I was just about to check the materials and call when I spotted the sign.   A bit of traffic heading to the hotel so it seemed like a long ride.  The driver took me past Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace on the way to the hotel.   Apparently he couldn’t make a left to the hotel though where he thought he could so he decided to pull a u-turn on the busy little street running beside the Forbidden Palace.  Surprisingly it didn’t take too long but I think the other drivers were a bit ticked.  Got to the hotel and checked in.   Settled into the room, which has a distant view of the Forbidden Palace.  Then headed out for a walk around the block and a drink in the hotel lobby bar.  Had a quick bite to eat at the hotel coffee shop and getting ready for bed.   Going to head to bed early as I’ve been up for a while and would like to do some sightseeing tomorrow.