Great Wall

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The Secret Wall trip was worth the wait.  Words cannot describe how absolutely beautiful and breathtaking it was to see the Great Wall for the first time.  The reason we selected the Secret Wall trip was to avoid tour group and it was perfect.  Our group of 12 and the guide were the only people we saw on this trip.  This section of the Great Wall was also in its original form.  No restoration work had been done.

After a 1.5 hour bus ride, the guide led us up a 30 minute ascent to the Great Wall.  The countryside was beautiful.  The mountains stretched clear to Mongolia and everything was green.  The strong winds at the top kept us cool in the 90 + degree heat.

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It was fantastic to see the Great Wall stretching out in both directions along the highest mountain peaks.  We walked along the Great Wall for several hours just enjoying the views and the magnificence of such a place.  Along the Great Wall there were steep ascents and steep descents.  It reminded us a little of the Inca Trail especially since these were usually in the form of stone steps.  There were several watch towers which we passed through and one (after climbing up a ladder) afforded us a 360 degree view of the countryside.

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Our guide was a small Chinese man who had a very gentle spirit.  It was strange but in a way he reminded me of my grandpa Wood who passed away several years ago.  Along the trail our guide picked flowers for all of the ladies on the trip and at the end of the tour he picked apples for everyone.  He didn't speak a word of English but his personality and smile communicated so much.

Well one of the seven wonders of the world has been knocked off our list and its only day four of our journey.  Tonight we are headed to Xian on an overnight train.  If you ever have the opportunity, the Great Wall is something which words and pictures will never do justice.  Strangly I called it peaceful yet in reality it was created and used for something quite different.