February 2024


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AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME | 17


to walk on so we followed a narrow path along the side, but other parts were well enough still to walk on, and so we did… after climbing up some wall rubble to reach the top! This was the


first taste I had of standing on a very narrow 10ft high (it could well have been higher) wall with no side walls, completely open to the elements and to the steep drop down a mountain on either side. This part of the wall was in poor condition but still walkable, the trick was


to keep your


head down and keep on moving, if you stop or look about you too long, there is


the chance of


some vertigo I have never suffered from vertigo or a fear of


heights before, but that day I certainly did! In the afternoon we began our decent, winding our way down the narrow path on the mountainside. We stopped for lunch


selection from my chocolate bar stash. We walked back through Longmen the way we had come the night before. We saw a squirrel had been captured in a cage outside a house. We asked tour guide, Kevin, what they were going to do with it… feed it to their dog? ‘It’s not for for the dog’ was the answer’. Should we release it? ‘No, that would not be a good idea’, he replied.


Seeing that put a bit of a damper on my morning… and left me wondering what the unidentified meat from the meal last night really was. We stopped at a small park in the village to


into the now familiar fare… including beef and potato stew, spicy white fish, kung pao chicken, chilli vegetables, sweet and sour pork, an unidentified meat (no one could recognise the taste) and fluffy rice. There were beds around the side of the


room we were eating in and realised that this must be where the family slept. It was very humbling to see an old man just walk across the room and lie on one of the beds to sleep while we ate. He was completely undisturbed by it all. The family had set up a campfire for anyone


who wanted to sit up and have a beer. I was absolutely beat that night, so headed straight to my bed with a full stomach and a weary body. The estimated trek time for the day had been 5-7 hours… we took 9, no wonder I was tired! There was no heat in the room so I dug out my sleeping bag (something I hadn’t yet had to use) and was glad to snuggle down into its warmth, like being swallowed by a


take a break and enjoy some of the exercise equipment doing some challenges on the swing bars, we headed up the mountain path and took the steep trail across the farmer’s fields up to the wall where Heibei province, Tianjin City and Beijing meet together in the place known as the Three Bordering Tablet. Here we stopped to admire the views and also to have some reflection time. We were


all been asked to bring torches! We had some trouble finding our rooms as the complex we were staying at was quite spread out. We eventually found our rooms… they were lovely and warm, and I dived for the shower! It was bliss. After washing and putting on some warm clothes, we made our way towards the communal dining room where we were to meet for dinner. Dinner was delicious, and we were now able to recognise what each dish was without having to ask. We noticed some tourist-type shops across the road from the complex - this part of the wall was fully restored and popular with tourists - so we headed across to do some haggling on panda hats and some trinkets. Mags was the best at haggling and treated us all to panda hats at a bargain price - think you Mags! - and I picked up a few trinkets at a good price. Skyline had arranged for us to have a demonstration by the local paper-cutting expert - this is a traditional skill passed down


now half way through our trek and everyone took some time to hear a bit about why each person was on the trek and why they chose to support their chosen charity (this was optional, you only had to speak if you wanted). Skyline is a company that organises treks and other charity events - sky dives, cycle rides etc, but they don’t do it for a specific charity, the participant is free to choose what charity they would like to raise funds for.


when we reached a small rocky clearing… our packed lunch for the trek consisted of the same thing each day, four slices of bread with cheese and ham in each… and a banana or other fruit. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% keen on the sandwiches some days, but on others they were lovely! On the days the sandwiches weren’t so good I tucked into one of the snickers-type chocolate bars that I had brought along with me. Everyone seemed to have brought along a multi-pack of some sort of chocolate snack or energy bar... and when we all ran out we had to rely on Eric and his never-ending supply of Snicker’s bars - a lifesaver!


When we reached the bottom of the mountain we made our way through the valley to the village of Longmen where we would be spending the night at a local family’s house. The family were lovely and did everything they could to make us welcome and comfortable. The accommodation was basic, and we bunked four to a room, pairing up with two other room buddies. Everyone was ravenous that night and we all tucked


giant caterpillar. Sweet dreams. Day five I awoke like a hungry butterfly emerging from my cocoon. Breakfast was porridge and some round steamed dumplings, but I opted to sleep in a bit longer and grab a


A few people spoke about why they decided to raise money for their chosen charity and some others used the time for quiet reflection. A small length of red ribbon was made available to each of us, which we could use if we chose, to write a message on and tie it to the tree, high up beside the Three Bordering Tablet. Other people had marked the milestone with ribbons or tokens of their own on previous visits and our group did the same. It was an emotional morning. We started our decent back down into Longmen where we returned to the local house to have lunch. Afterwards we headed off on the walk to meet the coach back on the main road that would take us to Jinshanling. It was a long walk, but thankfully was all on flat ground. When we reached the main road I was delighted to find a petrol station to stock up my chocolate stash! I bought some bags of the Chinese version of Malteasers and a couple of bags of crisps. The coach had beer on board and I had a mini food and beer feast, well deserved I think! Our trek time that morning had been estimated at 4.5 hours and I think we were pretty much on target. When we arrived at our hotel in Jinshanling


the sun was already down and there wasn’t much light… now we understood why we had


through generations of the same families… to a first son, a beloved daughter or a favourite niece or nephew. The paper cutting shop was just across the road from the complex - the master paper cutter was on a tour, but she had trained her nephew with the skill so we all piled in to see his skills in action. The skill is amazing, the artist took one piece of paper, folded it, and cut an


...continued on pg. 18


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