Jayzus, it’s taken another six hours at a slow-arse computer in a fly-infested wang ba that reeks of shit and piss from the squatter behind me, but I’m finally caught up loading my photos.
New photo pages: Juyongguan Pass Part 2, Yanquing To Mutianyu, and Mutianyu.
I’ve again sat uploading photos until midnight (I didn’t even get to eat a meal today…*sniff-sniff*), and so once again, thank Shibble for instant coffee!
We should be at the next famous bit of the wall, Gubeikou, in two days, then it’s Jinshanling and Simatai, so brace yerselves for another slew of photos.
On a side note, the weather’s been fantabulous; sunny and in the 60′s, it’s been great for walking. Keep yer fingers crossed for us that it holds up for a while.
Good Shibble, if I ever manage to get some sleep I promise I’ll write an actual post!

But this time it’s not really my fault–I’m blaming it on being outta storage space for a couple days–and I’m workin’ hard playin’ catch up.

From Juyongguan The Ig and walked up to Yanqing (I believe I misspelled it as Yanching in a previous post), and were pleasantly surprised. For a change it was nice walking into the city, as it seems we always walk in from the industrial side. This time we were greeted by a monument decorated with carvings.
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If I thought hiking the wall was exhausting, then uploading a butt-load of photos is even more so; I’d give anything to have spent the last five and a half hours walking the wall rather than sitting here in this internet cafe listening to the same song over and over.  Which, by the way, is the Crazy Frog bing-bing song; I don’t know the name of it, but I’m sure it’ll be stuck in my head for the next year.

At any rate, there are four new pages (and I’ve cleaned up a bit and put all the photos under the Random Photos parent).  There’s “Badaling,” “The Ancient City Of Cha Dao,” “Zhanjiakou to Badaling,” and “Juyonguan Pass, Part 1.”  You’re gonna have to wait for Juyongguan Pass Part 2, because my camera battery died…which means I can finally go to bed.

Tommorrow we hike Muitanyu (and crap, it’s after midnight; thank Shibble for instant coffee), then we’ll start heading north to Simatai and other famous bits.

Got more photos coming eventually…

Independently navigating your way around China can be a little tricky, especially if Mandarin is not your first language.
Luckily The Ig and I have a stellar command of the language, otherwise we would’ve never made it this far. Not only can we request a beer and proclaim our love for quilts, but we’re also semi-literate in reading characters.
Not one to keep the secrets of success to myself, I’ve decided to enlighten ya’ll by sharing our sage-like wisdom.
So pull yer chair up to yer desk, grab a pen and paper, sit up straight, and for Shibble’s sake, pay attention, as ya might just learn something.
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I can hardly believe it, but we made it to Yanching today after hiking Badaling and Juyongguan the past two days. What’s even harder to believe is how sore we are; you’d think after hiking about 1,500 miles it wouldn’t take so much outta you, but even squatting for a wee in the bushes proved to be a painful challenge today.
The first thing I noticed upon arrival at Badaling wasn’t the wall, but rather all the hawkers selling their wares and restaraunt owners trying to usher you into their establishments. The photo below shows the walk towards the entrance, and unfortunately the only photo I have of the Badaling bling for sale was one taken at the base.

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I know it’s hard to imagine since we’re such go-getters, but we’re still in Beijing.
After purchasing two new maps and trying to plot a route for the famous bits of the Wall (no, we hadn’t done that yet), we realized there doesn’t seem to be many sizeable towns along the way.
Although we’d decided not to camp any longer because of the cold, we may not have a choice. Besides, when we got sick we were at a higher elevation, and the nights shouldn’t be as bad.
Therefore we’re gonna tent it again.
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When we arrived in Beijing over five months ago, we found ourselves gagging to leave to get on the trail. Although the air quality hasn’t magically improved and the blue sky days count hasn’t really changed, we’re finding the city much more pleasant this time around.
The dazzling array of Western food completely seduced us, and the time off from being side show freaks has been fantabulous, but I’ve gotta admit the best thing about being here was meeting up with the other Wallnuts, Emma and Brendan.
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When it comes to being on the trail, on the road, or just finding the way to the bathroom, the Wallnuts need all the help they can get.
Enter Shibble, the overworked and exasperated deity of the Wallnuts. We stumbled across Shibble much in the same way we stumbled from Jiayuguan to where we are now; by happy accident.
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Got a few more to add, so here’s the new totals…