What a day!! Today was our TTC Trip day! Yay! We got up
ready to go for 715am (not so yay at that time...) and were told, after waiting
around in the cold for a while, that the buses would be 20 minutes late.
Needless to say we weren't best pleased! The plan for the day included the
Great Wall of China, the Birds Nest Stadium, an acrobatics show and a
traditional Peking duck meal. Once the coaches finally turned up (3 of them, we
were coach one naturally) we began our sleepy journey to the Great Wall.
Our first impression when we exited the coach was 'bloody
hell its freezing!' but that was soon forgotten when we saw what we had come to
see. The Great Wall of China is indeed a wall that is very great but I never
expected the scale that we saw! Neither did I expect to see a camel saunter
past but today was a day filled with revelations!
Climbing the wall was not something many of us had thought
about; when you picture the great wall you picture flat sloping pathways
through the mountains, not steep staircases. The steps were very difficult to
negotiate as they were so warn down in places and the size of the step varied
so dramatically! And they were SO STEEP! I spent half my time crawling up on
all fours (getting many an odd look from the Chinese) as it was easiest and
safest way to ascend.
I made it to halfway between the second and third towers (a
feat I was very proud of due to how unfit I am). It has quite possibly been the
hardest physical excursion of my life but it was so incredibly rewarding
whenever I reached a goal. I am pretty proud of myself because I climbed for
the full hour before turning back and climbing down (which is equally hard I
may add). The view from the wall was stunning, the mountains incredible and the
sight of the wall snaking across was pretty special! I am sad we only had 2
hours there.
Next stop was lunch which was a nice change to the canteen
food! For one it was nice and fresh! Then it was on to the Olympic Park! Now I
thought it was cold on the wall but nothing prepared me for how cold the
Olympic park would be. The Birds Nest Stadium and Water Cube were very cool but
the highlight for me must have been walking on a frozen river! It was so
surreal and a lot of fun!
Next was the acrobatic show! When our group walked into the
theatre all eyes were on us, it is very weird having hundreds of Chinese people
staring at you and taking photos of you. Words cannot describe the show itself,
it was truly the most awesome thing I have ever seen! There were men jumping
through hoops at speed, there were girls spinning 8 plates while dancing, there
were strong men and there were bicycles with 8 riders! However for me one of
the highlights must have been the finalé, they brought out this metal sphere
and put a man on a motorcycle inside this sphere and had him drive round at
insane speeds doing tricks and going upside down, then they added another bike,
then another, and another; in the end there were five motorcycles all driving
round the inside of the metal sphere. It has got to be one of the most breath
taking things I have ever seen in my life! I even bought their DVD!
After that we headed out to dinner, can't say I was overly
impressed with out 'Peking duck dinner', the duck was awful (at least compared
to my mother's) and the rest of the food was lacking, still a stage above
canteen food though!
Anyway back now and I feel ill! Yes I have got the man flu! So
I am sat here with my lemsip feeling INCREDIBLY sorry for myself. I hope I feel
better tomorrow!
See you later!
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