Huangyaguan Pass Great Wall

We decided to go to the first section of the Great Wall that we went to when we first moved to China.  The last time we went I couldn't walk for a week because my legs hurt so bad.  At 9:00 we were at our van watching Carrasco's load their van.  And we were off.  Alfredo rode with us, of course.

Waiting to leave.

The Wallace's and Carrasco's off on another adventure.

The closer we got to the wall the more we realized how windy it was.  It was a hazy day but the sun tried to shine through the haze all day.  It was in the 50's but we almost blew away when we stepped out of the van.  The kids said they were hungry so we all decided to eat a little lunch before heading up the wall.  We hit the bathroom and got our tickets.  We jumped in the golf cart to take us to the top to start our hike.

I never get tired of looking at the amazing Great Wall.

Alfredo and Cameron are ready to hike.

We saw these things drying everywhere but do not know what they were.

Enjoying a Subway sandwich.

On the cart and ready to go up the HUGE hill.

This section is where the Great Wall Marathon is in May.  A group of us are running the half marathon.  The part that we took the golf cart in today is one huge, steep hill.  This is where the run begins.  Our golf cart barely made it up.  I'm not sure how we are suppose to run up this hill.  It will surely kill us. 

We made it to the top and we were hit by wind.  Thankfully the wind was not cold.  We took a few pictures and then started hiking. By the time we were 5 minutes into our hike coats were coming off.

This guy guards the top.

The boys acting like guards.

Twins.

The wind was TERRIBLE in this spot.
The boys loved it.

The steps are steep. Big steps. Little steps. Steps, steps, steps...everywhere. Sometimes we were on a path of rocks that were slippery and hard to walk on. They did add guard rails since the last time we were there so we couldn't fall off the wall so that was good. We continued our way on the wall. The Great Wall is cool no matter how many times you see it or hike it. It's just amazing. 

Big, steep steps.

This looks like we can run it right?

A ton of tiny steps.

The boys look so small.

Gazing out the window.

Love hiking with my family.

Silly Alejandro had to go pee.  Luckily he is small
and could pee out the little hole in the wall.

A couple times we stopped to rest and take pictures.  Other times we had to stop and hide from the wind because there was dirt and garbage flying all over.  Towards the end of the hike a styrofoam cooler flew right over my head.  It was pretty funny. 

This part of the wall doesn't seem so bad.

This part, however, is steep and hard to climb down.

We are going down as a team.

The boys huddled down out of the wind.

Are we done yet?

This sign says it all.

Surviving the hike.

This wall is never ending.

Happy to be almost finished.

The last section.  It looks like I'm in a cage.

We finally made it back to the vans.  It was right around 10 KM which means for the half marathon we would still have to run 11KM more.  Yep, I'm going to die.  At the vans Chinese people started flocking around us trying to sell us souvenirs and food/beer at the restaurant.  It didn't take long for them to realize we weren't buying anything because we grabbed our lunches and drinks and started in.  Our drivers jumped in the drivers seats like we were heading back.  Little did they know we would hang out behind our vans for over an hour.  Alejandro was drinking apple juice out of a flimsy container.  We told him to be careful.  A second later Ileana grabbed it from him, squeezed it, and shot apple juice straight up with some of it landing on Ale and the rest on the ground.  We all cracked up laughing since we just talked about the container.

The gargoyles on the roofs were cool.

Just waiting for someone to want some fruit.

All of a sudden 7 buses pulled in.  We started watching the people.  It was people off a cruise ship and they ranged in ages from 40-100.  We were all thankful we were not part of that tour.  It was funny though...we were staring at them like the Chinese do to us.  All of a sudden Ileana was laughing because she realized how ridiculous we looked watching these people.  It was quite comical.

The dad's took the kids to look in 2 gift shops and then we hit the bathrooms so we could return to TEDA.  Alejandro wanted to ride with us.  No problem.  However, I had strict instructions to hold him on my lap through the curvy parts of the road and they gave us a barf bag.  Yikes.  Luckily, he fell asleep about 10 minutes into the ride on my lap so there was no need for a barf bag. 

Little guy was exhausted.

Alfredo and Cameron watched a movie on the way home.

Back home we immediately all showered.  I could feel dirt all over my face and in my hair from the wind.  That shower felt great.  We watched a movie and then hit the sack.  We were exhausted from all the fresh air and hiking.