The Great RAW Wall of CHINA!
I guess there is a saying 3rd time lucky! This time I did make it to the raw wall.
After my 1st visit in me early 20’s and my first time to the wall, in which I got to see the tourist-y side and a nice introduction to this world wonder, I decided that in my early 30’s to go again for round 2 with hope of hiking the “RAW” wall. Much to my dismay and my fellow travellers, we were told “you need a guide, you cannot venture by yourself” “you will not have enough time to do the raw parts”. The guide and the timing was actually paying for a local farmer to take us up to the raw un-fixed, unkept wall. So that time around, we took a semi tourist-y version / attempt – we went up by foot, not cable car as one of my fellow travellers was afraid of heights and then we walked countless posts back to the raw all side we hit the raw wall and started ascending.. only to keep out eyes on the clock to try and make it back to our private van in order to make it home before sunset.
My 3rd attempt – convinced by an awesome girlfriend – let’s do the “raw” wall…. I said sure, why not? hahahahah me being super unfit and super not trained, but up for the adventure… so it begins…
My girlfriend and I joined a raw wall camping tour with M2 Adventrues! But we didnt camp on the wall as we did not have the gear nor attire to do it. Mariane and Miller do an awesome job at M2 on these cool adventures and ever so patient answering all my dubious foreigner questions.
Step 1 … all taped up
So I am getting old, everything is falling apart. Dodgy knee, dodgy back, dodgy neck, dodgy brain? and a super screwed up left foot! Let’s see how well this works – ♥ Rocktape – absolutely swear by it!!!
Step 2 – overnight sleeper train
Out to Beijing from Shanghai. So a few card games, some bier we picked up from Shanghai Station… let’s get ready to paaarrrttyyy.. or try to rest and get some shut eye! … Now getting all your gear on in the middle of the dark on a bunk on the train.. this includes compression pants! ahhhhh!!!!
The ride is not too bad depart around 8 or so end up at Beijing in the morning around 6ish….. There is a food carriage, a food trolley that also comes around scooting around food and drinks (including bier). Cabins are spacious, upper and lower decks. You get a pillow and a duvet as well as disposable slippers – it’s gone lux!
Step 3 – Find the bus and to be bussed out to the village
Joy o joy… let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! Probably the smiliest pic of the whole trip?
Step 4 – lunch and time to prep
So lunch at base camp was a rice and meat and vegies and then time to pack up, rug up and drug up! Just kidding… Packing our snacks and liquids and then off we go!
Step 5 – hike for hours…
I meant climb, crawl and heave your way up fallen stones, paths and trees…. It’s a lot of fun! Check out those smiles from everyone… Funny to say I was the most un-fit person and last for most of Day 1. And probably one of the older of the team. But it is absolutely breath-taking the views up here and huffin’ and puffin’ and sweatin’ like a pigggiiiieee of course! There was a couple of the group which were afraid of heights so at times doing some of the walking down was not so great for them – hahahaha I meant backwards downwards climbing and hope to god you don’t let go or fall …… (Tip: Don’t do what I did and lug and SLR up there… it’s blooddddyyy heavy and it’s so cold and windy, not great in capturing that perfect shot, but got lots to stitch up for panoramics!
It really is amazing up here…..
Step 6 – Hit the tower
Hit to the tower in time for sunset.. It is also the dinner point and camp point for everyone else on the Tower. My gorgeous hiking girlfriend and I did not camp out as we didn’t have the required gear and it is the WALL, it is almost the start of winter… so – temperatures, overnights not my ideal unless I wanna catch hypothermia!
Oh yah best thing ever for the trip, best news – my hikers decided to FALL APART!!!!! Woot Woot… So the glue on my boots have decided to give way and I am FARKEDDDD as I don’t have a spare pair…. (On a happier note, with finger-less gloves, my nail polish seemed to have survived day 1 – no chips, so maybe the base coat and top coat does do the trick!)
So post camp-fire dinner of meat, rice, stewed vege and whatever else it is I could shuffle down in the wind under the light of campfire…. It was the LONG walk in the DARK home… Out “trusty” new farmer was speeeeeeeeeding through the dark back down to the village… followed by my amazing girlfriend and then me, slow walking it in the dark. Not too sure how well our head-torches really helped us hahaha but there was a nice family of wild board we heard in the dark, tried hard not to in boar shit and trying not to slide and slip all the way down. The latter I did not do well, think I did stack it twice!
Back to base … well this is a bit of a story.
- So we were staying upstairs at the guest house. Issue is – through the nite, there was more bus loads of people come in, so no sleep – everyone is so LOUDDDDDDD and they are all local Chinese groups! Need I say more?
- There was no hot water in the room…. ARGHHH!!!!! No shower to be had.
- Bath room was usable, just.
- There were 2 single beds… hahahaha but mine was situated under a nest of bugs.. so I got to snuggle up and keep warm with my girlfriend hahahah and we did have scarves covering our faces in fear of these bugs! ha ha ha
- Plus side, the owners did bring us up a teapot and tea for us to keep warm!
Day 2 – up we go again!
(Sorry no more steps to this post… just a BIG story to tell and me taking LOTS OF STEPS!)
Rise and Shine!!! As we didn’t camp, it means we need to go early and hike back up to base tower where we left the rest of the group…. and 15 minutes in I was like can I not go… the growl I got was ” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” ha ha ha so up we go! As I am tortoise slow and bloody short, 1 hour later we reach the tower… woot! – so we have had a warm up, by the time I reach the tower and I am sweating like a piigggggiiiieeeeeee so all the layers roll off and I double check my shoes, it’s still in tact and I prayer that the last the day!
Rest of camp is all pulling down their tents and they had some awesome stories about how cold the nite was! See below to see the wind… on of the tents ha ha ha
CLICK HERE TO SEE! >>> (Courtesy of my fellow travellers and that brave soul!) Blowwww me awayyyy
Time to go… look at this view….
So off we go… a few more hours of scrambling, crawling, higher and higher… hands and knees all the way!
The view is breathtaking…
Okay… I am going to say I did sucker in… at one point I did say to our leader….. ” Hey you coming back this way….? ” By this time I had already way been over the raw wall and ready to wait for the group to come back!. But nope, it’s one way all the way….. and it goes on and on and on and on and on.. but as unfit as I am we are still in the time schedule.
We made it!!!!
So the whole hike? How far did we go? ….
And then it’s a climb down and then a bus ride back to base to have a hot lunch!
Lunch it is… nom nom nom… you could feed me anything and I would eat it.. All in all not a bad effort for Day 2, from 6.30 am til just afternoon up up up!
My shoes definitely hit the trash can at base and into my thongs I go… not sure if it was such a good idea.. It’s kinda cold and I have thongs on? But god it feels so goooooodddd!!!
HOME-BOUND
So a bus ride back to Beijing Train Station and a bit of a wait for the train… Some trusty dirty bird, KFC and some tea after that long bus ride is well deserved…. Beijing Station is huge, super safe as there is a tonne of security checks. Only thing I regret is throwing out my hikers … esp when going to the loo in Beijing Station. Whatever happens don’t step in liquids! ha ha ha
Off on the high speed train we go home to Shangas! On the way back, seating was a bit split up… I ended up sitting next to this local lady… poor thing… to sit next to me and my stink from last 2 or 3 days! ha ha ha Being split on the train ride was a quite fun, wechatting my gorgeous girlfriend for gulps of bier and waddling down the aisles at light speed!
ADIOS!
Hey gorgeous girl, thank you for the invitation and making me challenge myself and to go that little bit further! And yes, I can say “WOOOOTTTTT!!!” and I’ve ticked off that item on my bucket list to do the raw wall… And missy, I will never forget your face at Beijing Station or our snuggling at night, ♥ you!
Now am I crazy enough to go back and do more? Sure… one day.. but I think I got to use the stair master a crap load more and do some squat squats before hand.