THE CHALLENGE: IN A NUTSHELL

• 6 full days of fairly arduous walking
• 70 kilometres - but not as the crow flies - ah yes, the steep ascents & descents need to be factored in! **
• Walking along some of the more challenging sections in the mountains, along remote, allegedly "wilder" areas of the wall
• Following the contours of the hills, many stretches of the Great Wall are strenuous climbs with plunging descents
• Photographic evidence shows steep precipices on either side of some walking parts. Not for the faint-hearted!
• Perhaps it should be highlighted here that this challenge is NOT Survivor-type reality TV - we shall not be voting each other off!

**As my ex-boss, Former Publisher of Reader's Digest Asia said "errr Lou, errrr 70 kilometres it isn't ...errr...very far". :)   I wish I had replied "ah yes, but we aren't just casually walking round ' n' around Victoria Park in Hong Kong"  :)

Thanks Jase Pacey for the tip-off about walking sticks!

Jan Littlewood of HK HIKING.COM - thanks for the great training tips you sent by email & love your fabulous hiking books! (Working my way through your 2nd book "Hong Kong's Higest Peaks"!). Well worth checking out...

www.hkhiking.com

ROUTE FOR THE 6-DAY GREAT WALL OF CHINA TREK

from Juyongguan Pass Wall (13) to Simatai Great Wall (3)

Via Mutianyu (8), Gubeikou (5) & Jinshanling (4)

Below is a Map which shows where the Great Wall 6 Day Trek will start & finish.

Source of Map:  http://travelchinaguide.com

We start off on some of the toughest sections - at Juyongguan Pass Wall (13).

Many of the photo's you see published in guidebooks & brochures are taken in this section.

On to Mutianyu (8), one of the first sections to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Then commence to Simatai Great Wall (3) - via Gubeikou (5) & Jinshanling (4). We finish off on another tough section but one of the most stunning parts, the area where the wall divides Mongolia & China ("Wild Wall territory").

Hopefully we will meet some local villagers & be able to practice "ni hao", "xie xie", then "zai jian"...

TREK ORGANIZERS:

This trip is organized by Inspired Adventures, an organisation based in Sydney Australia. They arrange amazing trips such as this to amazing destinations all over the world - to raise funds for different charities.

www.inspiredadventures.com.au

Why not do a trip yourself for your chosen charity & help raise vital funds? But don't forget to come back here!  :)

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 SPECIAL THANKS TO THE ROYAL HONG KONG YACHT CLUB...

...for the following which appears in the September issue of "Ahoy!"