Wide Awake

It's just gone 6am on Monday morning and I find myself thinking that the whole thing's a bit surreal at the moment. Our arrival into Beijing was fairly ordinary - bright lights, big city, KFC and Starbucks!!

We were collected by Nick, our guide for the week, and the Chinese team who will help co-ordinate everything with him. The journey from the airport to our first night's accomodation was slightly hysterical - although I think the time difference and varying amounts of sleep on the plane were definitely contributing factors.... Lunch at the hotel was delicious and we were left to our own devices until dinner.

'Team 3208' (based on the room number shared by Simon, Tom and myself - we're nothing if not imaginative) decided that a power nap was the order of the day - and after a quick 90 minutes we joined a large number of Trekkers by the pool for a swim. Christine arrived in the afternoon and now the group is complete.

We'll be leaving the hotel and heading to The Wall today, so this is (to quote a colleague of mine) 'where the rubber hits the road'. During last night's briefing, Nick told us that today's journey would be the 'most touristy' - Mutanyiu is one of the popular tour stops for the 'high-heeled brigade' i.e. tourists who take a cable-car to the top of The Wall, have their photos taken, then take the cable-car back down - apparently they also regard groups like ours with a disinterested air!! Anyway, the point is, today will be a real contrast to the rest of the week as The Wall is in relatively good condition; there will be lots of people about; and there is a local 'market' for trinkets etc. The walking will set specific challenges today as we recover from jet lag and acclimatise ourselves to the unexpectedly high temperature - it's likley to be in the low 30's today.

So, with a mixture of excitement and a little bit of 'first-night' nerves I'll sign off.

H