Lily & The Wall

Tags @GreatRail #GrandTourOfChina
Today we drove from Beijing and visited the Great Wall of China. There was a bit of a slope at the start, but the clients did well and we made it to the Cable Cars with no drama.

I have to say that Cable Cars on Tours in whatever country are my nemesis. I really don’t like the things. They dangle off a piece of string, make awful noises when you go over the supporting structure things and wobble in the wind. To cap it all there’s always somebody who says something like “Oh look there’s a mountain goat” and then everybody rushes over to the same side to look and the bloody thing starts tilting! Still, I plucked up courage today and made it up to the top. There was some morning mist about but we still got some extraordinary views.

The oil in the machinery of the Tour is always the Local Guide. We have one in each city that we travel to and they help us out with local knowledge, language issues and knowing how things ‘work’. We’re lucky enough to have my favourite Beijing Local Guide, Ms Lilly looking after us. She’s a hard worker, and when she’s finished with us for the day, she goes home and looks after her charming 12 year old daughter. Her husband does the same job as me, but he is of course Chinese and takes Chinese people on tours around Europe. Lilly and I had our picture taken together at the very same spot as last year so if I’m lucky enough to continue being offered China Tours then we’re planning to make this photo an annual event.