The Great Wall of China.

Barry, Kim, Robert, Kyle, and I hired a private driver to take us to the Jingshanling section of the Great Wall early this morning, and about 90 minutes drive outside of Beijing, we had arrived at the base. With a large frozen bottle of Watsons water in my back pack, I felt prepared for what was said to be a four-hour walk to the Simatai section of the wall over in the East.

We opted for these sections of the Great Wall for several reasons: it's farther away from the city centre than it is to Badaling, it's far less touristy, way more challenging, and offered a spectacular experience and view of the Great Wall which involved walking across a long suspension bridge towards the end. Badaling, on the other hand, has a cable car running up to the wall so fat American tourists could brag that they've "done the Great Wall" with nothing more than a backpack full of Snicker bars, Big Macs, and a diet Coke. Badaling is also dubbed "The Great Wall of People". That was enough to turn me off completely.

Along the way, there were vendors selling snacks, water, Great Wall books, "I Climbed the Great Wall" t-shirts, and other souvenirs. While I didn't need any more water as I came well prepared with a huge bottle of frozen drinking water which melted little by little as I moved along, I did want a commemorative Great Wall book with full-colour pictures of the wall in various seasons, so I haggled for it.

Some sections of the wall were treacherous to navigate, with plenty of loose and weathered rocks to make you loose your footing. Even the towers themselves were dangerous, as some had caved-in roofs leaving a pile of rocks in the middle. At one particular tower, hikers had to be assisted by other hikers to climb out from the window and jump three feet down back onto the badly weathered wall.

It took us six hours to complete the journey from one section to the other. Our legs gave out on us once we got back into our private van to take us back home. Was it worth it? Oh yes, it most definitely was, but it'll be a while until I set out to do it again.

In China, an age-old proverb states that "one cannot claim to be a hero until he conquered the Wall." Well, I'm glad I finally did, because now, without argument, I am a super-hero.