Like many of you who will be reading this post, both Jason and I had always heard how amazing the Great Wall of China was, yet we could never fully comprehend the sheer magnitude of it all. It's of course one thing to read about it, see pictures or movies, or listen to stories about it - and another thing to have experienced the glory of the Great Wall. Hiking the Great Wall of China was a sublime moment for us in our lives, physically being on this piece of history, in the middle of nowhere, in utter serenity.

The first thing we did right was NOT travel to the wall with a tour group to one of the more popular, aka "touristy" locations. Rather, we hired a private driver to take us to Jinshanling, a much less traveled part of the wall, where we would be able to hike to Simatai and get picked up from there.

It was certainly no easy feat hiking the 7 miles from Jinshanling to Simatai, as many parts of the wall are completely deteriorated, making it difficult to get a solid step. By far the most intense parts were the practically vertical climbs up stairs that felt like they went on for hours. The easiest way to sum up many of the parts of the trek was like being on a stair master on steroids for hours. Considering both of us have knee issues, we were amazed we were able to actually complete it without too many aches and pains (thanks to lots of ibuprofen!!)

It took us a total of 4 hours to complete the hike at a very leisurely pace so we could take in every moment of the scenery. The rolling hills and blooming cherry blossoms were spectacular, and there was something so magical about the whole area. The lack of people around was also quite surreal, considering how overcrowded China is. Of course, we couldn't avoid the hawkers trying to sell their goods on the wall, but they were pretty easy to shake if you firmly told them NO!.

We did however meet up with a couple of great people to stroll along the wall with (and who happened to be staying at our hotel). Kath and Jake were wonderful company to share the amazing experience and tranquility of the Great Wall of China with. We even all indulged in the flying fox zip line at the end of our journey (as well as drinks at the hotel after), which was an adventure in itself (and it also saved us a mile in walking from the end of the wall to where our car was waiting).

By far trekking on The Great Wall of China will be one of those awe-inspiring experiences in our lives, which we know we will always look back on with moving memories. Since we can't insert pictures into posts while in China, click here to see them!