Yesterday: I got a blood blister on my left foot and was fried by the sun two days ago. In order to cool down and get things sorted out on the picture gallery, we spent yesterday in Wuwei.

There were many young students staying at the hotel and Jon learnt that three days of exams start tomorrow, throughout the whole of China.

Our friendly taxi driver friends drove us to the last starting point.  We were given a delicious water melon and other fruits as a farewell gift. They didn’t want payment for the trip either, which was very generous of them.

The Wall was easy to follow today, but the sun was taking it’s job seriously. After 1.30 pm it got very hot. It still felt very hot at 7 pm.  Now that the evenings are getting lighter,  we may take a longer break at noon to stay out of the sun at the hottest part of the day.

As we closed in on the mountains, which we will be crossing tomorrow, we heard a friendly voice saying: Hello – how are you? This was 25 year old Gao Jia.  She asked if we wanted to have a drink at her parent’s house. In the same breath, she said that she was getting married tomorrow (!) We thanked her and accepted her offer. It was a real treat to speak to her and to meet her family.

Emma and Brendan – if you are reading this, we have met the same lovely girl that you met on your 2007 walk! And she’s getting married tomorrow!

They are expecting about 100 guests and as tradition will have it, she was spending her last night at home with her parents before she moves in with her husband after the wedding tomorrow. Although a lot was happening, she still had time to ask if we wanted a shower. We gratefully said yes and were driven to her Uncle’s place where they had a shower complex.

We made sure to make an early exit from the scene so that Gao Jia had time to finish her arrangements and to get some sleep tonight. We are sleeping at her Aunt’s house.

To other Great Wall walkers: The Wall passes Tumen, so there should not be a problem stocking up on water before going in to the mountainous section.

Trude: Imorgen er det fullmåne! 🙂