Andreas took a night ‘sleeper’ bus from Beijing to Yulin, and then a taxi to Ma Huo Liang where I spent the night. It was good to see Andreas again. By relaying my GPS position to him, his taxi stopped ten metres from where I spent the night. After buying a few last minute provisions and adjusting some equipment we set off.

One of the three most common questions when walking the Great Wall is if I am walking alone. This was the first time since brother Jon returned to Europe I could answer that we are now two.

Following the Great Wall was easy to start off with but grew progressively harder as the valleys created by earth erosion grew deeper and deeper, and also closer to each other. We had to take regular detours.

Andreas is a Great Wall enthusiast (to say the least), and we spent most of the time talking about the sections to the west that we have both walked, and upcoming sections to the east.

We also spent some time talking about our limitations. My sleeping bag isn’t good for much colder weather, and Andreas is not too well equipped for sustained rain. The forecast ‘busts’ both of our limitations within two to four days, but hey – you can’t always trust a forecast 🙂

We covered a good distance today, but the last couple of kilometres were not following the Great Wall. We entered a valley to seek out a potential place to spend the night in a shelter. We found nothing suitable in time and are now getting ready for the night on a secluded field.

27 kilometres today