I have seen three geckos today. They ran away as soon as they saw me. Even saw a snake today. Quite small and dead. It looked like it died recently.

A farmer came over as I packed my gear. He was particularly interested in the tent, so I showed him step by step how I took it down. He helped fold one of the tent poles, and was surprised at how light it was.

Today started with a sharp ascent straight into the mountains that the Great Wall has been skirting the last days. It was very hard going and got worse. Towards the end of the hardest part, I was unsure which side of The Wall to choose. Started up the right side which revealed a stoney area that was very steep. Took of my rucksack to examine closer, and found out it was too dangerous. The other side was better. It is often difficult to choose the correct side as one cannot judge properly until actually standing at the spot.

Got to walk on top of the Great Wall for a fair distance of the day too. In the beginning it was 4-5 metres wide, and great fun to walk on – even with the wind.

Once I was up, The Wall took loads of twists and turns to keep on high ridges. It was hard going and I took a few proper rests.

Towards the end of the day my right knee was aching. Don’t know if it is because of today’s walk, or a fall I nearly had yesterday. Tomorrow will be a nice day with a slow descent into the next valley, and then a walk to, and along, the next range of mountains.

17 kilometres today