The bus from Zhangjiakou left about half past one today. I was amazed that none of the guys lit up a smoke as we got going. There wasn’t a ‘Non smoking’ sign in the bus, but could have been in characters. Anyway – I enjoyed every bit of the ride. The bus wasn’t crowded. Another thing I noticed was that the driver used his horn a lot less than I have seen before. He only used it to warn people who were crossing the road without looking to both sides, that they were seconds from being run over. This happens pretty often, and I’m amazed there are not more accidents.

After some road walking I headed off into the mountains. Looks like I could have chosen one valley earlier than I did. Anyway – I hooked up with the Great Wall and started climbing up and up. It started blowing just as I saw a beautiful section of Great Wall ahead of me with stone walls. I thought it was best to set up the tent as the sun was setting (behind a layer of clouds) so tomorrow will start off with a scenic walk. What more can one ask for?

I have four litres of Ice Tea, two take away dinners, salty peanuts, Snickers bars and some cakes and biscuits I got at the bus station. These mountains are pretty remote, and there are very few villages around. I expect I will have to detour quite far from the Great Wall to get more supplies in a couple of days time.

Very happy I brought the winter sleeping bag. It’s only eight o’clock, but already chilly.

10 kilometres today