With the first steps along the Great Wall in the Gobi desert, a 21 year old dream had come to life. I didn't know how long time it would take to complete it. All I knew was that I had taken all the necessary steps to start living the adventure!
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The Gobi desert is enormous, as is the Great Wall winding its way through the sandy inhospitable landscape. On longest stretch without people I hauled ten liters of drink, and three kilo's food to be sure to make it...
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These tombs are from the Xixia dynasty that Genghis Khan personally led an army to destroy 1226 . All known written history was destroyed, and every soul in the capital killed. Only lately have we started learning about the Xixia people.
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The combination of cold weather, little food and water often led to exhaustion and at times dangerous situations.
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When the nighttime temperatures dropped below -25C / -13F, I would seek refuge inside. As I was carrying all equipment on my back, that was the lowest temperature I could endure.
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The Hebei and Beijing areas are very mountainous. Some days I would only walk 5 km per day. Some sections were left out altogether as they were too dangerous.
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Temperatures rose up to 45C / 113F the summer of 2010. The heat was crippling, and I could spend up to 3-4 hours resting under trees in the middle of the day. Every evening in the tent, I would stay awake to cool down before being able to sleep.
Read moreCold and pretty miserable day today. Clouds + wind = freezing cold. I took only one picture today which says a lot. Walking 40 kilometres takes about 8 hours, but then there are always some small breaks here and there that add up. I also took a break to eat […]
Honestly – I don’t remember that much from this day. I took only 7 pictures and was mostly focused on getting an early start, and doing some good walking. It was pretty cold, and the wind was fairly strong. Toward the end of the day, I got to a river […]
This was an exciting day. As I have mentioned before my route, walking the Great Wall of China in Liaoning is based on an old map. Kim of the Great Wall Forum has been kind enough to help me make small adjustments on the route so that it follows potential […]
I was so tired after todays’s walk that I just pitched the tent, sent off the GPS signal, wrote a few notes in the diary and then fell asleep. The first 10 km were in pretty hilly terrain. I walked them with one of the photographers I met the day […]
They probably both need an explanation. The Phantom (Fantomet in Norwegian) is a cartoon that I have been reading for more than thirty years. The Phantom is a strong masked hero that is tough against the tough. He has dedicated his life to fight against unjust, and has a particular […]
On Wednesday I got a chance to meet up with Kim and Andreas from the Great Wall Forum. Andreas and I have joined up on the Great Wall twice before so it was a lot of fun to see him again. There is never a slow moment around him, and […]
Next time I return to the Great Wall I will pass in to Liaoning – the last province on my walk along the entire Ming Dynasty Great Wall. To put things into perspective, have a look at the Great Wall Route. Each blue dot indicates where I ended a day […]
Sorry for not writing that much lately. As I wrote a few days ago, I was feeling extra tired. On Friday (1st) I woke up with a sore throat and feeling a bit groggy as we say in Norwegian, but pushed on. This was the Chinese National Day. I saw […]
There has been rain the last 14 hours and a lot of thunder. I cannot send or receive text messages. Will stay here another night and try to get through the mountains tomorrow.