Walking the Great Wall

Fantastic, group tour, guide (jerry was such a nice guy and nothing was to much trouble for him) , food, weather and the organising from start to finish was superb.

An absolutely fantastic holiday! This was the most incredible experience to trek along The Great Wall of China and it exceeded our expectations.

Excellent adventure holiday - just the right amount of physical and mental challenge. I also learnt so much more about Chinese history and culture than I thought I would thanks to our fabulous tour leader Jerry. All in all a fantastix experience and I would thoroughly recommend it.

My first Exodus trip into a country I didn't know and with people I didn't know. - I am already looking to book my next one. The Great Wall was amazing, with spectacular and breathtaking views. The walking was great, well planned and everyone done it at there own pace, no harassment to hurry, although there was some steep and challenging sections, I am not a seasoned walker and I managed them without too much effort. Our group of 15 got along great, fun-loving, witty, sociable with interesting lives, this group of people helped make this trip unforgettable. The hotels were all good and the food second to none, except maybe the sandwich for the one packed breakfast we had (don't believe the stories of being offered dog and scorpions).The Xian extension was really worthwhile, not only to see the terracotta warriors, but also to experience the sights and sounds of this lovely city and the food market also overnight train from Beijing to Xian.

I enjoy hiking and love the Far East for its culture so this trip was a good choice when comparing length, cost, activities and travel involved. The majority of the time was spent hiking the Great Wall (6 days). A worry I had before setting off were that it could be quite monotonous spending all your time walking on a wall but I was pleasantly surprised to find that each day and usually multiple times during the same day the terrain would vary from fresh reconstructed parts of the wall to sections that were ruins and had not been touched for hundreds of years. The constant ups and down, with some sections being *very* steep, some minor scrambly sections, areas that looked to have a sheer drop to one side and also not really knowing what was coming next as you headed around a corner or over a ridge made for a fantastic hike. The scenery was amazing, seeing the Wall snaking over the beautiful mountain ridges for miles into the distance leaves you in awe of the sheer scale of its size and human effort that went into building it. The apricot trees were blossoming and the skies were blue for most of the trip. Walking the untouched areas meant that for the majority of the trip we were the only group walking the wall which added to the experience and lessens that feeling of "being a tourist". One day we did walk a beautiful but touristy part of the wall that was fairly packed with visitors but this was a nice experience, especially the huge groups of local school children who wanted to practice their English skills with us and take selfies with members of our group. At the homestays the local families were friendly and welcoming and the food provided was outstanding, and quite different to the usual fried Chinese food you may be used to in the UK. Our final day was spent in Beijing, visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which is a worthwhile experience and along the way we attempted Tai Chi, visited a Taoist shrine, saw a Kung Fu and an acrobatics show as well as some shopping in town. This was just a small taster of the China experience and it did leave me wanting to visit other parts of that vast country at some point. I've been on a few Exodus tours and I've been fortunate once again to have shared this one with an extremely friendly, kind and funny group of people that made the trip all the more enjoyable.

A personal journey into the unknown became a truly memorable experience. My first Exodus trip into a country I didn't know and with people I didn't know. With the wisdom of restrospect, I possibly should have known that such a venture would bring together like minds - adventure seeking, fun-loving, witty, sociable, interesting lives - yes, all of these. I was so lucky to be thrown into this group of people and they made it for me.

The trip was well organised and was as described in trip notes. Any changes to itinerary were made by the group leader and as for example our early visit to Tiananmen Square and the forbidden Palace were excellent choices because of the timing of the trip and National Day!!! The accommodation was generally as described in the trip notes but home stay was quite basic and cold!!! The Qing Feng Hotel was very basic and the food not up to the standard of other accommodation. One of our best lunches was at the farm on day 5. The extension to Xian was well organised but again extremely busy which made it very difficult to feel the full impact of the site. The over night train journey fine but quite and experience!

A very enjoyable itinerary to see sections of the Great Wall that are free from the tourist crowds. As stated in the Trip Notes, there are a number of sections where you need to be careful walking and/or which may be unpleasant for those suffering from vertigo. However, in a few (not all) situations it was possible to detour around certain sections. The trip also included visits to some of the restored sections of the Wall. The section near Gubeikou (last two days) had spectacular views and few other tourists. I also did the Xi'an Extension, which was a quick but enjoyable trip to Xi'an, mainly to see the Terracotta Warriors. It would have been nice to have an extra day in Xi'an so something worth considering. I enjoyed the food throughout the trip but it is worthwhile to note that most of the meals (particularly at the guest houses) is served communal style with a number of different dishes served to the table - meals are not ordered individually and the dishes served are to be shared amongst the group.

I have waited for the last 3 years to go on this trip having been stopped by one thing or another, but now I have finally done it and it was everything that I had hoped for and more. It was tiring, it was exhausting, it was Magic. The whole thing from start to finish was perfect, (well apart from the flight home) the guide met me at the airport and looked after me until he dropped me off to catch my flight home, thank you Jerry.

Walking was moderate to challenging in places for some people, the very fit may have found the pace slowed down a bit but more time to take in the views! The less walked sections were the best and we met very few other people unlike the more tourist sections but it didn't feel too over crowded in May. The guest houses were mainly better than we had anticipated, all were clean and the hosts were exceptionally welcoming and the food was plentiful.