Touring: The Great Wall

Today we visited the Great Wall of China. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning, the jet lag is pretty  bad. I was sure we would be ok traveling this direction but its been difficult to sleep. We are both doing pretty good during the day, lots to keep us busy, just can't seem to sleep. Oh well, I guess it is preparing us for life with Chloe ;) We skyped the kids around 7a.m. and then headed to the tour bus. 

The Great Wall was amazing! We arrived early, around 9 a.m., and it  proved to be a very good decision. The view was good, the weather beautiful. As we were preparing to leave it was much more overcast and the visibilty was not as great. I had great intentions about climbing the wall, unfortunately my legs/body did not get the memo. I did make it to the second tower you see in the pics (the one that the stream of people are heading to) and was happy to have climbed that far. It is extremely steep! Sean headed further up the wall while I chatted with another group member. Some of our group made it all the way to the thirteenth tower! 

Tonight we will head to an acrobatics show. It sounds like a lot of fun, will hopefully be able to get some good photos. 

Our group - we are really enjoying getting to know everyone

People leave locks along the wall to signify their love.

After the Wall, we stopped at a jade factory and were able to watch as they carved the jade. It was really interesting but a little too rich for our blood. We plan to see what we can find in Guangzhou. 

Tomorrow we leave early for Henan on a train. Soon we will have Chloe in our arms!