Most Inspirational Moment
The Great Wall of China is awesome and even though it came at the beginning of the trip it was fantastic and is something I will never forget. I have not seen photo's or video footage that does it justice it really is a WOW moment when you get to the wall itself and see it snaking away over precipitous hills. This does not mean the rest of the trip was an anticlimax, far from it. Everything we saw was interesting and there were other wow moments throughout the trip. The only down side I can think off was the trip to the Great Buddha, whilst this is a magnificent statue cut into the cliff all the travelling for 10 minutes there was a bit much.
Thoughts on Group Leader
William was great. He could not do enough for us. His knowledge of the cultural sites was in depth and he gave us it small chunks so that we could digest a little bit at a time. We had a disparate group and William made sure all the party were catered for, from letting some of us hike the Great Wall for 4 hours to making sure the less able of the group still got a chance to see it and arranging local guides to help. His choice of restaurants and local knowledge of the places we visited made sure we tasted the real China. Not all the meals were to my taste as I must admit I did get a bit tired of rice and noodles but that is no fault of Williams jsut me having a westerm palate. My camera broke after just 5 days there and William was great in helping me buy a new one as there is not a lot of English spoken in rural China.If you go on this trip and get William as a guide you will have a great time
Advice for Potential Travellers
The trip is quite hectic at first and there is some lugging of cases and time spent in railway stations but it is all worth it. The train journeys can be a little drawn out and whilst they have improved the third leg of the trip I would still recommend taking a sleeping bag liner. Just go with an open mind and you will have the experience of a lifetime.