Most Inspirational Moment
The Great Wall was amazing and travelling 4 hours to see it in a place where there were not so many tourists (hardly saw another tourist at all) was more than worth the time it took to get there.
Thoughts on Group Leader
I cannot say enough good about her, she was brilliant. She was informative about the culture and people of China, if we needed anything she helped us get it. She was fun, friendly, interesting and a genunely nice person to be with. She made sure we were booked into sleeper berths together and any issues we had she resolved, not that i can remember there being many. We were called Emma's family and she certainly made us feel like a family. I needed help with 2 personal things (one of which was getting a set of false nails fitted the day before i came home, vain i know) she helped me find a beautician who could do it for me, expained my needs and waited for me whilst they were done, really girlie time, great.
Advice for Potential Travellers
You need a sleeping bag liner for the 3rd overnight sleeper train, i would take a mosquito thingymagig for the hotel rooms but i would not bother with a mosquito net. I packed far too much - for the time of the year I went Sept/Oct some shorts and strappy t-shirts were all that were needed for the days, we did not really dress up at night, so jeans, light weight trousers etc., but i would say no high heels (streets are a bit uneven). A fleece and lightweight waterproof jacket is also must. Lemsip as well, lots of our group caught colds. A kindle to pass the time on some of the journeys between sites is also something i used a lot. A packet of baby wipes, squat toilets take some getting used to especially on a moving train.
