Why have I got a manky camelback?

The cockerel, chickens, ducks, dogs and EVERY OTHER ANIMAL IN THE WORLD kept the camp awake for most of the night. But that was it! Our last night in a tent DONE!

 Tonight we would be sleeping on the basic, small, hard beds from our first night in Beijing and I couldn't wait. 

Now I don't mean to brag but I was so warm in my sleeping bag last night that I actually managed to take my arms out!!

As usual we packed our bags before heading for breakfast. Mr J obviously wanted the campsite packed up ASAP. He started taking the tents down even if we were still getting ready.

Hot Water

Tea

Watermelon

Oreos (all different kinds)

HUGE puff cakes 

Porridge 

Egg Fried Rice 

and NOODLES!!

Mr H had been called off unexpectedly so Mr J had to do two runs up the mountain, to drop us off at our starting point.

I went up with the first group and as we waited for the rest we did our own warm up, 'forward an inch, up an inch and all the way around', and discussed 'manky camelbacks'

Once they arrived we started our CLIMB towards 'The Beijing Tower'. 

We were barely 10 minutes in to our walk when an old man burst out of his home and started shouting at us. Obviously he was speaking Chinese so we had no idea what was going on. All we could figure out was that he wasn't letting us through.

Stony got straight on the phone to Mr J who must have talked some sense in to the old man.

Once we were on our way Stony told us that that man wanted to check that we weren't going to start a bush fire. (Damn! There goes that plan!)

In true Stony style the walk was tough. It seemed to go on for forever. Due to the haze and the trees we couldn't even see the tower so we had to trust Stony when he said, 'almost there'. I lost track of how many times he said 'almost there'. 

The walk was STEEP, you really had to pull yourself up using your sticks, hands or trees. We had regular stops in order for us to catch our breath or strip off. 

It was really tough and as Phil pointed out there wasn't even a picnic to look forward to.

At one point Kate took at step back and almost fell straight in to a spider's web! 

(I don't have a picture of this spider but it was BIG and bright green)

 As always the group pulled together and there were reassuring messages and warnings passed through the group from the guys ahead (loose rock, low branch, wow moment etc).

Finally we made it and found out that you couldn't even get in to the tower.

'The Beijing Tower' was set on top of rocks which we used as seats. If you wanted to get around or should I say over to the other side you had to hold onto a metal railing.

We made sure we took plenty pictures, some more daring than others. 

After a few minutes R&R Stony suggested that we start our descent. The climb 

down was just as hard. We walked in single file and took our time. The first person to fall was Jayne. Although we only knew because of Lorraine's cries. Shortly after that Ali fell, then Becca and finally Phil.

My mistake, Mr Lee built steps for us today not yesterday!

Once we were flat we walked through a farm where Lorraine experienced 'lovely pink apples' for the first time.

Mr J & Co were waiting for us just outside of the farmers house. They took us to Mr J's house where dinner was served and we said our goodbyes.

This the one meal I haven't written down but I do know it was a mix of all our favourite dishes (minus chips).

Once we had finished lunch, Muriel stood up to deliver a thank you speech which she pretended she had written on toilet paper. 

Stony translated for us. Mr J told us he was happy we were there and that he looked forward to our next visit to China. He also told us that we were always welcome to stay with him. 

Once we had hugged everyone goodbye, including Mr Lee, we boarded the bus. As the bus pulled away kept waving until they were little dots.

Two minutes into the journey Stony received a phone call from Mr J to tell him that someone had left a water bottle and he was on his way to drop it off. 

Once he arrived at the bus I broke my heart!! I couldn't stop crying!! Phil made it worse by telling me we had also left Neal behind! I literally cried myself to sleep.

I slept all the way back to Beijing. When I woke up the sky was really dark, turns out it was the second highest pollution rating. 

A few of us decided that as a treat, after checking in, we would go and buy some new clothes before dinner.

If only it was that easy. When we left on Monday we brought our bags down to the lobby, they piled them up in the corner and blocked them off. That's where they stayed until we came back. Everyone's but ours. Nobody seemed to know where our bag was. As you can imagine Becca and I weren't happy. UNTIL the security man came in and told us he had moved it to a special place because he didn't want anyone to steal it. 

After running to H&M for some clothes I had the nicest shower I have had since 2012.

We met in the lobby at 7 and waked up to the restaurant with a beer in our hands. 

It was a traditional Peking Duck restaurant called, 'Four Seasons, People Happiness' (according to Neal).

It looked lovely and judging by the amount of people waiting outside it was going to be nice. We had two tables, Stony sat on one, Neal sat on ours. 

The waiter gave us all a china 'tray' with:

 Sugar

 Pickles

 Garlic

Traditional duck sauce 

Cucumber 

spring onions

A few minutes later he came back with several dishes and a whole duck which was carved in front of us.

Dates on Ice

Broccoli

Pak Choi in Soy Sauce

Popcorn Chicken with Strawberry Sauce

Spicy Beef

Pork

Onion Bread

Pancakes

'Popped' Pancakes

The duck was served at separate times and each plate was to be eaten in a certain way. 

1st plate: Dip the skin in sugar, and the meat in the pure garlic sauce.

2nd plate: make the pancake with a rule of three.

3rd plate: as you wish

The waiter showed us the correct way to construct a pancake.
(Depending on what you put into it)

When you are left with the head all you can eat is the brain which just tastes like pâté.

 The meal was hăochī.

As soon as I realised it was time to say goodbye to Neal I burst into tears. He went around the group and took photos with everyone individually. 

He thanked us and said we were all his family. Last night he had dreamt that some of us left the camp, he didn't know who it was as all he could see was the back of us but he woke up sobbing. 

It was awful saying goodbye to Neal. We all had a soft spot for him and you could see how upset he was.

On our way back we stopped at a shop to buy a dressing gown before buying a beer and having a dance in the square.

On our way back to the square we bumped in to my follower from the first night, he was polite enough to say hello this time!

I am so pleased to say that they were doing the 'conga' style dance. I was desperate for Muriel to come back from the toilet so we could join in. What I didn't realise was that she was already in the middle, dancing. Much to the locals amusement. I have no doubt we are on youtube or the Chinese equivalent somewhere.

The song lyrics are something about going left and right, you kick out to the opposite side.

Kick right x2

Kick left x2

Jump forward

Jump back

Run x4

REPEAT

As always by the end of the night it was just Becca, Phil, Chris, Kate and I. We popped to the supermarket on the way home to get some supplies and took our usual place outside of the hotel until 1am.