What goes up must also come down

Went to the Great Wall of China today....my legs are still shaking from all the climbing up and down. Before I could even see the Great Wall, I had to first climb up 1000 steps of stairs. (No, I didn't count, they very nicely posted the number of steps as we were huffing and puffing up them.) At least when I got to the top, the view was quite nice. Though getting back down was another story.

Side note - I've actually been to the Great Wall twice before, once in the wintertime over a decade ago, and once during the summer 3 years ago. But this time the site we went to was quite nice. (I think there are three different Great Wall sites near Beijing.)

You see, the steps that are an actual part of the Great Wall are not the nice steps you see everyday. These steps are steep, high, and narrow. Most of them are at least a foot tall, and some are close to two feet. (I have the pictures to prove it.) Not only is getting up the blasted thing hard. (And remember, this is all during non-airconditioned 30+ degree weather.) But you also have to walk down the blasted thing too. *sigh* I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow......

But it was quite cool to see again, especially since the area was all shrouded in mist today. Pretty awe-inspiring to think this structure was built thousands of years ago. How the heck did the soldiers guarding the place manage to run up and down the thing? Maybe that's why Chinese people tend to be so skinny.......