Stairs I Don't Take Two at a Time

Life ambition #3....check. The Great Wall. The only man made object visible from space. I climbed the Great Wall! It was everything I'd ever imagined. Sometimes I get my hopes and expectations up and then am disappointed with the results, i.e. most movies based on Michael Crichton books (Congo, Sphere, Lost World). They are such amazing books and such crappy movies. The Great Wall however, did not disappoint. We toured the Badaling section which was the first to be opened to the public, the most heavily restored and thus the most visited. We got there early and didn't have to fight the crowds to get up. It was a pretty strenuous hike and I definitely couldn't take the stairs two at a time like I normally do.

Once at the top, there wasn't much to do but turn around and come back down. Our tour guided had only given us an hour and a half and some people for lack of time or because of physical condition didn't make it to the top. I also walked in the footsteps of The Amazing Race contestants. It was in season 6 when they had to try unlock a lock with a given key on the Xi'an city wall. The padlocks are supposed to symbolize never ending love.On the way down we met a lot of people trying to get up. I can easily see now why the steps were so worn along the wall. With that number of visitors even stone wears out quickly. What are your life ambitions?