A cold day

 Inspecting the map this morning told us the non-motorway route added 2 hours but followed the motorway, probably as the ubiquitous sandy track full of ruts and washboard, used by heavy lorries not allowed in the motorway. We decided to go on the highway, which was dull but it got us to our destination quickly and we missed nothing in the way of views.  The newsworthy bit was the cold. It was unexpectedly cool with a strong breeze coming straight at us. Once again, it was too little, too late. We all chilled down; nothing like Kyrgyzstan but a reminder that not every day is a summer day. Our target was an old section of the Great Wall of China. Remember, this is Golden Week and quite a reasonable percentage of 1.4 billion people had the same idea.  Disappointing was the general vote. Not a lot of old wall, in fact none at all, only a recreation of the wall built in 1980s. Hurumph. 

Nothing else to report. The hotel is a bit Soviet-meets-Rally-hotel-in-China-vibe. I think the silk sleeping bag liners may be in use tonight.