Our Trip So Far...

hi nick, hope this works. we are now in south wales in camarthen staying with relatives but to backtrack a little. china was great and would have liked to have spent more time there - perhaps a tour more of the interior away from the big cities.the forbidden city and summer palace tours in beijing were well worth a visit. we had a guide who was able to give us a running commentary on the history. one of the highlights of our trip has been the 10k walk along the great wall. we were with a mixed age group and all of us found it extremely tough going but scenery spectacular. near the end of the walk you can take a flying fox across the water to shorten the journey. china is very cheap and the people very friendly despite the language barrier which was not a problem. London was hectic. we got the red bus tour and thames cruise combined and the commentary on both was funny and informative. we walked up st pauls cathedral and got a great view of the city - not as spectacular as the london eye maybe but a lot cheaper other highlights have been the isle of skye and walking in the cuillan mountains, walking up ben nevis at fort william, walking up snowdon in wales and hiking in the lake district and connemarra county in ireland. wales scenery very similar to ireland/scotland but their castles seem in a better state of repair. canaervon castle and pembroke castle had guided tours and video presentations.we have only got three days before heading off for paris. we hope to travel to london via bath as everyone says it is worth a visit. the floods have not affected us but we have copped a fair amount of rain but our tent remains dry - so far all for now from the happy hikers.