Ecuador with Galapagos

Part 1 How it all started..... Many years ago, as a 17yr old, i worked with a young lady from Quito. She was probably in her 20s, older then me, and much more worldly. She got me interested in Quito, her home city. But at that time i didnt even own a passport, had never been further than North Wales, which was a foreign country to me, a Londoner, back then. We lost touch when my friend returned home. Time went on, i worked at London Zoo, interest in animals, evolution, later i taught science, with a lot of biology, and Charles Darwin was certainly more than a passing interest. So when i saw this trip to Quito and Galapagos, i was keen... very keen. I hesitated, checked finances, checked diary. My arthritis was seriously hurting last winter, so i delayed. The trip became full. No spaces until 2020, I couldn’t plan that far ahead. So i watched the bookings... Then I noticed that someone had dropped out of the first ever trip that this tour company was doing. I pounced... booked on January 25th, departing March 16th. A panic ensued, clothes to buy, insect repellant, insurance, injections.... it all went through in a rush. And suddenly, i was at Heathrow, looking for others travelling with ‘Just You’. This was my second holiday with Just You, Vietnam was the first.

Maybe its time...

I’m just checking to see if this still works. Let me know if anyone is still following this. I need somewhere to put my Quito and Galapagos pix, this might be it.

Vietnam 8 Halong Bay - Part 1

Our itinerary said we were to "travel overland to Halong Bay, one of UNESCO world heritage sites." I had seen pictures but Halong Bay was certainly intriguing and being made into a paradise for tourists while still trying to conserve and preserve its uniqueness. I had some reservations, but the trip was well worth the visit, and spending a night on board a junk boat was a novelty for me and great fun. The port where we picked up our boat was the nearest to an up and coming 'Marbella' type place, time share apartments and huge boats. I suspect this area will be changing very quickly. There were signs of building taking place and when I googled the area later I found huge complex were for sale, some by the week, some as holiday rental propositions.

We were dropped off at a place where we picked up a small boat to get to our main junk boat. It was about the first time health and safety was taken seriously as they made sure we had life jackets, some were even done up!

We were very lucky with the weather, maybe this was the only time! But the sun shone, the view was clear, not too hot, but comfortable to just watch as the rocks loomed up, and then faded into the past... I was reminded of an old computer game called Myst. A pleasant cruise...

Of course, there was a huge meal onboard the junk boat, and local beer... and more...