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Detailed travelogue on visiting the remotest inhabited islands in the world (Tristan da Cunha and St Helena), also South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia. Very interested read, and indexed.
Remotest Islands in the World St Helena, Tristan da Cunha + S. Africa, Malaysia, mor
Larry2006-05-27 03:20:07
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call, but finding a
working card phone in Malaysia is something easier said than done, as most
are usually broken. Finding one inside the Federal Hotel, I soon realized
that the cards I bought at KLIA wouldn't work on phones outside the airport,
though one of the staff at the hotel mentioned I could buy normal cards at a
7-11. Walking back to the 7-11 on Jalan Alor (across the street from the
Seasons View), I was told they were sold out -- so I walked into another
nearby shop where the Chinese cashier sold me a "Time Kontact" phone card.
"Time Kontact" is a private company which sells disposable scratch-off
cards where you dial a toll-free number (1-800-182-661) and enter your
card's number to place the call. Available in different amounts, I first
bought a RM20/U$5.26 card to try (minus 5% tax, it had RM19 worth of calls),
and even with problems in reaching Time Kontact's network from time to time,
they were still more reliable than the constantly-broken card phones on the
street -- and as Time Kontact would work from coin phones as well, I wound
up going through quite a few of the cards. Upon first trying to use them
that evening though, I kept receiving a "Sorry, all lines are busy"
recording... so when someone told me that the newsstand next to the KFC
sells "normal" Telekom Malaysia phone cards, I went over to buy one. At
first the Indian guy there thought I wanted to buy another "Time" card, but
after explaining to him that I wanted to buy a Telekom Malaysia card, he
sold me one for RM10/US$2.63. Finally stumbling upon a working card phone,
I tried to call my brother overseas -- only to receive a recording saying
"sorry, that number is not recognized." Dialing slowly, I eventually did
get through, though Telekom Malaysia card phones are almost always broken in
one way or another -- and some (on purpose or
...
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
