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Very detailed travelogue on visiting the remotest inhabited islands in the world: Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena, as well as S. Africa, Malaysia and Singapore, and Indonesia. Very informative, full of tips, history, what it was like to visit and stay there, indexed by country. Visit my webpage for this and other downloadable travelogues: http://www.tcp.com/~lgreenf
These are fascinating islands. Tristan has only 238 people, all with same 7 last names.
Remotest Islands in World St Helena, Tristan da Cunha + S Africa Malaysia, More
Larry2006-05-27 03:40:04
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he could call the Malaysian ticket office in Kuala Lumpur for
me, but was told their phones wouldn't call out overseas. Still, he kindly
sent a Telex to the office in KL informing them that I would definitely buy
the Penang ticket upon my arrival into Kuala Lumpur, and said he'd have a
copy of the Telex for me by the time I boarded the plane.
I then tried to call home to check my messages, but for some reason none
of the telephones at the airport were placing overseas calls correctly
(giving a fast busy after just a few digits). When I asked the lady at a
snack shop to change a bill so I could try some of the coin phones, her
surly response was "the bank wouldn't give it to you?" -- right under an
airport sign reading "Come A Visitor, Leave A Friend."
At the ABSA ForEx Bank (the only one in the terminal) not only was the
rate bad, but they charged R22 commission -- so for the R40 I wanted to
exchange it just wasn't worth it (they also didn't deal with Malaysian
ringget). One thing to note though, is that it's very hard to change rands
outside of South Africa, so if you have any rands left, make sure you've
spent them before reaching the airport.
Trying another phone, it worked for calls within South Africa, but not
for overseas ones. Realizing I still had time, I decided to walk over to
the domestic terminal... there, the phones worked for calls to the US (I had
my dad call me back), but not to Hong Kong.
Returning to the international terminal, it was finally time to board the
flight, and there to meet me at the boarding gate was the Malaysian Airlines
employee from upstairs, handing me a printout of the Telex he had sent to
KL.
The flight today started out in Buenos Aries, and would continue from
Cape Town to Johannesburg before flying onto Kuala Lumpur. During the
flight to Johannesburg,
...
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Saint Helena Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
