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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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taken place during spring or summer, and never winter (getting off
the plane it was nice to feel the cool 10C weather in the connection tube
after coming from hot, humid Malaysia).
At Narita we were all required to leave the plane for 40-50 minutes, so I
had a chance to stretch my legs and look around a few of the souvenir shops
by the gates. The one main duty-free shop didn't have anything exciting,
but before leaving, I did wind up buying two ultra-thin pocket shavers at a
snack kiosk. I had no idea if the shavers (Lozenstar, 2-AAA size, Made in
Japan, Y980/US$8.17 each) were any good or not, but decided to pick up two,
as they were cheap enough. Though the snack kiosk accepted US$ cash (with a
sign indicating a US$1=Y120 exchange rate), they also accepted credit
cards... so picking up a Snickers bar and an onigiri as well, I put
everything on Visa. I also tried to change the spare R50 South African rand
note I had into US$ at an airport money changer, but was told they didn't
deal with rand.
The flight from Narita to Los Angeles was supposed to take 9 hours, but
wound up being a bit longer. For most of the time I watched movies (the
current Japanese pick being a children's sci-fi adventure called "Juvenile",
though it wasn't nearly as entertaining as "Space Travellers"), however the
aircraft had constant problems with the entertainment system (with first and
business class totally losing their feed, and coach passengers having to
constantly push the MODE button on the controller to prevent the video from
shutting off). Walking into the lavatory to freshen up in-flight, I
suddenly had the weird sensation that I was only coming to the US to
visit -- for I had been overseas so much recently (8 of the last 24 months)
that I felt as if I was just visiting America temporarily (and as fate would
have it, I'd soon leave again to spend the entire month of May in Japan).
Touching down in Los Angeles at 10:15am I was finally home, and the trip
I had planned and tried to take for so long was now over. Thinking back to
all I had seen and experienced, I realized how lucky I was to have been able
to see these vastly different corners of the world, and while one part of me
felt relieved to be home, another was already wondering when I'd be able to
return.
:::::End:::::
Please visit my webpage for more travelogues, Emailing me, and other things:
http://www.tcp.com/~lgreenf
http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf (mirror)
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Saint Helena Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
