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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
Displayed times (last time: )
on the
ship, the rate (especially for US$) was extremely bad (with the current
exchange rate at £1=US$1.47, the ship was offering a rate of £1=US$1.70).
At the first ForEx shop I asked at, I couldn't buy pounds with US$
travellers checks unless I first converted the US$ to rand, then converted
the rand to pounds for a poor final rate. However the lady at another ForEx
shop suggested I use a credit card -- as if it's done that way, the ForEx
shop only converts from rands to pounds (with your credit card at home doing
the dollar-to-rand conversion, usually at the official rate of exchange +
1%). I wound up taking out £340 (about US$510), and sure enough, received a
decent rate of £1=US$1.50 (which became £1=US$1.55/US$531 after going
through my credit card -- but was still much better than the 1.70 rate used
on the ship). I later found out about a better option though (and used it
myself a few times): take a cash advance on your credit card right on the
ship. If you do this, they charge only a 1% commission, and other than
that, you only have to deal with the exchange rate your credit card uses
(usually the official rate + 1%).
When finished changing money, I walked around the V&A some more (not
having anything else to do)... looking inside the CNA bookstore, I almost
bought a "Learn Xhosa" book, but in the end passed on the idea. Going into
the Pic 'N Pay, I bought some hot macaroni and cheese, but soon made my way
to St. Elmos for a decent slice of pizza (R7.95/US$1.06) and a milkshake
(R4.90/US65c)... walking past the Ster-Kinekor cinema at the V&A, I noticed
the prices were R26.50 for the 8pm show, and R24 for the 10pm show (last
year the cinema chain dropped their prices from R25 to R18 nationwide -- had
they since raised their prices again, or was it just the V&A cimema
...
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Saint Helena Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
