Boj Profile
Boj completed his Masters in Geography, Urban and Regional Planning at the Peking University in China. His specialization is National Park Management and World Heritage Studies.
Recent Reviews Boj
Bird Migration Routes (T)
Boj Philippines - 09-Oct-22
Visited Saluga and Ghazal or First Cataract Islands Protected Area during travel to Aswan's Nubian Monuments in early October 2022. Also "visited" another Bird Migration Route, Lake Nasser, during the visit to the Kalabsha Temple, but can't write enough about that brief passage.
Saluga and Ghazal are not actually two Nile islands, but a cluster of twenty or more islands. The park superintendent said that in winter, or when the water level is at its lowest, more rock formations appear, revealing fish nests, sandy beaches and other geologic features.
Read OnSaint Catherine Area
Boj Philippines - 25-Jul-22
I had the opportunity to arrange a 3-day visit to the holy site, which included a hike to Mt. St. Catherine - the highest point in Egypt, through the guidance of Ahmed, a Jebeliya Bedouin. He said his tribe has lived for centuries in the mountains of South Sinai.
Perhaps for most travelers, St. Catherine Area means St. Catherine Monastery, and its impressive museum, church and the Burning Bush. But by venturing out in the valleys and canyon (property is 60,000+ hectares), one discovers other interesting chapels, ruins and archaeological sites most likely related to stories in the Book of Exodus.
Read OnThe Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions (T)
Boj Philippines - 19-Jul-22
Just before leaving Baku, I managed to visit Mardakan Square Tower (pictured here) and Ramana Tower. Nardaran Tower still remained closed to tourists (July 2022), much to my disappointment.
In terms of OUV, the selection of properties exhibit the importance of safekeeping the Caspian shore while uniting Azerbaijan with the rest of the Middle East and Europe.
A cause of concern is the private properties (houses and villas) built somewhat close to the tower gates.
Read OnHirkan Forests (T)
Boj Philippines - 19-Jul-22
In July 2022, I arranged a day trip from Baku to Khanbulan Lake, about 3 hours away to Lankaran, close to the border of Iran. I originally intended to arrange a foreist hike within Hirkan National Park, but could not contact any available guide during the Eid ul-Adha holiday.
Instead, I trekked along the lake, admiring the lush forest along the trail. There were tourists camping around the lake area.
I would give it a thumbs up, come inscription time. The park managers argue that the Hirkan forest ecosystems on the Azerbaijan side are just as intact and uncompromised as their Iranian counterparts'. And the locals pledge to protect the territory.
Read OnSouthern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert (T)
Boj Philippines - 31-Jul-21
Egypt's TWHS needs updating; however, I can say that Dakhla Oasis, one of the five "Southern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert" will retain its position as candidate for World Heritage Listing in whatever nomenclature or serial nomination form.
It's currently categorised as a natural site, yet it's easily a Cultural Landscape, either Relic or Continuing, depending on the finalised range of buffer and core zone components. The fortified Islamic town of Al Qasr (the iconic Nasr el-Din mosque photo enclosed) is no longer fully inhabited as of December 2020; yet with careful eye, one can detect how this old town, its past residents and the surrounding landscape had interacted within that certain period of time.
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Boj
- Country
- Philippines
- Proposal
- Batanes Cultural Landscape, Chocolate Hills, Mayon Volcano Natural Park & Galleon Sites
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 07.01.23
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Reviewed WHS
- Saint Catherine Area
- Tassili n'Ajjer
- Sambor Prei Kuk
- Novodevichy Convent
- Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
- Hani Rice Terraces
- Lenggong Valley
- Singapore Botanic Gardens
- Primeval Beech Forests
- Mount Hamiguitan
- Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River
- Mount Wutai
- Yin Xu
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Royal Joseon Tombs
- Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen
- Budapest
- Hollókö
- Vigan
- Baroque Churches
- Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha
- Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries
- Imperial Tombs
- Huangshan
- Fujian Tulou
Visited TWHS
- Abydos, city of pilgrimage of the Pharaohs (T)
- Alexandria, ancient remains and the new library (T)
- Ancient Residences in Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces (T)
- Ancient Tea Plantations of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er (T)
- Apo Reef Natural Park (T)
- Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State: Site at Jinsha and Joint Tombs of Boat- shaped Coffins in Chengdu City, S (T)
- Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension) (T)
- Bird Migration Routes (T)
- Butuan Archeological Sites (T)
- Centre historique de Saida (T)
- Chinese Section of the Silk Road (T)
- Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Coron Island Natural Biotic Area (T)
- Dahab (T)
- Dahshour archaeological area (T)
- Desert Wadis (T)
- Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Home-Study Museum (T)
- Egyptian Museum in Cairo (T)
- El Fayoum (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Gebel Qatrani Area, Lake Qaroun Nature Reserve (T)
- Great Desert Landscapes (T)
- Hirkan Forests (T)
- Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid (T)
- Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves (T)
- Kharga Oasis and the Small Southern Oases (T)
- Lac Abbeh (T)
- Le complexe hydraulique romain de Zaghouan-Carthage (T)
- Le Lac Assal (T)
- Le Parc National de la forêt du Day (T)
- Le paysage urbain historique de la ville de Djibouti et ses bâtiments spécifiques (T)
- Les Îles Moucha et Maskali (T)
- Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Algeria) (T)
- Mayon Volcano Natural Park (T)
- Melka Kunture and Balchit (T)
- Minia (T)
- Mountain Chains (T)
- Mt. Iglit-Baco National Park (T)
- Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (T)
- Mt. Pulag National Park (T)
- Necropolises of Middle Egypt, from the Middle Empire to the Roman period (T)
- Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (T)
- Oasis of Fayoum, hydraulic remains and ancient cultural landscapes (T)
- Paleolithic Archaelogical Sites in Cagayan Valley (T)
- Petroglyphs and Petrographs of the Philippines (T)
- Pharaon Island (T)
- Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (T)
- Ras Mohammed (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Rutho Monastery (T)
- Siwa archaeological area (T)
- Southern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert (T)
- Surakhany, Atashgyakh (Fire - worshippers, temple - museum at Surakhany) (T)
- Temple of Hator built by Ramses III (T)
- Temples, Shrines and other structures of Ancient Kamakura (T)
- The Ancient Waterfront Towns in the South of Yangtze River (T)
- The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- The Chinese Section of the Silk Roads (T)
- The monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun (T)
- The Old Town of Jakarta (T)
- The Tabon Cave Complex and all of Lipuun Point (T)
- Trowulan (T)
- Two citadels in Sinai from the Saladin period (Al-Gundi and Phataoh's island) (T)
- Wooden Structures of Liao Dynasty - Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County, Main Hall of Fengguo Monastery of Yixian County (T)
- Wudalianchi Scenic Spots (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Bird Migration Routes (T)
- The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions (T)
- Hirkan Forests (T)
- Southern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert (T)
- Great Desert Landscapes (T)
- Lac Abbeh (T)
- Desert Wadis (T)
- Paleolithic Archaelogical Sites in Cagayan Valley (T)
- Oasis of Fayoum, hydraulic remains and ancient cultural landscapes (T)
- Siwa archaeological area (T)
- Mt. Pulag National Park (T)
- Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (T)
- Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (T)
- Butuan Archeological Sites (T)
- The Tabon Cave Complex and all of Lipuun Point (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves (T)
- Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
- Mayon Volcano Natural Park (T)
- Apo Reef Natural Park (T)
- Taal Volcano Protected landscape, Batangas (T)
- Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines (T)
- Mt. Iglit-Baco National Park (T)
- Ancient Tea Plantations of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er (T)
- Petroglyphs and Petrographs of the Philippines (T)
- Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension) (T)
Top 50 Missing Sites
- Bagan
- City of Herat
- Coron Island Natural Biotic Area
- Dzongs of Bhutan
- El Nido Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry
- Infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution in Britain
- Lake Titicaca
- Major Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright
- Mecca, Kaaba
- Panama Canal
- Plain of Jars / Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang
- Railways of the Andes
- Rainforests of Polynesia
- Silk Roads
- Suez Canal
- Tana Toraja Cultural Landscape
- The Grand Canal
- Transiberian Railway
- Varanasi