Carlo Sarion Profile
My enthusiasm for UNESCO World Heritage Sites is rooted in my love for travel, geography, and world cultures. I am originally from the Philippines but now live in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm a biologist, but dabbled in human resources for years when I was in Manila.
Instagram: carlo.sarion
Recent Reviews Carlo Sarion
Te Wahipounamu
Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 02-May-22
I thought that this site did not need any additional reviews. I mean, it’s got heaps of testimonies already, and we all know it’s famous, iconic, and a well-managed site that boasts some of the most beautiful sceneries in the world. But what the heck, it won’t hurt if this site gets another review, right? :D
The previous reviews had highlighted the OUV of this WHS already, so I would just focus on sharing my experience visiting Milford Sound and hiking the Kepler and Routeburn tracks. Visits were on two separate occasions last March 2022.
Read OnNapier Art Deco historic precinct (T)
Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 10-Jul-20
The lifting of restrictions following months of lockdown allowed me to visit some of the inscribed or tentative sites this winter break. My first thought was to visit the different components that make up the Auckland Volcanic Field, but Napier proved to be attractive enough. Date of Visit: July 2020
Description: The UNESCO WHS page of this tentative site indicates that the cityscape is the local government's response to the catastrophic 1931 earthquake that leveled most of the [...]
Read OnArchaeological site of Laodikeia (T)
Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 17-Apr-20
I didn’t know I would become a fan of classical civilizations until I visited Turkey. In fact, Laodikea was not really part of my itinerary but because I was going crazy over ancient Greek/Roman ruins while I was there, I decided to visit Laodikea as my third ancient Hellenistic city within the area of Denizli, after Hierapolis and Aphrodisias. I thought it was a rewarding trip. Date of Visit: August 2017
Description:
Based on its description in UNESCO website: (1) it was “founded as a city in the Hellenistic period” but was later assimilated into the Roman republic, and (2) the city was earthquake-prone and had been rebuilt several times until people had enough and settled somewhere else
Read OnDong Phayayen
Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 11-Jan-20
I noticed that very few of the UNESCO WHS I have visited are natural. Hence, when I was planning my trip to Thailand almost 2 years ago, I made it a priority to visit Khao Yai National Park, the most accessible among the five protected areas that make up the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex. Almost all of the other reviewers have visited Khao Yai in one way or another—as a day trip from Bangkok or as a tour from Pak Chong—so I am just going to add my review to share my experience taking a tour of the forest while staying in Pak Chong. Date of Visit: April 2018
Read OnMeidan Emam, Esfahan
Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 10-Jan-20
I thought of reviewing an Iranian UNESCO World Heritage Site in light of Trump’s recent threat to the country’s cultural sites, as CNN reported. Sheer insanity I thought, but thankfully, Pentagon just completely ignored him as blasting cultural heritage sites constitutes a war crime. Date of Visit: December 2016
Description:
The UNESCO website states that Meidan Emam (also called Naqsh-e Jahan Square) is one of the world’s largest public urban squares in the world, and indeed a tourism icon, with its construction started at the beginning of 17th century
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Carlo Sarion
- Country
- Philippines | New Zealand
- Most Impressive
- Namib Sand Sea, Cappadocia, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Ancient Thebes, Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur, and Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand, Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls
- Proposal
- I am hoping that the PH government will inscribe Mayon Volcano Natural Park and Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 12.11.22
-
Visited WHS
Rating StatsAngkor 5Bagan 5Ephesus 5Istanbul 5Great Wall 4.5Gunung Mulu 4.5St. Petersburg 4.5Fujisan 4Anuradhapura 3.5Guanajuato 3.5Hoi An 3.5Imperial Palace 3.5Ping Yao 3.5Prambanan 3.5Sigiriya 3.5Trang An 3.5Vigan 3.5Yazd 3.5Bolgar 3Kandy 3Nikko 3Puebla 3Red Fort 3Vat Phou 3Baroque Churches 2.5Camino Real 2.5Golestan Palace 2.5Grand Canal 2.5Hué 2.5Imperial Tombs 2.5Kazan Kremlin 2.5Kinabalu Park 2.5Meknes 2.5My Son 2.5Pasargadae 2.5Rabat 2.5Silk Roads 2.5Summer Palace 2.5Sviyazhsk 2.5Temple of Heaven 2.5Thang Long 1.5Macao 1Reviewed WHS
Visited TWHS
- Archaeological site of Laodikeia (T)
- Auckland Volcanic Fields (T)
- Brazilian Fortresses Ensemble (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
- Desert National Park (T)
- Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Home-Study Museum (T)
- Egyptian Museum in Cairo (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Etosha Pan (T)
- Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21)/ Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former Execution Site of S-21) (T)
- Great Sandy World Heritage Area (T)
- Hikone-Jo (castle) (T)
- Historical City Centre of Yogyakarta (T)
- Human Rights, Liberation Struggle and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (T)
- Inle Lake (T)
- Jame' (Congregational) Mosque of Esfahan (T)
- Kahurangi National Park, Farewell Spit and Canaan karst system (T)
- Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
- Mt. Pulag National Park (T)
- Napier Art Deco historic precinct (T)
- Nasqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab (T)
- Palais de la Culture, ancien siège du Ministere de l'Education et de la Santé, Rio de Janeiro (T)
- Persepolis and other relevant buildings (T)
- Persian Caravanserai (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Salt Mines of Maras (T)
- Shwedagon Pagoda on Singuttara Hill (T)
- Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road (T)
- That Luang de Vientiane (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- Vali-e Asr Street (T)
- Waitangi Treaty Grounds (T)
- Waters and seabed of Fiordland (Te Moana O Atawhenua) (T)