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Recent Reviews Joyce van Soest


Masjed-e Jâme'

Joyce van Soest The Netherlands - 04-Jan-13

The Jameh Mosque is the third World Heritage Site in the beautiful city of Esfahan (Meidan Emam en Sotun Palace (part of the The Persian Garden World Heritage Site) are the other ones).

The mosque is one of the oldest in Iran, with architecture from the last 12 ages. Walking through the enormous complex you can see a lot of different styles. You can find old brick halls but also beautiful fine mosaics. This is definitely a mosque where you can explore for a long time.

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Persian Garden

Joyce van Soest The Netherlands - 20-Jan-12

Persian Garden

All over Iran you can find beautiful gardens. Nine of them are inscribed on the list and I visited six of them.

To fully appreciate it, you should visit the gardens not in wintertime, which unfortunately I did. Most of the fountains in the gardens won't have water in it and the trees are mostly without leaves and there will barely be any flowers.

I did enjoy them nonetheless.

I first visited Bagh-e Eram in Shiraz. There was no water in the canals but the turquoise pond in front of the beautiful Eram palace and the surrounding palm trees from the Canary Islands were lovely.

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Dengfeng

Joyce van Soest The Netherlands - 16-Jan-11

Dengfeng

I visited Dengfeng in 2009 and I didn't know it was going to be a WHS at that time. The reason I came here was the famous Shaolin monastery. Besides Chinese tourist groups, there was little tourist infrastructure for the individual tourist (it was hard finding a hotel and restaurant) so I didn't know about the other important places in the area. Visiting the Shaolin temple was impressive though. The complex is large and I especially liked the large wall with frescos (see picture). There's also a large pagoda forest and some other temples. Going up the mountain you will get to the cave where Boddhidarma meditated for nine years and where apparently zen Buddhism started and also Shaolin boxing

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Tiwanaku

Joyce van Soest The Netherlands - 05-Jul-08

Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) is a complex of buildings, temples and a pyramid from pre-Inca times and is therefore Bolivia's most important archeological site.

The site consists of two museums and the archeological grounds with the buildings. One museum hosts mostly ceramic artifacts and the other one only hosted one sculpture by the time I visited it (June 2008). More artifacts and sculptures will be brought from the archeological site to the museums in the near future for preservation.

The archeological site has a piramide that covers more square meters than the one from Geops in Egypt, but is less tall. Total excavation is to be done in about 7 years

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Arequipa

Joyce van Soest The Netherlands - 05-Jul-08

Arequipa

Ah, beautiful Arequipa, the colonial city surrounded by snowy volcanoes. The city has some beautiful churches and buildings with very ornate facades, there’s a nice vibe on the Plaza de Armas but the highlight of the city is the Santa Catalina Convent. Built from the white local Sillar stone, and often painted red or blue, this convent is an oasis in the busy city. It’s pretty much a small city within the city with it’s little charming streets, houses with ovens, squares with religious paintings and staircases.

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Profile Data

Name
Joyce van Soest
Country
The Netherlands
Most Impressive
Decani Monastery, Kosovo (it is not only a beautiful monastery, but going to the monastry protected by armed soldiers is an experience by itself)

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Update 27.01.24
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