Kevin McFarland Profile

We are a cross cultural family of four (5 year old son and 2 year old daughter) for the past 9 years and counting, explored over 50,000 miles along the Silk Roads and the far lands of the earth! Since August of 2024l, we have called Armenia our new home after years of traveling between Asia and the USA. We hope to forge new friendships in this small yet ancient nation while also setting up a central base to explore the Silk Roads more in depth.

While exploring far lands, researching and attempting to visit the UNESCO Sites are one of my top priorities. I fell WHS give a good introduction to a nation beyond simply what's popular, but what makes it important in a global level. It also has led to some fun adventures to reach some of the more remote sites!

United States Last Update 21.06.25 162 WHS Visited 2 Reviews 162 WHS Rated 102 TWHS Visited

Visited Sites Kevin McFarland

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Legend

  • ●● Cultural
  • ●● Natural
  • ●● Mixed

Recent Reviews Kevin McFarland

Silk Roads: Early Period (Prehistory) (T)

Kevin McFarland United States - 21-Jun-25

Silk Roads: Early Period (Prehistory) (T)

In the summer through fall of 2023, my family and I spent 6 months traveling by land from Armenia to eastern China retracing the Silk Road. Following the UNESCO tentative of sites through Central Asia proved very helpful in tracking down some relatively unknown sites that still hold value to the greater exchange of trade and religion that these ancient routes represented. One of these sites was the Early History of the Silk Roads in Kazakhstan.

While having a day to spare in Almaty, I set off to visit the Boralday Burial Mounds which lie not far from the center of the city. Several busses pass within less than 1 km from the entrance, but it still took longer than expected to reach due to the traffic which has become a problem in Almaty. Upon reaching the vast site, which appears simply a large and empty field at first, I noticed I was the only visitor save for a few police officers. They happily motioned me through the gate into the site, which has no entrance fee. Long before the height of the Silk Roads, the steppes of Kazakhstan were inhabited by Saka Nomads. As nomadic people, their cultural legacy left little remains besides circular burial mounds, known as kurgan

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The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (T)

Kevin McFarland United States - 25-Jun-25

The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (T)

I have visited this site three times in the past two years (including the day I am writing this review). Armenia is a country rich with ancient monasteries, with all three of their WHS as monasteries. With that in mind, does the list have room for one more? Tatev Monastery, which is found further south, is planned for 2028, perhaps leaving Noravank left on the tentative list for many more years. I hope that is not the case!

Getting to Noravank involves a beautiful drive through the Gnishik Canyon, past several caves and towering red cliffs. The monastery itself is a true work of art created by Momik, who was also credited with the nearby Areni church and the old 13th century bridge that spans the Arpa River nearby

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Profile Data

Name
Kevin McFarland
Country
United States
Ranking
461
Most Impressive
Angkor, Jiuzhaigou Valley, Goreme, Yellowstone, Ellora Caves
Website
website

Recently Visited WHS

Update 21.06.25
  • Torun
  • Warsaw
  • Thingvellir
  • Vatnajökull National Park
  • Rome
  • Mycenae and Tiryns
  • Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
  • Epidaurus
  • Acropolis
  • Archaeological Site of Delphi
  • Saint Catherine Area
  • Historic Cairo
  • Nubian Monuments
  • Ancient Thebes
  • Pyramids (Memphis)
  • Choirokoitia
  • Painted Churches in the Troödos Region
  • Paphos
  • Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius
  • Walled City of Baku

    • 10 Best Missing

    1. Volcanoes of Kamchatka
    2. Rapa Nui
    3. Galapagos Islands
    4. Victoria Falls
    5. Tikal National Park
    6. Bagan
    7. Serengeti
    8. Ilulissat Icefjord
    9. Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
    10. Uluru

    7 Countries Complete

    Armenia . Cyprus . Georgia . Jordan . Mauritius . Singapore . United Arab Emirates .

    Rating Stats
    Ancient Thebes 5
    Angkor 5
    Ellora Caves 5
    Grand Canyon 5
    Guanajuato 5
    Göreme NP and Cappadocia 5
    Jiuzhaigou Valley 5
    Machu Picchu 5
    Mogao Caves 5
    Petra 5
    Yellowstone 5
    Acropolis 4.5
    Agra Fort 4.5
    Ajanta Caves 4.5
    Ani 4.5
    Aphrodisias 4.5
    Archaeological Site of Aigai 4.5
    Archaeological Site of Delphi 4.5
    Bukhara 4.5
    Haghpat and Sanahin 4.5
    Hill Forts of Rajasthan 4.5
    Historic Cairo 4.5
    Huangshan 4.5
    Istanbul 4.5
    Itchan Kala 4.5
    Longmen Grottoes 4.5
    Meteora 4.5
    Monastery of Geghard 4.5
    Mostar 4.5
    Nasca Lines 4.5
    Nubian Monuments 4.5
    Oaxaca and Monte Alban 4.5
    Olympic National Park 4.5
    Pitons of Reunion 4.5
    Pompei 4.5
    Pyramids (Memphis) 4.5
    Rome 4.5
    Samarkand 4.5
    Teotihuacan 4.5
    Upper Svaneti 4.5
    Vatnajökull National Park 4.5
    Wadi Rum 4.5
    Antigua Guatemala 4
    Archaeological site of Philippi 4
    Arequipa 4
    Ayutthaya 4
    Boyana Church 4
    Chichen-Itza 4
    Chitwan National Park 4
    Costiera Amalfitana 4
    Cuzco 4
    Durmitor National Park 4
    Ephesus 4
    Glacier parks 4
    Göbekli Tepe 4
    Hierapolis-Pamukkale 4
    Huanglong 4
    Humayun's Tomb 4
    Imperial Palace 4
    Kathmandu Valley 4
    Kotor 4
    Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi 4
    Mesa Verde 4
    Mexico City and Xochimilco 4
    Ohrid Region 4
    Paphos 4
    Puebla 4
    Redwood 4
    Safranbolu 4
    Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor 4
    Taj Mahal 4
    Three parallel rivers of Yunnan 4
    Umm Al-Jimāl 4
    Uxmal 4
    Xidi and Hongcun 4
    Xinjiang Tianshan 4
    Yosemite National Park 4
    Al Ain 3.5
    Andrefana Dry Forests 3.5
    Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" 3.5
    Beijing Central Axis 3.5
    Bursa and Cumalikizik 3.5
    Chaco Culture 3.5
    Choirokoitia 3.5
    Churches and Convents of Goa 3.5
    Classical Gardens of Suzhou 3.5
    Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 3.5
    Dengfeng 3.5
    Dong Phayayen 3.5
    Echmiatsin and Zvartnots 3.5
    Epidaurus 3.5
    Gelati Monastery 3.5
    Great Wall 3.5
    Guanacaste 3.5
    Jaipur City, Rajasthan 3.5
    Kulangsu 3.5
    Le Morne 3.5
    Melaka and George Town 3.5
    Mtskheta 3.5
    Mycenae and Tiryns 3.5
    Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River 3.5
    Qhapaq Ñan 3.5
    Quanzhou 3.5
    Querétaro 3.5
    Royal Palace at Caserta 3.5
    Saint Catherine Area 3.5
    Sarazm 3.5
    Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries 3.5
    Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor 3.5
    South China Karst 3.5
    Stari Ras and Sopocani 3.5
    Summer Palace 3.5
    Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves 3.5
    Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley 3.5
    Temple of Heaven 3.5
    Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius 3.5
    Thingvellir 3.5
    Torun 3.5
    Via Appia 3.5
    Walled City of Baku 3.5
    Warsaw 3.5
    West Lake 3.5
    As-Salt 3
    Baroque Churches 3
    Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus 3
    China Danxia 3
    Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands 3
    Everglades 3
    Fatehpur Sikri 3
    Gulf of California 3
    Imperial Tombs 3
    Jantar Mantar 3
    Keoladeo National Park 3
    Luis Barragán House and Studio 3
    Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor 3
    Monte San Giorgio 3
    Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan 3
    Naples 3
    Old Town of Lijiang 3
    Painted Churches in the Troödos Region 3
    Quseir Amra 3
    Qutb Minar 3
    Stone Spheres of the Diquís 3
    Thessalonika 3
    Um er-Rasas 3
    Western Tien-Shan 3
    Ahmadabad 2.5
    Camino Real 2.5
    Cold winter deserts of Turan 2.5
    Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens 2.5
    Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 2.5
    Grand Canal 2.5
    Lima 2.5
    Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge 2.5
    San Miguel de Allende 2.5
    Sian Ka'an 2.5
    Singapore Botanic Gardens 2.5
    Venetian Works of Defence 2.5
    Aapravasi Ghat 2
    Central University City Campus of the UNAM 2
    Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai 2
    Xanthos-Letoon 2
    1. Ancient Cities of Lycian Civilization (T)
    2. Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
    3. Archaeological site of Laodikeia (T)
    4. Archaeological Site of Perge (T)
    5. Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State: Site at Jinsha and Joint Tombs of Boat- shaped Coffins in Chengdu City, S (T)
    6. Azraq (T)
    7. Bahá'í House of Worship at New Delhi (T)
    8. Bahoutdin Architectural Complex (T)
    9. Baroque Temples of Collao (T)
    10. Bird Migration Routes (T)
    11. Black River Gorges National Park (T)
    12. California Current Conservation Complex (T)
    13. Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
    14. China Altay (T)
    15. Chinese Section of the Silk Road (T)
    16. Chor-Bakr (T)
    17. City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
    18. Coron Island Natural Biotic Area (T)
    19. Dali Chanshan Mountain and Erhai Lake Scenic Spot (T)
    20. Dana Biosphere Reserve (T)
    21. Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
    22. Desert Castles of Ancient Khorezm (T)
    23. Desert National Park (T)
    24. Egyptian Museum in Cairo (T)
    25. El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
    26. Expansion Project of Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties: King Lujian's Tombs (T)
    27. Fann mountains (T)
    28. Faya Palaeolandscape (T)
    29. Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21)/ Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former Execution Site of S-21) (T)
    30. Gadara (Modern Um Qeis or Qays) (T)
    31. Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
    32. Güllük Dagi-Termessos National Park (T)
    33. Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaka Salt Lake Complex (T)
    34. Harran and Sanliurfa (T)
    35. Historical city of Izamal (Izamal, Mayan continuity in an Historical City) (T)
    36. Ishak Pasha Palace (T)
    37. Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
    38. Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo (T)
    39. Karain Cave (T)
    40. Karakorum-Pamir (T)
    41. Karez Wells (T)
    42. Kekova (T)
    43. Khor Dubai (T)
    44. Lake Titicaca (T)
    45. Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece (T)
    46. Mardin Cultural Landscape (T)
    47. Medieval Settlement of Kirtipur (T)
    48. Minoan Palatial Centres (T)
    49. Mir-Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum (T)
    50. Mission Ruins of Venn's Town (T)
    51. Mleiha, Late Pre-Islamic Center of a South-East Arabian Kingdom (T)
    52. Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
    53. Mujib Nature Reserve (T)
    54. Nasca Aqueducts (T)
    55. National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) (T)
    56. National Park (Taman Negara) of Peninsular Malaysia (T)
    57. Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
    58. Pella (Modern Tabaqat Fahil) (T)
    59. Peruvian Central Railway (T)
    60. Petrified Forest National Park (T)
    61. Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (T)
    62. Rabati Malik Caravanserai (T)
    63. Raoudha nilometre in Cairo (T)
    64. Ring of cenotes of Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan (T)
    65. Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
    66. Sarajevo - unique symbol of universal multiculture - continual open city (T)
    67. ShuDao (T)
    68. Silk Roads Sites in Tajikistan (T)
    69. Silk Roads Sites in Uzbekistan (T)
    70. Silk Roads: Early Period (Prehistory) (T)
    71. Silk Roads: Fergana-Syrdarya Corridor (T)
    72. Sites along the Uttarapath, Badshahi Sadak, Sadak-e-Azam, Grand Trunk Road (T)
    73. Sites of Saytagrah (T)
    74. St. Nicholas Church (T)
    75. Tashkent makhallas (T)
    76. Tbilisi Historic District (T)
    77. Temple of Serabit Khadem (T)
    78. The Archaeological Complex of Garni and the ‘Basalt Organ’ Columnar Joint (T)
    79. The archaeological site of the city of Dvin (T)
    80. The basilica and archaeological site of Yererouk (T)
    81. The broader region of Mount Olympus (T)
    82. The Chinese Section of the Silk Roads (T)
    83. The cultural landscape of the Benedictine settlements in medieval Italy (T)
    84. The early medieval architectural complex of Panauti (T)
    85. The Lijiang River Scenic Zone at Guilin (T)
    86. The monasteries of Tatev and Tatevi Anapat and the adjacent areas of the Vorotan Valley (T)
    87. The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (T)
    88. The Sanctuary of Agios Lot, At Deir 'Ain 'Abata (T)
    89. The Site of Ancient Town of Pyanjekent (T)
    90. The Turf House Tradition (T)
    91. The Urartian Heritage of Yerevan (T)
    92. The Vishaps and the Cultural Landscape of Tirinkatar (T)
    93. Thingvellir National Park (T)
    94. Torfajökull Volcanic System / Fjallabak Nature Reserve (T)
    95. Troodos, Mt.Olympus (T)
    96. Vardzia-Khertvisi (T)
    97. VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Thingvellir National Park (T)
    98. Wadi Feiran (T)
    99. Western Xia Imperial Tombs (T)
    100. Yandang Mountain (T)
    101. Yivli Minaret Mosque (T)
    102. Zakaznik Kusavlisay (T)

    Reviewed TWHS