Why?

If you enjoy spending your holidays in a club hotel in the Caribbean drinking Mai Tais, that's fine. It's your holiday and do as you please. And I personally enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, too. For me, though, spending more than a few days in the aforementioned Caribbean club hotel would be akin to purgatory. Because I like moving around, seeing new things and going to distant places.

As such I have read my fair share of guide books to figure out where to go and what to see. Eventually I noticed a few annoying biases. The authors would try to cover all regions of a country equally, judge on a relative scale and provide more details on touristy and easy to reach places. For instance, I see little reason to spend any time in Santiago de Chile apart from the international airport. Santiago is a nice city for Chile, but it's not in the same league as Mexico City. Still, any guide book you pick up on Chile will spend a full chapter on the city.

World Heritage Sites are different. They are as objective as it gets. They make you travel off the beaten path. I will always fondly remember my cab ride in a winter landscape to Holasovice. More often than not these are great sites.

Initially, I focused on quantity. And while this may seem stressful, it did give me a good picture and overview. Of late (ever since reaching the magical 300) I collect differently. Now I plan my trips on the truly great sites and pick up any site to the left and right I can visit on top.

So, should you become a whs traveler, too? My honest recommendation is to do as you please. But if you are going to country anyhow (and be it in a club hotel), then use the map provided on this site and check out if any world heritage site is nearby. It may force to travel a bit off the beaten path, but trust me, it will be worth it.

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Ignoring Els’ rule to "always do Angkor last on any trip involving Angkor" I opted for one last WHS visit on my way to the airport in Phnom Penh: Sambor Prei Kuk. The site is conveniently located close to the main road between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. So this was simple stop over, splitting a long bus ride into two more manageable legs.

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"Thanks" to some last minute flight schedule changes by Lao Air I found myself stuck for a day in Vientiane while waiting for my flight to Pakse. I used the time to visit the national symbol of Laos, That Luang. Laos may be Communist on paper, but it's very much Buddhist in daily life. So it fits that the national symbol is not the workers' palace or a mausoleum of the dear leader but a buddhist stupa.

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Thanks to Lao Air and their weird flight schedules, I managed to visit Vat Phou during an overlay on my way to Siem Reap (Angkor). I arrived in the evening and stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Pakse along the Mekong River. From there I went by cab the next morning to the site.

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As my first stop in Laos I visited Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos. The main components of the site are situated at the confluence of Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.

The town boasts several temples, some French colonial buildings and the former royal palace, albeit that last one is rather amusing than impressive. My highlight was the Wat Xieng Thong temple. And the overall relaxed mood of the city. 

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Ever since reading Paul's and Els's reviews of the site and it's listing in our Top Missing survey I have wanted to go to the Plain of Jars. I had looked at the map repeatedly, astounded how long it can take (5h or more) to travel less than 250km. Still, I decided to travel on to Phonsavan to see the Plain of Jars.

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