Solivagant Profile
I am now retired but have been "travelling" for a "hobby" since I was 15 whilst pursuing otherwise normal mundane career and "home" things in UK - thus being limited by "annual leave" allowances. During that time I have visited 164 "independent countries" - defined by me as the 193 full UN members plus (somewhat illogically, but they are generally accepted as "sovereign") Taiwan and Holy See (but am not pursuing "193"!). Unfortunately quite a few relatively easily accessible current WHS got "missed" along the way. If only I had known they would get chosen - they are not all obvious choices! Despite the weaknesses in the list and the politics involved in the selection and voting mechanism they provide a quick means of grasping the highlights of many countries and sometimes lead down interesting knowledge and research "avenues" which would otherwise have remain unexplored.
Proposal for a new WHS:- Roca Agostino Neto Cocoa Plantation Sao Tome.
There are just too many European WHS relative to the rest. Little Sao Tome became the world's greatest producer of cocoa under the Portuguese. So poor were the social conditions that Cadbury boycotted Cocoa from there in early 20C. At Roca Agostinho (and other crumbling colonial sites on Sao Tome) you might just get a feeling for the economic system which created it and "fed" Europe with a raw material so often taken for granted - a really atmospheric place. But it isn't even on the "Tentative list"!
Recent Reviews Solivagant
Tombs of Buganda Kings
Solivagant UK - 12-Feb-24
I provide a photo of our visit to the Kasubi tombs taken in 2005 (I.e before the great fire of March 2010) to “support” my “right” to review it! I can fully understand the somewhat dispiriting experience which Zoe recently ran into. There were elements of it for us and they possibly led to my decision not to do a review at the time. However, the "imminent" reopening (but repeatedly delayed - its last promised date was Dec 2023 and is still only "90% Complete" in Jan 24 - with no promise!) of the tombs, together with Zoe's review, have stimulated me to catch up on the memory of our visit and to fill in some gaps in my "understanding".
Read OnMaasai Mara Game Reserve (T)
Solivagant UK - 20-Jan-24
Wildebeest crossing the Mara River...... Undoubtedly one of the great “mass gathering” wild-life “experiences” of the World, up there with e.g the butterflies of Mexico and the penguins of S Georgia. I use the word “experiences” because it is so much more than a mere “sight” - I particularly remember the chaos and noise! The Maasai Mara Game Reserve (MMGR) offers fine wildlife viewing in other ways too with all those animals out on the plains and the resulting very visible carnivore population
Read OnCentral Karakorum National Park (T)
Solivagant UK - 11-Jan-24
I commence this “review” of the "Central Karakorum National Park" (CKKNP) by stating that I am somewhat shame-faced to proffer a report of such a “puny” visit to this magnificent natural T List site. I do so purely to contribute to the “Community objective” of having as many T List sites reviewed here as possible and not from any suggestion that we, in any way, fully visited and appreciated it
Read OnBrú na Bóinne
Solivagant UK - 27-Aug-23
We visited Brú na Bóinne in June 2022 but didn’t post a review as there are plenty already. However, I now note that no one has yet described the Mound at Dowth and that a couple of the references made about it in earlier reviews are not quite correct so, here goes -
a. Dowth is the 3rd large mound (of similar size to the others) within the Brú na Bóinne complex after the more famous Newgrange and Knowth. Unlike them it has never been “reconstructed” and doesn’t form a part of the tours on offer at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre. It can however be visited externally independently without paying or booking. I have provided an aerial photo taken from a Visitor Centre video because it gives a better idea than any of my own close ups of what the mound looks like as a whole
Read OnPatzcuaro, Site of Humanistic Memory and Cultural Confluence (T)
Solivagant UK - 25-Jun-23
Our visit to Patzcuaro was somewhat fortuitous. It was early in our 2008 trip driving round Central Mexico picking up as many inscribed and T List sites as we could in 17 days. It wasn’t planned as a WHS-related objective and I wasn’t aware that “The Lake Patzcuaro Cultural Zone” was a former T List site, let alone that it had been nominated in 1987 and deferred before being removed
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Solivagant
- Country
- UK
- Most Impressive
- Machu Picchu. I would like to choose somewhere "less obvious" but it really is incomparable
- Proposal
- See under "Profile"
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 07.03.24
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsAngkor 5Florence 5Meroe 5Petra 5Pompei 5Rapa Nui 5Ravenna 5Rome 5Ancient Kyoto 4.5Bagan 4.5Bukhara 4.5Chan Chan 4.5Ellora Caves 4.5Granada 4.5Guanajuato 4.5Iguacu 4.5Istanbul 4.5Itchan Kala 4.5Kathmandu Valley 4.5Kizhi Pogost 4.5Lalibela 4.5Moenjodaro 4.5Mogao Caves 4.5Mount Athos 4.5Nasca Lines 4.5St. Petersburg 4.5Taj Mahal 4.5Teotihuacan 4.5Uluru 4.5Versailles 4.5Victoria Falls 4.5Brasilia 4Brugge 4Hampi 4Meteora 4Palenque 4Prague 4Sana'a 4Siena 4Sigiriya 4Taxila 4Toledo 4Vienna 4Ajanta Caves 3.5Aleppo 3.5Ancient Jericho 3.5Ancient Merv 3.5Bethlehem 3.5Biblical Tells 3.5Brú na Bóinne 3.5Cesky Krumlov 3.5Chaco Culture 3.5Cordoba 3.5Cuzco 3.5Damascus 3.5Delos 3.5Djenné 3.5Dolomites 3.5Dubrovnik 3.5El Escurial 3.5El Tajin 3.5Ephesus 3.5Fatehpur Sikri 3.5Hegra 3.5Jeju 3.5Kew Gardens 3.5Kinabalu Park 3.5Koutammakou 3.5Kraków 3.5Leptis Magna 3.5Loire Valley 3.5Longmen Grottoes 3.5Mahabalipuram 3.5Masada 3.5Mesa Verde 3.5Nemrut Dag 3.5Neolithic Orkney 3.5Palmyra 3.5Pantanal 3.5Pergamon 3.5Persian Garden 3.5Potsdam 3.5Rio de Janeiro 3.5Salzburg 3.5Sanchi 3.5Sceilg Mhichíl 3.5Skocjan Caves 3.5Sukhothai 3.5Summer Palace 3.5Syracuse 3.5Taos Pueblo 3.5Te Wahipounamu 3.5Troy 3.5Vézère Valley 3.5Yazd 3.5Yungang Grottoes 3.5Aksum 3Aquileia 3Asmara 3Assisi 3Baalbek 3Bamberg 3Belem 3Bisotun 3Budapest 3Butrint 3Carthage 3Copán 3Fujisan 3Gyeongju 3Hattusha 3Hué 3Nikko 3Olympia 3Paphos 3Red Fort 3Seville 3Shushtar 3Susa 3Tallinn 3Tanbaly 3Timbuktu 3Valletta 3Abbey of St Gall 2.5Agra Fort 2.5Agrigento 2.5Al Ain 2.5Alto Douro 2.5Ambohimanga 2.5Amiens Cathedral 2.5Ancient ksours 2.5Aphrodisias 2.5Arequipa 2.5Arles 2.5Avignon 2.5Avila 2.5Bahla Fort 2.5Ban Chiang 2.5Bardejov Town 2.5Baroque Churches 2.5Bryggen 2.5Byblos 2.5Caceres 2.5Camino Real 2.5Canterbury 2.5Cartagena 2.5Centennial Hall 2.5Choirokoitia 2.5Cienfuegos 2.5City of Bath 2.5Classical Weimar 2.5Corfu 2.5Cuenca 2.5Cyrene 2.5Divrigi 2.5Djémila 2.5Dong Phayayen 2.5Drottningholm 2.5Elephanta Caves 2.5Elvas 2.5Everglades 2.5Evora 2.5Fagus Factory 2.5Fasil Ghebbi 2.5Forth Bridge 2.5Gammelstad 2.5Gelati Monastery 2.5Genbaku Dome 2.5Golestan Palace 2.5Gonbad-e Qâbus 2.5Graz 2.5Gwynedd Castles 2.5Haeinsa Temple 2.5Harar Jugol 2.5Himeji-jo 2.5Historic Cairo 2.5Hoi An 2.5Hollókö 2.5Horyu-ji Area 2.5Hospicio Cabañas 2.5Island of Patmos 2.5Jongmyo Shrine 2.5Kaesong 2.5Kairouan 2.5Kandy 2.5Kazan Kremlin 2.5Koguryo Tombs 2.5Kotor 2.5Kujataa 2.5Kunya-Urgench 2.5Lake District 2.5Laponian Area 2.5Lopé-Okanda 2.5Luang Prabang 2.5Luther Memorials 2.5Lyon 2.5Lübeck 2.5Malbork Castle 2.5Mammoth Cave 2.5Matera 2.5Medina Azahara 2.5Meknes 2.5Modena 2.5Morelia 2.5Mostar 2.5Mtskheta 2.5Mystras 2.5Mérida 2.5Nalanda 2.5Naples 2.5Novgorod 2.5Old Havana 2.5Old Rauma 2.5Orkhon Valley 2.5Osun-Osogbo 2.5Pampulha 2.5Paramaribo 2.5Pico Island 2.5Pienza 2.5Plitvice Lakes 2.5Poblet Monastery 2.5Polonnaruva 2.5Puebla 2.5Qadisha Valley 2.5Qhapaq Ñan 2.5Quirigua 2.5Quito 2.5Qutb Minar 2.5Québec 2.5Redwood 2.5Regensburg 2.5Reims 2.5Rhodes 2.5Riga 2.5Rila Monastery 2.5Rock Art of Alta 2.5Røros 2.5Sabratha 2.5Safranbolu 2.5Salamanca 2.5San Agustín 2.5Santiniketan 2.5Saryarka 2.5Segovia 2.5Sighisoara 2.5Sintra 2.5Skogskyrkogarden 2.5Soltaniyeh 2.5Speyer Cathedral 2.5Split 2.5Strasbourg 2.5Surtsey 2.5Tabriz Bazaar 2.5Takht-i-Bahi 2.5Telc 2.5The Four Lifts 2.5Thessalonika 2.5Thingvellir 2.5Timgad 2.5Tiwanaku 2.5Tlacotalpan 2.5Tower of London 2.5Trier 2.5Trogir 2.5Urbino 2.5Uxmal 2.5Val di Noto 2.5Vallée de Mai 2.5Van Nellefabriek 2.5Verona 2.5Visby 2.5Vizcaya Bridge 2.5Vlkolinec 2.5Wadi Rum 2.5Warsaw 2.5Wartburg Castle 2.5Western Ghats 2.5Yaroslavl 2.5Zacatecas 2.5Úbeda and Baeza 2.5Albi 2Bagerhat 2Bordeaux 2Ferrara 2Genoa 2Ibiza 2Jelling 2Konso 2Lima 2Maymand 2Nancy 2Nisa 2Odesa 2Oporto 2Orange 2Panamá 2Rabat 2Tequila 2Tipasa 2Torun 2Tyre 2Vilnius 2Zamość 2Ahmadabad 1.5Aranjuez 1.5Banc d'Arguin 1.5Beemster Polder 1.5Belfries 1.5Bellinzone 1.5Bosra 1.5Bridgetown 1.5Burgundy 1.5Champagne 1.5Cidade Velha 1.5Crespi d'Adda 1.5Curonian Spit 1.5Fray Bentos 1.5Historic Jeddah 1.5Island of Gorée 1.5Ivrea 1.5Karlskrona 1.5L'viv 1.5Le Havre 1.5Medina of Sousse 1.5Medina of Tunis 1.5Modernist Kaunas 1.5Muskauer Park 1.5Nessebar 1.5Nice 1.5Pearling 1.5Peking Man Site 1.5Provins 1.5Querétaro 1.5Saltaire 1.5Sammallahdenmäki 1.5Southern Öland 1.5Stari Grad Plain 1.5Stećci 1.5Tarraco 1.5Tiya 1.5Trebic 1.5Vézelay 1.5Corvey 1Macao 1Zabid 1Battir 0.5Danube Limes 0.5Djerba 0.5Madara Rider 0.5Reviewed WHS
- Tombs of Buganda Kings
- Brú na Bóinne
- Neolithic Orkney
- Ancient Kingdom of Saba
- Nyungwe National Park
- Coffee Cultural Landscape
- Coffee Cultural Landscape
- Santa Cruz de Mompox
- San Agustín
- Tierradentro
- Ahmadabad
- The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
- Risco Caido
- Persian Caravanserai
- Struve Geodetic Arc
- Water Management System of Augsburg
- Fortified City of Carcassonne
- Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc
- Jodrell Bank Observatory
- Archaeological site of Philippi
- Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
- Archaeological Site of Aigai
- Vatnajökull National Park
- Medina Azahara
- Donana National Park
- Antequera Dolmens Site
- Gorham's Cave Complex
- Zagori Cultural Landscape
- Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
- Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng
- Ban Chiang
- Kaeng Krachan Forest
- The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales
- Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine
- Białowieża Forest
- Krzemionki prehistoric flint mines
- W-Arly-Pendjari Complex
- Gamzigrad-Romuliana
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
- Stećci
- ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape
- Tanbaly
- Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- Saryarka
- Western Tien-Shan
- Jongmyo Shrine
- Yazd
- Rhaetian Railway
- Ravenna
- Santa Maria delle Grazie
- Struve Geodetic Arc
- Takht-e Soleyman
- Susa
- Tchogha Zanbil
- Bisotun
- Pasargadae
- Maymand
- Armenian Monastic Ensembles
- Tabriz Bazaar
- Sassanid Archaeological Landscape
- Shushtar
- The Persian Qanat
- Lut Desert
- Gonbad-e Qâbus
- Ibiza
- Serra de Tramuntana
- Garajonay
- Coa Valley and Siega Verde
- Atapuerca
- Heritage of Mercury
- Funerary and memory sites of the First World War
- Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
- Bursa and Cumalikizik
- Xanthos-Letoon
- Aphrodisias
- Göbekli Tepe
- Pergamon
- Çatalhöyük
- Petra
- Tower of London
- Grand Canal
- Historic Jeddah
- Okavango Delta
- Silk Roads Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
- Takht-i-Bahi
- Incense Route of the Negev
- Old City of Acre
- Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town
- Biblical Tells
- Mount Carmel Caves
- Ancient Jericho
- Bahá’i Holy Places
- White City of Tel-Aviv
- Al Ain
- Taxila
- Rohtas Fort
- Moenjodaro
- Fort and Shalamar Gardens
- Messel Pit
- Völklingen Ironworks
- Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
- Zollverein
- Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
- The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
- Primeval Beech Forests
- Corvey
- Prehistoric Pile Dwellings
- Santiniketan
- Nalanda
- Mahabodhi Temple Complex
- Sundarbans National Park
- Kaziranga National Park
- Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
- Timgad
- M'Zab Valley
- Tipasa
- Kasbah of Algiers
- Bagan
- Memorial Sites of Genocide
- Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
- Petra
- Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region
- Jeju
- Wet Tropics of Queensland
- Chan Chan
- Panamá
- Rapa Nui
- Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
- Antigua Naval Dockyard
- Willemstad
- Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs
- Forts and Castles Gold Coast
- Asante Traditional Buildings
- Kenya Lake System
- Wadi Rum
- Bridgetown
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
- Hampi
- Churches and Convents of Goa
- Champaner-Pavagadh
- Plain of Jars
- Sagarmatha National Park
- Island of Gorée
- Camino Real
- Jantar Mantar
- Central Highlands
- Kujataa
- St. Kilda
- Surtsey
- Konso
- Meroe
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal
- Paraty and Ilha Grande
- Pearling
- Dilmun Burial Mounds
- Dilmun Burial Mounds
- Cidade Velha
- Kuk
- Kaesong
- San Miguel de Allende
- Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- Hegra
- Turaif Quarter
- Asmara
- Stone Town of Zanzibar
- Tequila
- Luis Barragán House and Studio
- El Tajin
- Hospicio Cabañas
- Crac des Chevaliers
- Aflaj irrigation system
- Stone Circles of Senegambia
- Karlskrona
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Srebarna Nature Reserve
- Canaima National Park
- Meknes
- Medina of Fez
- Luther Memorials
- Würzburg Residence
- Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz
- Aggtelek and Slovak Karst
- Potala Palace
- Pirin National Park
- Bagerhat
- Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur
- The Sundarbans
- Olympia
- Thracian tomb of Sveshtari
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
- Route of Santiago de Compostela
- Santiago de Compostela
- Kronborg Castle
- Hawaii Volcanoes
- Mountain Resort, Chengde
- Kremlin and Red Square
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Djenné
- Megalithic Temples of Malta
- Valletta
- Gebel Barkal
- Ruins of León Viejo
- Koguryo Tombs
- Peking Man Site
- Matobo Hills
- Polonnaruva
- Diamantina
- Bauhaus Sites
- Great Wall
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Qal'at al-Bahrain
- Kunya-Urgench
- West Norwegian Fjords
- Mostar
- Osun-Osogbo
- Sabratha
- Congonhas
- Cyrene
- Wooden Churches of Southern Malopolska
- Dresden Elbe Valley
- Everglades
- Durmitor National Park
- Hollókö
- Orkhon Valley
- Mystras
- Quito
- Ellora Caves
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Samarkand
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Lalibela
- Taos Pueblo
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
- Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans
- Saint-Emilion
- Vézelay
- Jelling
- Churches of Moldavia
- Villages with Fortified Churches
- Danube Delta
- Cliff of Bandiagara
- Engelsberg Ironworks
- Reichenau
- Muskauer Park
- Pitons Management Area
- Aleppo
- Baalbek
- Nasca Lines
- Byblos
- Arequipa
- Yungang Grottoes
- Ajanta Caves
- Dazu Rock Carvings
- Popocatepetl monasteries
- Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda
- Guanajuato
- Oaxaca and Monte Alban
- Puebla
- Tlacotalpan
- Morelia
- Querétaro
- Zacatecas
- Xochicalco
- Central University City Campus of the UNAM
- Aldabra Atoll
- Vallée de Mai
- Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara
- Lower Valley of the Awash
- Harar Jugol
- Lower Valley of the Omo
- Tiya
- Peninsula Valdes
- South China Karst
- Nisa
- Gobustan Rock Art
- Lopé-Okanda
- Rainforests of the Atsinanana
- Kazan Kremlin
- Kizhi Pogost
- Yaroslavl
- Banc d'Arguin
- Ancient ksours
- Royal Palaces of Abomey
- Koutammakou
- Bosra
- Rock Drawings in Valcamonica
- Persepolis
- Longmen Grottoes
- Pantanal
- Chitwan National Park
- Mogao Caves
- Palmyra
- Masada
- Colonia del Sacramento
- Tyre
- Lake Baikal
- Mountain Railways of India
- Cape Floral Region
- Thingvellir
- Lima
- Los Glaciares
- Zabid
- Choirokoitia
- Gelati Monastery
- Sana'a
- Saint Catherine Area
- Quirigua
- Mtskheta
- Galapagos Islands
- Copán
- Bukhara
- Walled City of Baku
- Antigua Guatemala
- Leptis Magna
- Itchan Kala
- Shakhrisyabz
- Khami Ruins
- Victoria Falls
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Rock Art of Alta
- Portobelo-San Lorenzo
- Old Town of Galle
- Sinharaja Forest
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Haghpat and Sanahin
- Echmiatsin and Zvartnots
- Monastery of Geghard
- Quseir Amra
- Ambohimanga
- Thracian tomb of Kazanlak
- Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- National History Park
- Ancient Merv
- Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn
- Bahla Fort
- Arabian Oryx Sanctuary
- Land of Frankincense
- Mount Athos
- Gough and Inaccessible Islands
Visited TWHS
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