Thomas Buechler Profile

I started travelling in Europe with the popular Interrail ticket that was valid for most of the Western European countries.
That was more than 30 years ago.And what looked like a normal student experience, turned out to be just the beginning of an incredible lifespan tasting of different countries, cultures,people and cuisines.But it all started with Europe.
1980 I moved my "headquarters" to the Philippines, and started to visit all of Southeast Asia, and its marvelous temples and cultural sites, also in China and the Indian Subcontinent.
Later on ,I visited all countries in Oceania,South America, Central America and the
Carribean. On the African continent I have been to all 54 UN countries, and to many UNESCO world heritage sites that are very difficult to reach, and really off the beaten track.In 80 countries I have now visited all Unesco sites that currently exist, but then in 17 countries I have not seen any yet!! As of January  2024, I have been to 942 sites out of 1198 or around 79% in a total of 149 countries! I keep on going, including the Tentative list (508 so far) if those sites are near my travel path. 

Visited Sites Thomas Buechler

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Recent Reviews Thomas Buechler


Gedeo Cultural landscape

Thomas Buechler Switzerland - 07-Feb-24

Chelba-Tututi was the cemetery we visited after reading Woijtek’s recommendations. It is in the tiny village of Koti, about 40 minutes south of Dila. The guide was excellent; only men are buried here under phallus shaped stellas, they were recording 1506 pieces scattered allover, very few have inscriptions. British and a German anthropologist have unearthed in 1994 and 2011 gold bracelets and pottery. For circumcised men, it was customary to be buried with two. 

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Grottes de Dimba et Ngovo (T)

Thomas Buechler Switzerland - 16-Jul-23

Ceramics and tools were found in this cave about 18,000 years ago, attesting human settlement during the Stone Age in a region relatively close to the sea and the Congo river in Bas-Congo.

Mbanza-Ngungu is a town about 4 hours drive SW of Kinshasa, and it is here where the adventure starts. There are signposts leading to the narrow gravel road (Grottes Ngovo&Finzolua) off the N1 highway. From here it takes you at least 45 minutes on a road (best with 4wheel drive) with very little traffic, luckily, as two cars can not pass in the same time. You see school buildings that you can not miss, hundreds of children there, some try to hang on to the car, drive carefully. A further few kilometers, you come to a local village where you find the guides, there is no shortage of them. We walked with 10 villages boys to the caves, this trek takes about 1 hour return, there is a kind of path, at places overgrown with plants. Steep stairs lead down to the cave

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Si Thep

Thomas Buechler Switzerland - 15-Dec-22

Si Thep

Si Thep is about 250 kilometers (3.30h) northeast of Bangkok, and a bit tricky to reach with public transportation. From the Mochit BTS Northern Bus Terminal there are regular express buses to the province of Phetchabun, taking Highway 21 where I got off the bus shortly before the intersection in Si Thep village. After just a few minutes I made a deal with a Tuk-Tuk driver who spoke no English, but with the help of some photos, he understood what I was looking for. It was a leisurely 15 minutes drive. There is an entrance fee of 100 Baht for foreigners (about 3 USD) and that includes the ride in an electro train from the small museum at the entrance to the main site. You need about 40 minutes to have a look around

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Archaeological Site of Harappa (T)

Thomas Buechler Switzerland - 05-Oct-22

Archaeological Site of Harappa (T)

I visited this archaeological site by private car from Lahore, it is 200km or about 4 hours to drive. The Harappans used the same type of bricks as in its sister city of Mohenjo-daro, but this more famous WHS site was unfortunately closed due to the recent flooding in Southern Pakistan.

Hidden under layers of mud and soil lies one of the most sophisticated towns of the third millennium BC

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Apamee (Afamia) (T)

Thomas Buechler Switzerland - 13-Sep-22

Afamia was much affected by the civil unrest in Syria and basically closed to visitors until summer 2022. We had the place for ourselves. It is not on the program yet of tour operators. The modern town of Afamia is badly damaged and very few people have returned. You need a private car and guide to reach the place and pass the security checks. But the huge Colonnade of almost 2 kilometers is an impressive sight, and one of the longest in the Roman world. Not much destruction, a great relief. Best to walk the whole length. No entrance fee. 

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Profile Data

Name
Thomas Buechler
Country
Switzerland
Most Impressive
Angkor Wat, Cambodia Lascaux, France Burgos, Spain Wies Church, Germany
Proposal
Lucerne, Switzerland

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