Villa d'Este

4.50 Elena Y Ireland - 06-Mar-23

Rising up a winding road, you begin to experience the decadence of Tivoli's premier villa before you've even reached it thru a magnificent view shooting straight to the horizon. It seems to yell, "you, Cardinal d'Este, hold dominion over the trees and the houses of the land through God." It also serves to forget that you, the modern public transport user, have arrived not via a direct link from the city centre but from a bus station on the outskirts of the city!

It's almost underwhelming in comparison when you step through the courtyard and into the actual Villa building

Lenggong Valley

1.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 01-Mar-23

As I wrote in a recent blog post - this is a hellish site to visit. Thanks to the excellent previous review by Michael Kenyalang we got a sense of what is possible, and the e-mail address he gave to contact is the right one. But - somehow all e-mails from 'outside' (outside of Malaysia?) are bounced. The day before I planned to visit I scrutinized the internet again and found the Archaeological Museum's Facebook site. Via Facebook messenger, I was eventually able to chat with an understanding person, who finally hooked me up with a private guide (her name is Shima; pm me if you want her contact details). This was all on a Sunday evening, and Shima immediately filled in the form to request formal access to the caves.

Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (T)

Wojciech Fedoruk Poland - 26-Feb-23

None of the previous reviewers has described the visit to Esna, which is part of this proposal, so in my post I will focus only on it. In short – don’t miss this one!

Esna is the first stop on the route of the temples of Upper Egypt from Luxor to Aswan. From Luxor leads to it a rather weak road, which takes about an hour. Esna and Edfu are connected by the same road, and the distance can be covered in an hour and a half. You should park on the main road, the last 300 meters walk around the souvenir stands.

Qal'at al-Bahrain

2.50 CugelVance Germany - 19-Feb-23

I visited the  Qal’at al-Bahrain fort on january the 23rd just after returning from the A'ali burial mounds. Public transport in Bahrain is quite good and even excellent when compared with the one in some neighbouring countries. I just took a bus from Manama's central bus station to the Seef mall from where I walked more or less 15-20 min  to the fort. First I visited the museum there which is certainly not the most interesting museum out there. Then I went over to the fort which I visited for more or less an hours. After that I had a coffee in the restaurant next to the museum.

Mývatn and Laxá (T)

Clyde Malta - 02-Mar-23

I visited this tWHS in 2022 as one of the main stops along the ring road loop. Unsurprisingly in Iceland, its OUV lies in geological features which through the passage of time have shaped rich habitats particularly for avifauna.

The geological features are indeed spectacular which seems to be quite a constant almost everywhere in Iceland. Myvatn and Laxa are situated along the volcanic zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The perfectly shaped pseudo craters which were formed by steam explosions as hot lava flowed into the lake some 2,300 years ago are more impressive from a distance or from the air than by climbing the few trails or wooden boardwalks present. There are a couple of panoramic viewpoints around the lake with information boards in English on the different geological phenomena and on the biodiversity present here. Luckily it seemed to be too windy for the infamous midges which give Myvatn its name to roam around so I could easily enjoy different hikes around the area

Dahshour archaeological area (T)

Wojciech Fedoruk Poland - 26-Feb-23

After visiting the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara with tons of visitors, me and my family went to Dahshour. It is a place that every visitor to the Egyptian pyramids should visit. Until recently, it was possible to visit only the Red Pyramid from the inside, but from 2019 you can also enter the Bent Pyramid. Apart from them, there are a few others, inaccessible to visitors. Admission costs only EGP 60 ($2) per adult and includes the entrance to the two pyramids. Compared to Giza or Saqqara, it is a much better value for money. We started from the inside of the Red Pyramid, where you have to climb from a hundred steps in an inclined position to reach the burial chamber. My daughter hardly had to bend over, but her parents felt some rarely used muscles

Los Alerces National Park

4.00 Timonator Germany - 04-Mar-23

I have spent one day and one night in Parque Nacional Los Alerces and it is a beautiful mountain area with lakes, forests, mountains and rivers in which you can easily spend a calm time to relax a little bit. 

From Esquel Terminal I took the 8 a.m. bus service to the National Park which took as announced 2,5 hours until arriving at Lago Verde. There I stayed in the beautiful camping El Aura and slept later in a "Domo", which is like a big, permanent tent. I was planning to go directly hiking for the rest of the day after arriving which also would have been possible if I had not fallen a bit sick. In the end I have skipped the tracks to Lahun (Mapuche word for Alerce tree) viejo, Laguna Escondida and the Mirador Lago Verde in the area which I was all planning to do as different people had recommended them to me

Melaka and George Town

3.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 01-Mar-23

This site hasn’t been reviewed in 10 years, so it can use a refreshment. Not that I think that it has changed much over the past years. I visited Melaka already in 2009 but left it til 2023 to add George Town. After having just arrived from bustling Thailand, George Town seemed to be in a post-Covid tourism dip and there wasn’t a lot going on (it also was a Malaysian school holiday period). Still, it grew on me and it is worth a day or two.

I stayed in the heart of Little India – it might as well be called ‘Very India’, for the numerous shabby-looking (but excellently tasting) Indian restaurants, the sari- and gold bangle shops. My hotel – the Ren I Tang Heritage Inn – was a wonderful 19th-century townhouse in the “Early Straits Eclectic Style”, and a former Chinese Medical Hall

The Turf House Tradition (T)

Clyde Malta - 01-Mar-23

I visited 12 out of the 14 locations which make up this fun tWHS in 2022. This tWHS turned out to be a very fun quest/treasure hunt to explore and visit some of the few Icelandic cultural sites on the island. For starters, this quest requires a rental car and a good GPS or Google Maps with Wi-Fi connection (4WD not necessary but make sure you have full insurance cover including windscreen damage which will prove useful throughout your vacation due to the infamous gravel roads).

If you're covering the whole ring road, only 4 of the 14 locations are really close to the actual ring road with little or no gravel roads involved to be able to visit. These are: 1) Árbær - a mere component within another open-air museum close to Reykjavik; I managed to enter for free by entering from a side entrance just next to the small cafeteria, probably I was just lucky that the staff were having their lunch break

Thracian tomb of Kazanlak

0.50 CugelVance Germany - 19-Feb-23

I visited the thracian tomb of kazanlak on the 16th of jan,early in the morning of that day. The day before I had arrived in Kazanlak around 18.00 in the afternoon  by train from Burgas via Sliven. The first thing I had encoutered after leaving the railway station in Kazanlak was a place where a huge group of people was dancing to traditional bulgarian music. Fascinating. I asked them if I could join them.Well,my moves were stiff,but the locals were extremely friendly. They explained me that every sunday in most bulgarian cities there is public dancing to traditional music which can be joined by  whoever wants to.A wonderful idea to promote native and traditional music and dances in our globalized world.

Salt Mines of Maras (T)

Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 26-Feb-23

We decided to move to Urumbamba after a week-long stay in Cusco during our trip to Valle Sagrado in August 2022. We thought that this was a good base to explore some of the sights between Cusco and Ollantaytambo, such as the archaeological ruins of Chinchero, the Moray terraces, and the focus of this review--the Salt Mines of Maras. We planned to visit Moray and Maras on a half-day trip, but circumstances changed and we ended up focusing on Maras.

The site is to the south and across the river of Urubamba. Using public transportation to get to the salt mines could be quite confusing, thus, we decided to hire a car and a driver. Before reaching the town of Maras we turned right to a well-paved road that leads to the site. Upon arrival, we noticed that there were less cars than expected, but the number of closed shops and eateries indicate that this place could get really crowded. Past the entrance a path leads down to the viewing "platforms" that provided a great panorama of the salt mines, the gorge and the valley and mountains in the background. It's a beautiful sight despite the dark grey clouds that loomed over the mountains

Alexandria, ancient remains and the new library (T)

Wojciech Fedoruk Poland - 26-Feb-23

Place visited in February 2023. From this proposal, me and my family visited two components – ‘Huge monuments and structures’ and ‘Ancient necropolises’ At the beginning we visited Pompey's Pillar with its surroundings (ruins of Serapeion). The pillar is gigantic, measuring almost 27 meters and stands out even now outside the buildings in the city center. In the area there are numerous statues of Greek and Roman provenance.

The number one of our visit to Alexandria was certainly the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa – a huge underground cemetery with beautifully decorated tombs, placed on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. The catacombs are multi-level and contain many side corridors

Kondoa

Geert Luiken Netherlands - 28-Feb-23

The Kondoa rock art site has been thoroughly reviewed already. Two things I would like to add. Firstly I found the entrance price quite steep. We were coming with our driver from Dodoma and not only had to pay for our own entrance fee, but seperatly for the car, our driver and the guide, which totalled 93.000 TSH ( around 40€). A second, more interesting point is that the Rock paintings have only suffered from wheather related causes, mainly rain seeping through the rocks, but not from human causes. The reason for this is that even nowadays, thousands of years after they were made, they still play a role in religious practices. Just below the B1 site there is a rock with a hole underneath, were according to the locals a deity lives

Koh Ker: Archeological site of Ancient Lingapura Or Chok Gargyar (T)

Frederik Dawson Netherlands - 26-Feb-23

Originally not part of Dvaravati and Pre-Angkorian Arts trip arranged by ICOMOS I participated with. On the free day in Siem Reap, the separate excursion to Koh Ker had been arranged by a small group of experts which I promptly joined after I heard their special tour. We left Siem Reap very early and reached Koh Ker at 9 AM to be the first group of visitors of that day. The local guide and ICOMOS experts explained to me that Koh Ker was the capital of Angkorian Empire for only about 25 years during the reign of King Jayavarman IV and his son

Rural Temples of Cusco (T)

Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 26-Feb-23

One of our day trips from Cusco was spent visiting Valle Sur, located southeast of Cusco, with the intent of hopping between churches and archaeological sites. Said churches belong to the proposed "Rural Temples of Cusco", a group of 10 churches that are said to be the tangible representation of the Christianisation of indigenous peoples of Cusco. Authorities creatively took advantage of the artistic and touristic value of 3 of the 10 "rural temples" that they marketed them to tourists as part of the Ruta Barroco Andino. Many Cusco-based tour companies offer guided full or half-day trips to Valle Sur but we chose to hire our own car and driver so we could customize the sequence of our visit and avoid crowds, as we were visiting during the peak season (August 2022).

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Nakhon Si Thammarat (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 24-Feb-23

Wat Phra Mahathat is the largest Buddhist temple of Southern Thailand. It is also an especially holy one, as it houses the relic of a Tooth of the Buddha. This combined makes it a busy and important pilgrimage site. The temple is located in Nakhon Si Thammarat, one of the oldest towns in Thailand. Not much English is spoken or written here, the beach tourists and backpackers usually don’t make it this far south.

I arrived in the afternoon, after a 6-hour minibus ride from Phuket. Nakhon’s street layout is a bit weird, with parallel streets running north-south with some village-like neigbourhoods in between. The temple is a large structure along one of these north-south oriented streets, its main stupa is so huge it cannot be missed

El Fayoum (T)

Wojciech Fedoruk Poland - 26-Feb-23

Of the five components of this proposal, I saw only two – Karanis and Soknopaiu Nesos. From the research I did, it seems that Qasr Qarun is still worth visiting, but there is not much left to see in Theadelphia.

Karanis is once quite a large village settled in [...]

Fraser Island

4.50 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 24-Feb-23

K'gari (Butchulla for Fraser Island) is undoubtedly as exceptional as it could be. It satisfies 3 of the 4 natural criteria, and the increased recognition of Butchulla people as its traditional owners in recent years made it more special. I originally planned a 3-day, 2-night trip to the island in May 2022 but a knee injury forced me to postpone the trip to August 2022. I also ended up doing a full-day tour as I was still nursing my knee.

Most of tour companies operate from Noosa Heads and Rainbow Beach. The agency I availed the tour from used to pick up passengers from Sunshine Coast, which would have been idea as I was staying with a friend there. However, I had to get an accommodation in Noosa Heads due to low number of tourists

Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik

Tsunami Japan / USA / Europe - 25-Feb-23

Enough has been said probably about the Cathedral of St. James in the previous reviews, so I will just talk about Sibenik in general.

I stayed at a flat just south of Sibenik for 2 months in January and February of 2023. My landlord said to me, "Sibenik is the most beautiful city in Croatia." By now I would agree with her or rather say "Sibenik is the most beautiful county in Croatia." Well, I certainly have not visited all corners of Croatia, but the area was just so beautiful with many worthy places to visit. 

Lorentz National Park

4.00 Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 25-Feb-23

Took me years to accomplish visiting and even then it wasn't easygoing though it should have been rather simple. First off while you see the park on Google Map that isn't really where the park starts and ends. The inscription file has a map and it's different again so eventually I gave up trying to figure out where the park is really. One forum online quoted "the park only exists on paper" and it's really just nature that keeps going and going. If you look at Google you will find no real towns in the park either. Trying to enter from Timika was an idea but again there is nothing touristy from there. Then I stumbled across Wamena in the highlands. It's beyond the mountains and outside the world heritage site but it's in my opinion the only way to reach the park.

Transatlantic Cable Ensemble (T)

Solivagant UK - 24-Feb-23

In readiness for its likely addition to Ireland’s T List, we paid a visit to the Transatlantic Cable Station on Valentia Island in June 2022. A simple review of the visit isn’t going to take very long as, in all honesty, there isn’t a great deal to see, and what there is isn’t that exciting! Perhaps of more interest to WHS travelers is its history towards nomination - informed by the visit itself and some pre and post visit investigations up to the site’s addition to the Irish T List in Feb 2023. 

Vatnajökull National Park

4.00 Clyde Malta - 24-Feb-23

I visited this WHS in 2022. I spent 3 nights in the area between Skaftafell and Jokulsarlon, 1 of which in my rental car parked near the Jokulsarlon bridge as all hotels in the area were fully booked.

The Vatnajokull National Park is characterised by diversity on all fronts, be it landscape, biosphere, geology or service levels. To simplify matters, however, it may be placed into two categories: uninhabited highland area with limited services (requiring 4WD vehicles and/or expensive guided tours or adventure tours such as dogsledding, motoski tours, glacier walks or ice cave exploration), and lowland areas with higher service levels. I focused on the latter which are easily accessible from the ring road, namely Skaftafell with 2 easy/medium signposted hikes to Svartifoss waterfall and a turf house which is not part of the tentative WHS list and another one which leads close to the Skaftafell glacier; Jokulsarlon; and Fjallsarlon

The Andaman Sea Nature Reserves of Thailand (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 23-Feb-23

It took a lot of self-motivation to drag myself to the holiday island of Phuket, especially since it is quite a detour by public transport on the way south from Hua Hin to the Malaysian border. But the Chinese influences (the result of a 17th-century tin mining boom) in the Old City of Phuket turned out to be a refreshing change from the monoculture of the rest of Thailand.

From Phuket Town, I visited Sirinat National Park, one of the 7 nature reserves [...]

Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara

3.00 Geert Luiken Netherlands - 22-Feb-23

Recently I visited both Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. As the former is already covered in many reviews I will focus om the later. Through Elisabeth, the owner of the highly recommended Kimbilio lodge in Kilwa Masoko we got into contact with Osman, a very enthousiastic and knowledgable guide. The boat trip from Kilwa Masoko to Songo Mnara takes about 1,5 hour. You arrive at a rather primitive settlement of local fishermen and after passing through some mangrove forest on foot you reach the ruïnes of the former palace dating from 11 th century. Big baobab trees have partly taken over the buildings, but there is still quite a lot to see. The site was very quiet, our group of 3 had the place to ourselves, as was also the case when we visited Kilwa Kisiwani the next day

Rachid Karami International Fair-Tripoli

3.50 Christravelblog Netherlands - 21-Feb-23

Tripoli is Lebanon’s second largest city and a Tripoli day trip is worth it if you're in Lebanon. It’s a completely different world compared to Beirut. I left Beirut around 08:30 and was in Tripoli at 10:00. I visited both the International Fair and also Tripoli Old Town, both worth it!

Oscar Niemeyer designed the Rachid Karami International Fair in the late sixties for the World Fair in 1976. The fair ground was never finished as the civil war broke out in 1975. Today all the concrete structures are still there and not damaged by the war

Waitangi Treaty Grounds (T)

Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 20-Feb-23

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 at what is now called Te Pitowhenua Waitangi Treaty Grounds, perhaps Aotearoa New Zealand’s most important historical site. How the principles of this document are acknowledged and even embedded in schools, public offices, and workplaces reflects its fundamental importance. It is also registered in UNESCO Memory of the World. I visited the site in April 2022, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to write a quick review since the last and only review was written a decade ago.

Pearling

3.00 CugelVance Germany - 19-Feb-23

I visited Muharraq and its pearling path sites as well as quite a lot of other buildings there(for example all buildings of the sheikh ebrahim foundation,entrance fee for all sites 3 Dinar) on january the 24th.

I took the bus from Manama's central bus station to Muharraq bus terminal( almost every 5 min a bus leaves for Muharraq or the airport). Across the street on the other side of the bus terminal there is the entrance to the pearling path center.

Well,the center is a disappointment and no great help at all. I had a very interesting chat with a guard from kenya there though.I left the center through the second entrance/exit which leads to the al quasariyyah soukh(siyadi shops)

Dilmun Burial Mounds

2.00 CugelVance Germany - 19-Feb-23

I visited A' ali on the 23rd of january. Just a few hours before I had marked all dilmun burial mounds on an off-line map of maps.me in order to find all relevant mounds in that area even without an internet connection.

A'ali is easily reachable by public transport. I just took the bus from Manama's central bus station to Isa Town Bus Terminal and from there another bus to A'ali

Kebun Raya Bogor (T)

Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 20-Feb-23

The botanical gardens may not be in your list when visiting Jakarta and for world heritage enthusiasts you will soon move on to better places in Indonesia. I was going to quickly look at the gardens after arrival but the flight was typically delayed and they already close at 16:00 which probably means they'll eventually start sweeping you out before dark. Instead I visited early morning which I highly recommend instead anyway, plus weekday should keep the families away.

You can reach the gardens by car, or even by train which terminates just west of the park. It is super cheap (10,000 plus you need to buy a travel card if you don't have already) for the 90 minutes ride along the red line, and if you need to exchange it shouldn't be much longer. Because of traffic jams I recommend this was and there are commuters going south in the morning, very few going north when you are done. They only problem with the train approach is that the station is a good 15min walk from the entrance gate at the south of the gardens and it means taking the overpass across the street before heading south and eventually crossing to the entrance. I can see that maybe taking a taxi isn't bad, you can also take a moped from the station to the entrance if you wish..

Palais de la Culture, ancien siège du Ministere de l'Education et de la Santé, Rio de Janeiro (T)

Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 17-Feb-23

Edificio Palacio Gustavo Capanema is a pioneering modernist building located in the heart of Rio De Janeiro. It is just a couple of blocks away from other interesting buildings in the Centro, such as the Theatro Municipal, Fundaçao Biblioteca Nacional, and the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes. As Walter said in his review, it is easily accessible by metro, and thus, there was no practical reason for me not to visit this site when I was back in Rio in October 2022.

I visited the building on a rainy afternoon, which proved to be quite inconvenient as my visit coincided with the rush hour. Approaching the site from the Cinelandia metro station, I was greeted by a building that was fenced off by corrugated metal sheets, which were pretty much covered in graffiti. A signage installed at the northern side of the building says that it was still being renovated and “modernized”. While I was not expecting to see the interiors of each floor given the time of my visit, I was hoping that I would be able to take a peek of the garden and get a full view of the stilt-like columns. I had to content myself with walking around the perimeter, which was helpful enough to appreciate the façade and the external structures of the building

Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 18-Feb-23

The subtitle ‘Capital of Lanna’ discloses the common thread of this future nomination: Lan Na, the long independent Northern Thai state which developed the fortified city of Chiang Mai as its capital from the 13th til the 18th century. Chiang Mai in the past decades has rediscovered itself and found the need to distinguish itself from Bangkok and ‘mainstream’ Thailand. A lot of effort has been put into the restoration of its monuments, which had lain in the rubble for a long time.

Fortress of Suomenlinna

3.00 Jakob Frenzel Germany - 16-Feb-23

January 2023 - Just after arrival in Tallinn in the morning, we left our luggage at the hotel next to the harbour and went rightaway to the ferry to Helsinki. We booked Eckeröline which is fairly cheap when booking a return that same day. At approx 2 pm we entered the skerries of Helsinki, one of them in the distance was Suomenlinna.

Of course that was not enough for a tick, thus first thing we bought a dayticket, took the tram to tuomiokirrko and walked the few meters to the line taking us over to [...]

Brasilia

4.00 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 16-Feb-23

I have always associated modernist architecture with minimalism and utility, but also with grittiness and to some extent, urban decay. It did not help that modernist architecture originated brutalism, which is another architectural style that I did not appreciate until recently. Visiting Brasilia has changed all of that—this is the place where I finally got to understand and even admire this architectural movement. The previous reviews pretty much said everything about the history, OUV, and logistics of visiting Brasilia, but I thought I'd add another review by sharing my experience visiting the city at the end of September 2022.

Marovo - Tetepare Complex (T)

Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 18-Feb-23

This one's not easy but not complicated either: get to the Solomon Islands, book a dive liveaboard that goes to the Marovo Lagoon and you are all set. In fact I find the SIs only have 3 things to really offer me anyway: west diving like the above, Munda (diving) or East Rennell which is a world heritage site but takes even more effort to reach.

So I booked a 10 day cruise and 4 are spent in the Lagoon with the rest around Florida Island etc. We visited one village but as it wasn't near the Lagoon and I figure it may not be what wants to be inscribed, not that I think the culture is that different from one neighboring village to the next these days. Cultural dancing and flower lei were a nice treat nonetheless.

Surtsey

4.00 Clyde Malta - 15-Feb-23

I visited this WHS in 2022 and special thanks go to Nan who not only took care of booking our zodiac-style trip around Surtsey but also managed to include 2 walk-ins to further decrease the overall costs of our truly unforgettable boat trip. This was certainly the highlight of my trip in Iceland and was the main drawing factor that convinced me to finally book my trip to Iceland's "summer", and it certainly didn't disappoint.

The boat trips organised by SACA require a leeway of at least a week if you want to absolutely be sure not to miss out due to bad weather or sea conditions. For that reason I had planned to drive along the ringroad from Reykjavik in an anticlockwise direction if things were to work out as planned (and luckily this was this case) or in a clockwise direction and leaving Surtsey for last. This meant that I only kept online bookings for accomodation with free cancellation at least 24-48 hrs before which is very hard in Iceland's peak season, even if you book well in advance and eventually I could not find any hotel room available for the night after the boat trip. The night before our boat trip I slept in a B&B close to the gravel road leading the turf church of Keldur

Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng

3.50 Els Slots The Netherlands - 15-Feb-23

As Huai Kha Khaeng is a forest reserve with a lot of ‘special’ mammals, a type of WHS that I usually enjoy, I had considered awarding extra time and money towards a visit. But, unfortunately, you still are not allowed to stay overnight inside the park. And I wasn’t going to pay 500-800 EUR for a 3-day tour that essentially meant going in and out every day just to sit in one of the watchtowers. So I am saving that money for Borneo later this trip in the hope of seeing an orangutan in the wild.

Durham Castle and Cathedral

3.50 Thomas Harold Watson United Kingdom - 13-Feb-23

Durham Castle and Cathedral were lovely to visit but unfortunately not as tourist friendly as I would’ve liked them to have been. The castle itself has been completely turned into student accommodation. There was a really cool Harry Potter dinner hall to visit (I’m pretty sure it either was the filming location or was the place that inspired the main food hall in the films) and the cathedral itself had a really cool lego model of it inside (which my little girl loved). Pretty town though and definitely worth spending a half day in and around :)

Thingvellir

2.50 Clyde Malta - 15-Feb-23

I visited this WHS in 2022 as a very early rise and shine visit (since I couldn't sleep much due to sun almost never going down in the summer months in Iceland). The WHS proper within the Thingvellir National Park is always open 24/7 and parking (any time) in most of the car parks comes with a fee payable by credit card in one of the machines. I parked just next to the visitor centre (still closed when I arrived and eventually left), and in front of it is a very nice viewing platform as well as the UNESCO WHS inscription plaque.

Congonhas

3.00 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 14-Feb-23

The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas is inscribed based primarily on the outstanding works of Baroque art it contains and how it represents a period in religious architecture in Latin America. The church and the stairway may also be reminiscent of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga, Portugal. Highlights of the site are the 12 statues of the prophets and the 6 chapels that contain depictions of Christ’s passion. As previous reviews have already written about these, I will focus on the interior of the church and the Sala dos Milagres.

The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Sarawak, Malaysia (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 07-Mar-23

A visit to ‘The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves’ nowadays has to start in Kuching, where in the wonderful Borneo Cultures Museum they have ‘Deep Skull’ on display. The museum’s fourth floor holds an intriguing exposition about the findings in Niah. 

When I arrived at Niah National Park itself, I was surprised to see banners all around stating ‘Niah National Park Toward UNESCO World Heritage Site’. As the nomination is only up in 2024, this is a bit premature and just shy of failing Commandment #7! The facilities, including a large car park, cafeteria, and tourist bungalows, already are set up for high numbers of visitors. On a weekday in March 2023 though, there were only a handful of other people.

The Ancient Town of Si Thep (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 16-Feb-23

As I recently in my review already called Koh Ker a ‘Tier 3’ Khmer site, Si Thep can only be Tier 4! The nomination, up for discussion at the WHC later this year, will undoubtedly focus more on the remains of the Buddhist Dvaravati culture which share the same area as the unremarkable Khmer structures of a later date.

I visited Si Thep (sometimes also transcribed as Sri Thep) by rental car from Bangkok, a car that also gave me access to the more remote Huai Kha Khaeng WHS further to the northwest. When I arrived at the main location, the outside temperature was 37 degrees, so I was pleased to see an electric cart waiting to ferry me around. We first stopped at what the driver called ‘three temples’. Two of them are quite plain Khmer-style stupas, the third is a lower rectangular structure where up close you can see that it has a beam all around decorated with funny carvings of crouching men and animals. These ‘stucco dwarfs’ stem from the Dvaravati culture

Gunung Mulu

4.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 06-Mar-23

Gunung Mulu National Park scores in superlatives. Mulu has the Second Biggest Cave Chamber in the world (Sarawak Chamber), the Largest Cave Passage (Deer Cave), and one of the Largest interconnected cave systems (Clearwater Cave System). It has among the highest number of palm tree species anywhere ánd even the longest canopy walkway. It has been inscribed as a WHS on all 4 natural criteria. Even on our website, it ranks 30th of all 1157 WHS, with an average score of 4.5.

Despite knowing all these accolades, it blows you away on arrival. Its rainforest setting is stunning, it is much prettier than pictures can convey

Rijal Almaa Heritage Village in Assir Region (T)

Stanislaw Warwas Poland - 14-Feb-23

Visited January 2023.

At the moment most of us from WH travellers want to see this site, this kind of a village, inscribed on the UNESCO list. And I do not understand why, ‘cos I could not see any universal value (not speaking about outstanding universal value) of this very pretty nice, very well maintained and recently partly rebuilt village.

It is old, but the oldest houses are 200 years or less old… Probably underpinnings of some of them are much older but it was never researched. Yes, it was never researched. The village used to be a very important stop on the caravan route

Ouro Preto

4.00 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 13-Feb-23

I think that Ouro Preto has got all the characteristics of an outstanding cultural World Heritage site: it contains architecture and artwork of high aesthetic value; its buildings, roads, and other colonial infrastructure are well preserved and conserved; and it is a setting of important historical events in the country, particularly the Brazilian independence movement. Schoolchildren are taught about its historical significance and many visit as part of their school trips. Additionally, this former center of gold mining enjoys a status of being a popular tourist destination among locals, as Rafabram attests.

The Cultural Landscape of Civita di Bagnoregio (T)

Clyde Malta - 12-Feb-23

I visited this tWHS by car in 2022. The best light within the Civita is in the morning just after the morning dew and mist, while the best views from any viewpoint opposite the Civita are definitely in the afternoon with the sun shining from behind you. Parking near the small village before the parking proper is free while the parking lot (which looked quite unsafe when I visited since what looks like a large modern visitor centre is still under construction) costs 5 euro for a day ticket. You'll also have to pay a further 5 euros to cross the modern bridge and visit the Civita proper which further underlines the fact that the Civita is a "dying museum town".

Himā Cultural area

3.00 Stanislaw Warwas Poland - 11-Feb-23

Visited January 2023.

Solo traveller without a driving license spends more (money and time) in Saudi Arabia than those who rent cars and have a travel pal to share a hotel room. But Saudi Arabia is still a country where you can enjoy hitchhiking and meeting people like anywhere in so called civilised countries…

Hima Cultural Area is pretty remote and not connected to [...]

Koh Ker: Archeological site of Ancient Lingapura Or Chok Gargyar (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 09-Feb-23

If Koh Ker gets inscribed later this year, it will be the 8th site related to the Khmer Empire and its predecessors on the World Heritage List. Considering the Maya have 9 now (and Takalik Abaj is upcoming!), it doesn’t seem overrepresented. But we are getting to the Tier 3 sites now I think, with Angkor solely occupying Tier 1 of the Khmer sites and the current WHS Sambor Prei Kuk and Preah Vihear holding Tier 2.

Koh Ker is a step down from these 3, considering both the visitor experience and the level of artistic/historic distinction. It dates from a relatively short period in the 10th century when it was the capital of the Khmer Empire. It was another stepping stone (both in time and location) between Sambor Prei Kuk and Angkor. The Khmer’s water management skills were further developed here

Plain of Jars

4.50 Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero The Philippines - 09-Feb-23

I first read about the Plain of Jars when I was 15 years old and its mystery and allure have never left me since. It then took me 20 years to finally see it and I am pleased with what I saw. Coming from the Philippines, Laos just seems so remote to get to! The trip from Louang Prabang to Phonsavan can easily take between 6 to 7.5 hours as the mountain road is not the best. I opted to rent a private van as I was traveling with my senior mom. While we should have arrived in Phonsavan at 2:30PM, given the travel condition and a rather slow old driver we got, we arrived there at 4PM -- just 1 hour before the closing time of Site 1 (5PM)

Struve Geodetic Arc

1.50 Jakob Frenzel Germany - 09-Feb-23

January 2023 this is possibly one of the least exciting WHS to visit. Anyway WHS lunatics want to tick it off the bucket list. On our Baltic Trip 2017 I completely blanked out the two spots around Vilnius. Years later I was still mad about. Now, on a spontaneous trip to Tallinn and surrounding my travel buddy asked me, whether visiting Tartu would be within our itinerary.

Of course! I am happy to visit! So after daytrips to Helsinki and Laheema NP in our 4th travel day we took an early train to Tartu through wonderful snowy Landscape and arrived approx. 2 hours later.

Cueva de las Manos

3.50 Timonator Germany - 09-Feb-23

From Los Antiguos we have booked a trip for 50 EUR per person (blue dollar rate) with Chelenco Tours to the Cueva de las manos. We also looked into renting a private car or a remise, but the next private car available would have been in Comodoro Rivadavia, a 5 hour drive away, and even when we were there earlier all rental cars were sold out short term. We didn't take the remise (kind of taxi) as we thought from a tour would give us more information for not much more money

Nessebar

5.00 UncleSlavi Bulgaria - 07-Feb-23

Nessebar, Nessebar - this is the city I have been to the most times. I was there for the first time (according to my parents' stories) when I was 3 years old. The tradition of going to the Black sea in Nessebar every year lasted almost 30 years. After that, I also went without my parents, of course.

This is the first UNESCO World Heritage Site I have visited. And to which I always return over the years.

They call Nessebar an "encyclopedia" of Christian church construction. 44 churches from the period from the 5th to the 19th century have been discovered in it so far. (Considering, however, that the island was at least three times as large, it is obvious that the number of churches also exceeded a hundred). Among them are the oldest early Christian basilicas in Bulgaria

The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo (T)

Solivagant UK - 11-Feb-23

During a comprehensive tour around Ireland in June 2022 we gathered that the Eire T List review process might well result in the “Passage Tomb landscape of Co Sligo” being added. We hadn’t specifically included its locations in our plans but were passing through Sligo (County and town) anyway and were able to fit in a specific visit to 1 of the 2 stated “likely” sites at Carrowmore. We accept that this single site visit didn’t perhaps give us a full enough experience of what the complete entry would have to offer but are still not really convinced that the chosen elements justify a separate inscription from that of Bru na Boinne (BnB).

Preah Vihear Temple

3.50 Els Slots The Netherlands - 08-Feb-23

It is still quite the day trip from Siem Reap to reach Preah Vihear Temple. We left at 5 a.m., only to arrive 3.5 hours later at the parking lot where you have to pay for the ticket (10 USD) and a 4wd truck up to the mountain (25 USD). They had a number of trucks ready: although it seems like a remote place, it does see its fair share of local visitors and a daily trickle of foreigners. My driver, the recommended Mr. Smarty, hadn’t been there since 2019.

I did not [...]

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region

Tsunami Japan / USA / Europe - 07-Feb-23

There are 8 of these tserkvas in Ukraine. Besides the one in Zhovkva, which is just outside of Lviv, none has written a report on others yet, so I will briefly report on the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nyzhnii Verbizh near Kolomyya, Ukraine. 

D [...]

Los Glaciares

4.50 Timonator Germany - 06-Feb-23

With a guided tour me and my girlfriend went to the parque nacional los glaciares and more specifically one of its main attractions- Glaciar Perito Moreno. From the hotel it was a 80 km ride (around 1 hour) into the parque where the entrance of 5000 ARS (Currently around 15€ each as of blue dollar rate) needs to be paid a bit more than halfway towards Perito Morenco Glacier. We went off the bus on the right side of the tongue of the glaciar or more specifically in the laguna de los témpanos which proofed it's name as some great icebergs with fantastic shapes were swimming in there. We got into drysuits and other appropriate gear and did a kayak tour on the lagoon

Plečnik's Lubljana

2.00 Clyde Malta - 07-Feb-23

I visited this WHS in 2022. I parked my car in the really convenient indoor Center Parking just next to the famous Dragon Bridge after having visited the three locations which are away from the historic city centre, namely the Church of St Michael, the Zale Cemetery and the Church of St Francis. Hubert provided detailed information especially for these three buildings outside the city centre and overall I agree with his doubts about Otto Wagner's buildings in Vienna not specifically included on the WH list.

Phnom Kulen: Archeological Site/Ancient Site of Mahendraparvata (T)

Frederik Dawson Netherlands - 07-Feb-23

One of the things I got from my two weeks trip to explore pre-Angkorian and Dvaravati arts with ICOMOS international experts in Cambodia and Thailand is the problem of drafting nomination dossier of Cambodia on other Angkorian sites. The problem of how to distinguish between those nominations with Angkor as the listed Angkor already almost covered all aspects of the Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian cultures. Some ICOMOS scholars even opinioned that if original nomination of Angkor exclude Rolous Group which is a Pre-Angkorian site, the works will be more easier for the nomination of Phnom Kulen and other lesser Pre-Angkorian sites to be World Heritage! And right now, this site is being proposed as an extension of Angkor to solve the unsolved problem.

Diamantina

3.00 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 02-Feb-23

The colonial town of Diamantina is situated about 300 kilometers north of the state capital city of Belo Horizonte. It's pretty much evident that its status as a center of diamond mining pretty much shaped its history and influenced its culture and urban fabric to this day. I reckon that you can see through its history how controlling and authoritarian the Portuguese crown was at the time.

I visited Diamantina in September 2022 and stayed for 2 nights

Historic Monument of Kangavar (T)

Solivagant UK - 05-Feb-23

If you visit the WHS of Bisotun then you are likely to pass Kangavar 60 kms earlier on the road from Tehran/Hamadan. The site is an open untidy, scrubby area to the west of the town - it will probably take less than 30 minutes for anyone not “into” Iranian archaeology! The problem isn’t seeing it, but getting much from the visit! Indeed, if it wasn’t for that T List “tick” (and with it the potential for an inscribed one in the future!) I suspect that most people would give it a miss. When we were there in April 2016 the site was fenced and an entry fee was payable. There was no museum, and, apart a very general one at the entrance, no interpretation boards. And no other visitors.

Ancient City of Ondong (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 05-Feb-23

Ever wondered what the Cambodians were doing between the fall of Angkor (early 15th century) and the start of the French Protectorate in the late 19th century? They had to endure repeated invasions and interferences by the Siamese and Vietnamese, and there was even a Cambodian-Dutch War! Oudong was the capital for most of this period –  a trading river port in Central Cambodia, also known for its silver workshops.

The TWHS description shows no focus and a nomination doesn’t seem likely in the near future, despite remaining on Cambodia’s most recent Tentative List in 2020. To a casual visitor nowadays it mostly resembles a sacred mountain ‘experience’

Grand Pré

2.00 Carlo Sarion Philippines | New Zealand - 01-Feb-23

Grand Pré is comprised mainly of marshland that was first polderised by the Acadians in the 17th century for farming and settlement. Its inscription is based on two justifications: (1) the site represents the development of traditional agricultural techniques by the Acadians that adapted to the environmental and tidal conditions of the area, and (2) the site is a testimony to an important part of the history of this region—the Acadian diaspora.

Our visit last November 2022 was an easy [...]

Historic Jeddah

2.50 Martina Rúčková Slovakia - 28-Jan-23

Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia with a population of nearly five million. The country's commercial centre and the gateway for pilgrims to Mecca. Jeddah is also considered to be the cultural centre of Saudi and the most liberal city in the country. Of course, we couldn't miss it on our journey across the country. Generally, it's an easy visit as there are regular bus and air connections not only from Saudi, but also neighbouring countries.

The drive in was surprisingly long. Not surprisingly, the city is indeed sprawling, and we passed clusters of buildings, commercial and multifunctional centers for dozens of kilometers on the highway. Then comes the attempt to get somewhere near the historic centre of Al-Balad, a World Heritage Site. Remember my previous reviews and my mindless yapping on the subject of permanent reconstruction? Well, Jeddah is no different. One entire neighborhood in the wider city center adjacent to the old city has been practically razed to the ground and is apparently being reconstructed or outright redeveloped. Some roads are blocked or traffic is being diverted because of this

Vilnius

4.50 Sebasfhb Netherlands - 27-Jan-23

My first WHS trip in 2023 was to the historic centre of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which happened to be celebrating its 700th anniversary on the 25th of January (more on that later). Visiting Lithuania has always been a dream of mine. When interested in history from a young age, children usually grow up to choose a certain specific area or period of interest: dinosaurs, Romans and Greek, ancient Egypt, the Vikings, etc. Personally, I “chose” medieval Eastern Europe and don’t ask me why. I just find that specific period in that area immensely interesting

Pico Island

3.50 Elia Vettorato Italy - 25-Jan-23

Vineyards are the topic of this WHS, and they will be extremely visible since the beginning of the trip on Pico island, coming via boat to Madalena. There are a few nice spots where to see from above the particular landscape, made of irregular lava bricks. I'd say that the main places to see the vineyards are around the wine museum at Madalena (which is worth a visit, also for the low prize), the Moinho do Frade (a bright red windmill in Criacao Velha), but the most amazing one is the view from Prainha Forest Park. You will get the chance to see many vineyards along the way, in any case. A bit out of topic, but we tasted several wines during our Azores vacations (all from Pico island) and some were better than others, but nothing extremely special

Hegmataneh (T)

Solivagant UK - 27-Jan-23

This site’s current UNESCO T List description confidently asserts that “Hegmataneh is universally well known because Median Dynasty was established over there” (sic) and adds, for good measure; “There exists no comparable instance”. Bold claims! The “Medes” are, indeed, one of a number of “ancient peoples” from Asia of whom we have probably all “heard” but without knowing much, or even anything, more about them. So, how did they and their "capital" enter our “common knowledge base”?

Tallinn

4.00 Jakob Frenzel Germany - 25-Jan-23

January 2023 - due to a cheap flight offer I finally decided to visit Tallinn this was. I could persuade a friend from school to join. After a day and night in Riga, we flew into Tallinn. Due to our extreme itinerary we spent 3 nights in Tallinn, but made our actual visit to the old town only on the last day, before going back to Berlin.

The old town is very different from Riga or Vilnius. Medieval Flair, extremely well preserved and as we had the luck of snowfall, the views at the old town were just marvelous. Make sure to visit the oldest pharmacy in Europe, Tallins oldest Art-Nouveau Café and the numerous churches. From Toompea you have the nicest view at the city, making a visit to the townhalls tower  probably unmecessary.

Medina of Essaouira

2.50 Els Slots The Netherlands - 20-Jan-23

Essaouira is yet another fortified town along Morocco’s Atlantic Coast. And another Medina as well! For me, it didn’t stand out enough and I have given it the lowest rating of all Moroccan WHS. Essaouira also was the most touristy city of my trip: its coastline has a special appeal for surfers. It also attracts those young US Americans travelling abroad for the first time, moving around in small groups with the guys chaperoning the girls, ánd I met an Intrepid tour group following their ‘leader’ like ducklings even while having to complete the simplest of tasks.

Himā Cultural area

Jarek Pokrzywnicki Polska - 25-Jan-23

Area visited recently, November 2022. Certainly one of the best example of rock art (similar to those in the Hail region) with interesting addition of ancient wells. As located quite far from main roads site requires organised transport to get there.

It consist of several petroglyph’s sites located near small village of Hima (southern Saudi Arabia, around 120 km from Najran, and some 25 km from main Riyadh – Najran highway) and historical wells (5 cut in the rock, 2 of them looked as still in use).

Madā ͐ in Ṣāliḥ

4.50 Martina Rúčková Slovakia - 22-Jan-23

Hegra is Saudi Arabia's paramount tourist attraction and one of the few boasting of an excellent infrastructure ready to handle mass tourism. Correction, it's actually the only place in Saudi Arabia where mass tourism is practiced. Tours are booked in advance and the choices are endless - just choose how much time and money you want to give Hegra. We opted for the classic three-hour guided bus tour, but you can spend a full day here, go privately on a jeep and have a picnic amid the desert sights.

Kaeng Krachan Forest

3.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 20-Feb-23

For my ‘tick’ of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex I choose Kui Buri National Park. Kui Buri (sometimes also spelled as ‘Kuri Buri’) was established only in 1999 after tensions between wild elephants and villagers escalated. The elephants’ former habitat had been taken over by pineapple plantations. The park now offers daily 'elephant safaris', where - with a bit of luck - one can observe the wild elephants from a distance. The WWF is still active here to further reduce human-elephant conflict.

Casablanca, Ville du XXème siécle, carrefour d'influences (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 19-Jan-23

Casablanca, 20th century city, crossroads of influences focuses on the products of urban planning and architecture in Morocco’s largest city from the period between 1920 and 1975. It is “a fusion of African culture (more precisely North African culture), European culture and American culture”. Where Rabat leans more towards the neo-Moorish styles of the early 20th century French, in Casablanca the modern movement in architecture and other avant-garde trends such as art deco and brutalism, and urban planning principles such as housing projects were applied. After the French bombarded this port city in 1907, it had almost to be rebuilt from scratch. Therefore, the proposal compares Casablanca with the planned 20th-century cities of Brasilia (Brazil) and Chandigarh (India).

Nessebar

3.00 CugelVance Germany - 19-Feb-23

I guess all has been said which can be said about Nessebar. The small city and its wonderful unesco churches are without any doubt worth a visit.

I stayed one night in Nessebar on the 14th of jan. Very few visitors were there,hardly anyone after sunset.

I had the town to myself in the later hours of the day. The locals told me that Nessebar is a pure hell in the summer months and even in spring as the city is virtually overrun by hordes of tourists from the nearby golden beach + local bulgarian tourists from other parts of the country.

Bastam and Kharghan (T)

Solivagant UK - 22-Jan-23

So here we have yet another, currently un-reviewed, Iranian T list entry situated, like “The Historical Texture of Damghan”, just off Highway 44 in NE Iran, well away from the main tourist routes in that country. The comments I made when reviewing that site apply here too and, indeed, both also share a common aspect in the form of an Iranian “Funerary Tower”. IMO, understanding the site requires a degree of familiarity with both the history of the region between the 9th and 14th C and of Shia beliefs and practices. I can’t say we adequately possessed these when we visited in april 2016, despite valiant attempts to bone up on both before we went, and

The settlement of Joden Savanne and Cassipora cemetery (T)

Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 18-Jan-23

I may dislike religious sites in general but I'm extra negative about this one. It basically tries to show a "testament to Judaism in the Americas" which means that Jews came to the South Americas in the settler ages as seen by the founding year of the site: 1682. The synagogue remains are quite basic with mainly the ground bricks, steps and short remains of the walls to be seen. At one point it must have been a nice settlement away from the main that is now Paramaribo. It also contains a cemetery which are many large rectangles on the ground. If all religions would start to add locations for their cemeteries around the world it would be full of sites

Rabat

3.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 18-Jan-23

The Moroccan capital Rabat is a pleasant and neat city, that is large and varied enough to warrant at least half a day’s visit. Its overall feel is fairly modern, but not as harsh as Casablanca, and – as stated in its OUV - the 20th-century French town planners handled it with respect for the existing heritage. I walked its streets in a loop of about 11km: railway station – Medina – Kasbah – city walls - Hassan Tower – railway station. I skipped the Chellah (much further away) which I knew was closed for renovations, and also the Habous neighbourhood which seemed not to be worth a detour being a normal residential area with modernist influences.

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge

2.50 Clyde Malta - 16-Jan-23

I visited this WHS in 2022 en route from Stari Ras, Serbia to the Bosnian Stecci near Stolac. Arriving very early from the opposite side of Visegrad, I easily parked alongside the Drina River where a local fisherman was trying his luck and killing time. The 11 arched Ottoman bridge is quite striking, especially when seen from above, either with a drone or with a short walk up a few stairs to the local zipline.

It has become quite popular in the last few decades thanks to Ivo Andric who wrote the novel The Bridge on the Drina in [...]

Maloti Drakensberg

4.50 Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 15-Jan-23

Drakensberg is one of my favorite site in the world. I spent 3 days here and would have liked to spend more but in the end I only though I should accomplish two things:

a) check off the WHS and because I figured it would be mainly about rock art I only planned 1 day for this

b) visit Lesotho and "tick off" a country... kidding I actually wanted to do that trip up the mountains because it you'd get a great view only that there are some reports about road conditions that got me thinking there could be trouble, and it's supposed to have the highest bar in the world (is it though?).

Stećci

2.50 Clyde Malta - 15-Jan-23

I visited 3 locations of this WHS in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2022, namely Radimlja (the most important and best preserved location), Mramorje (just opposite, on the other side of the road) and Boljuni Necropolis I and II a few kilometres away from Stolac (also worth a visit if you have time to spare).

Mramorje is a mere continuation of Radimlja with very minor stecci compared to the ones in Radimlja, in terms of size, quality and quantity. At first I visited Radimlja in the morning and I wasn't happy with the lighting on most of the embossed engravings of the stecci. Afternoon light is much better, so I decided to head towards Boljuni Necropolis I and II. These stecci here are 100 meters apart from each other in the middle of a number of tobacco fields with lots of cattle grazing around in the fields and a circular open well nearby. There is no visitor centre or parking lot near this location so it really was a fun experience

Risco Caido

2.00 Els Slots The Netherlands - 17-Jan-23

I hadn’t expected ever to visit Gran Canaria, a small Atlantic island overrun by millions of tourists yearly. But I had to secure my last World Heritage Site of Spain: I am now at 49/49. The decision to go there was made easier due to some EasyJet vouchers that I still had from Covid times. And because there's an interesting way to leave: I hopped over to Casablanca in Morocco on a tiny propeller flight.

I [...]

The Historical Texture of Damghan (T)

Solivagant UK - 10-Jan-23

Damghan is one of those places you might find yourself passing round on its by-pass without realising that it contains a relatively minor TWHS which justifies a quick diversion off the highway - No 44 in this case (A part of AH1 from Tokyo to Istanbul!), which you are going to use between Mashad and Tehran (and also possibly as a faster route back from Gonbad-e Qabus than the Caspian route?). In 2016, on the last day of our Iranian tour, we had a 580km/7 ¼ hour drive back from Gonbad to Tehran Airport but were still able to pick up this TWHS (together with 2 others at Abr forest and Bustami) on the way with, in this case, an addition of under an hour. We may not have fully covered the site, but, in our minds at least, got enough out of it to justify the time spent!

Melka Kunture and Balchit (T)

Boj Philippines - 14-Jan-23

Visited Melka Kunture archaeological site in January 2023 - a quick day trip from Addis Ababa.

The site has an interesting museum exhibiting Ethiopia's rich archaeological heritage. Melka Kunture boasts for recording 1.7 million years of continuous prehistoric human occupation, apart from its rich lithic, flora and fauna fossil records (Photo is from the dig site with in-situ artefacts).

Travelers can arrange a visit to Melka Kunture with a trip to Tiya (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Adadi Mariam Rock Church, the only known rock-hewn church outside of Lalibela. 

Mahabalipuram

4.00 Philipp Peterer Switzerland - 12-Jan-23

Visit January 2023 - This is one of the sites I struggle to pronounce even after I visited. Still I think Maha Bali Puram (that is how I try to memorize it) is a great site and should be mentioned when talking about India’s best sites.

We took a taxi from Chennai. I offered a generous 3000Rp flat to bring us there, drive us from site to site and drive us back. Be aware that traffic inside the zone is terrible. If you travel without children or elderly, I suggest you walk between locations.

Hire Benkal, Megalithic Site (T)

Randi Thomsen Norway - 10-Jan-23

Visit December 2022 together with Philipp Peterer. On our way from Pattadakal to Hampi, we decided to check out this new tent site. So far no one in the community had been here. Not very popular among Indians either. We didn't meet a single person during our two-hour visit to site.

The first step was to figure out how to get there. Google maps is not to be trusted on this

Stari Ras and Sopocani

2.50 Clyde Malta - 14-Jan-23

I visited this WHS in 2022. This WHS is made up of four completely different locations and sites, and is one of those WHS which turned out to be a sort of mini treasure hunt to complete, reminding mostly of the Val de Boi churches in Catalunya or the Romanesque churches of Andorra, probably because of the Sopocani Monastery which stands out from all the other locations.

I must say I enjoyed my visit overall but I didn't have high expectations. I based myself at the comfortable and cheap RAS Pazatiste also mentioned in Philipp's review, away from the hustle and bustle of Novi Pazar. Just opposite the parking lot there are a few foundation remains and graffiti of what was once the Ras Medieval Town and Market Place. If it weren't for the brown sign just opposite the hotel's parking lot I wouldn't have even noticed. Near the wooden bridge entrance of the hotel, there is a UNESCO information board showing the tiny steep uphill trail to the Gradina Fortress wall remains on an outcrop high above the hotel. The trail begins from just next to the children's playground

Studenica Monastery

3.00 Clyde Malta - 14-Jan-23

I visited this WHS in 2022 visiting en route the uninscribed Zica monastery. The latter monastery is red no more, at least at the time of visit, but it still looks good without paint both outside and inside. Likewise, Studenica Monastery's red painted dome had its paint removed, but this seemed quite temporary as I noticed a number of buckets of red paint on the side.

The Studenica Monastery was built between 1186 and 1196 in a once desolate region, on the fertile slopes of the Radocelo mountain. Its founder, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, could be compared to Noah from the Old Testament, because with Studenica Nemanja created also the ship of salvation by which he brought his people to the Lord, as glorified in the hymns of praise echoing inside the monastery. Stefan Nemanja abdicated in 1196, took the monastic vows and a new name, Simeon. He is represented really well on the south wall of the church, as a monk with the Studenica church in his hand, a recurring theme I had also noted at the Zica Monastery and at the Gracanica Monastery in Kosovo

The Archeological complex of Banteay Chhmar (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 13-Feb-23

Put this one on your to-do list, as Banteay Chhmar may be nominated in the next few years by Cambodia. Serious restorations and improvements of the visiting conditions have taken place, especially since 2017. A lot of money and effort has been put into what is still a remote site not far from the border with Thailand. As with the other Cambodian sites, most of the work is being carried out by local workers and paid for by the Cambodian government. In the earlier stages of its rediscovery and preservation, both the World Monuments Fund and the Global Heritage Fund have been active here as well to mitigate the effects of structural instability and looting.

Panamá

2.50 Ilya Burlak USA - 13-Jan-23

I visited both components of the site in December 2022 while on a layover in Panama City. I will agree with the previous reviewers that Casco Viejo (or Casco Antiguo - both names apparently can be used) is not exactly exceptional in the absolute sense, and probably lacking in OUV, but being a visual person, I liked it more than I liked the Panama Viejo archaeological component. On the negative side, some streets remain clogged with cars and a non-trivial percentage of buildings is in a less-than-perfect state. On the positive side, fine details abound, and the overall ensemble of architectural styles is pleasing to the eye. That is in no small part due to the various balconies that adorn upper floors - Casco Viejo is sometimes rightly called "the city of a thousand balconies".

Transatlantic Cable Ensemble (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 19-Feb-23

The inclusion of the Transatlantic Cable Ensemble: Valentia-Heart’s Content in Ireland’s updated Tentative List brings a bit more spice for WH travellers to this corner of Ireland, County Kerry. It gives you something to do while waiting for a boat to Skellig Michael. I have been there twice, both for that reason. Valentia Island lies a 2.5h drive from Cork Airport on roads where you always have to be on guard – they are busy and narrow, and there always is some goat fair going on at Killarney or Killorglin; I hated the drive both times.

Dholavira: A Harappan City

3.50 Philipp Peterer Switzerland - 12-Jan-23

Visit December 2022 – I planned this visit together with Randi and Svein. As Randi described the site very well in her review, I will focus on the logistics.

How to get there

We arrived in Ahmadabad with an early morning flight from BOM. Svein hat prebooked a rental car with Europcar that should have been brought to us at the arrival. As nothing really works as planned in India, we finally took off with a car with driver and around 2.5h delay. The driver took us via Modhera TWHS and Rani Ki Vav WHS to Dholavira. It’s a more than 6h drive from Rani Ki Vav. After spending the night in Dholavira, we visited the site in the morning (around 8am to 11am) and spent the rest of the day driving back to Ahmadabad. The drive takes over 8h, plus lunch and coffee breaks.

Dholavira: A Harappan City

3.50 Randi Thomsen Norway - 10-Jan-23

This is a new site and has very few visitors from our community so far. Dholavira is an old Harappan city dating back to 3000 years BC, so we didn’t expect to see much. But we were surprised!

We, that includes Svein and Phillip, were first on site this December morning and we even had to open the gate. The first structure was a very large reservoir in front of the castle’s eastern gate, impressive!  It seems like the ancient civilization living here did very well in mastering the water. 

Lower Valley of the Omo

Boj Philippines - 10-Jan-23

Visited first week of January 2023. 

Before arranging this visit, I consulted a number of tour operators, checked blogs, travel tips to figure out how to arrive at the "supposed" core/heritage zone of the property. I managed to reach Omorate, the southernmost point (of my trip) in the area, where I visited Dassanech village and attempted to walk further west, hoping to at least get a glimpse of those mysterious land formations. 

Did I manage to visit the property? 50/50 - perhaps in the future, a more definitive map defining core & buffer zones will decide whether I (and many other travelers) did manage to tick off the site. Did I have fun visiting the area? Very much so. The visit to the villages (Karo, Morsi, Hamer and Konso) is the highlight of travel to Ethiopia's southern region

Auschwitz Birkenau

3.50 Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 08-Jan-23

Auschwitz is certainly special and there's been much reviewed about it already that I might not feel I can add much "new". When I visited in 2016 there were guided tours only and when I arrived late I was allowed to enter on my own in order to find the group. Naturally that was quite hard because listening to the audio doesn't indicate where the group is suddenly located and only the quality will give you an idea how close you are. I eventually found the group and the reason I mention this is because I wonder if I want to have the group. Sure, you see everything and get lots of info, and most of it is important but I also found it very depressing to listen to the guide

Le complexe hydraulique romain de Zaghouan-Carthage (T)

Boj Philippines - 07-Jan-23

In December 2022, my brother and I went south of Tunis to visit Zaghouan, along with Uthina and Zriba Olya, an abandoned Berber mountain village. On the way to Zaghouan town, one could stop by and visit portions of the aqueduct.

The property has OUV potential, given its claim to be one of the longest aqueducts ever built in the Roman empire - 132km from the Zaghouan sacred spring and temple (pictured here) to Carthage, using the natural contours and topography of the landscape. The properties however need significant restoration.

Jingkieng jri: Living Root Bridge Cultural Landscapes (T)

Usagi1974 - 07-Jan-23

The fact that 'living root bridges' in Meghalaya state haven't made it to UNESCO list yet, and that Indian government only put them as candidate last year, is surprising. The main criteria - outstanding universal value - is obvious from the moment we see these unique structures. They're created by slow - taking several dozen years - shaping of growing tree roots by Khasi and Jaintia tribes in Northwest India. Once mature, they can serve the pedestrians for ages - holding up to 50 people, with such wonders as 'double decker' and double-lane bridges. They blend into surrounding jungle, resulting in a mood that we'd rather expect from a fairy tale scenography

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

Tsunami Japan / USA / Europe - 05-Jan-23

I have visited 11 (Paris, Amiens, Mont Saint-Michel, Vézelay, Asquins, Clermont-Ferrand, Poitiers, Bourges, Toulouse-2, Gavarnie) out of the 78 components, but here I will talk about just one of them, Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques in Toulouse, as it has not been much talked about previously.

If you are in Toulouse, you would want to visit both the two components, right? I was in Toulouse in summer 2022 and visited Basilique Saint-Sernin but failed to visit this hospital. So when I found myself again in Toulouse in winter 2022, I made sure to visit it.

Monuments of Srirangapatna Island Town (T)

Solivagant UK - 06-Jan-23

Srirangapatna is a medium-sized town (c150k population in 2011) situated around 30 minutes north of Mysore by road and is eminently suitable for an afternoon excursion from that city – which is what we did way back in 2004. It didn’t get added to India’s T List until 2014 and we were certainly NOT betting on even the possibility of a UNESCO future! No, we visited because of its significant role in the history of British imperial expansion in India…….. “The Battle of Seringapatam, 1799”

Hani Rice Terraces

4.00 Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 05-Jan-23

One of the top sites in China. So popular with photographers, a new hobby that grew with wealth building up in the country that you will have a hard time finding a good spot at the photography spots in the morning. Also many girls in China like to call themselves "哈尼" as a nickname because Hani sounds like "Honey" and they think they are cute then - and no, I didn't do that ;)

I think the main reason this is not visited by more people in general is that the effort it takes can be quite big. You need to get a coach from Kunming to the nearby towns (very luxurious) and then onwards with small vans to where you are staying. The protected area has a ticket and with the ticket you get a one-time visit to the photography spot. If you were smart and got a good guesthouse in one of the villages you get free views anytime of the day which was actually better in my case because as you can see the sunrise photo was cloudy. The only downside is that you don't have the same panoramic heights. The aforementioned photographers would still stay at these spot for hours for the chance to get a good shot

Gamzigrad-Romuliana

2.50 Clyde Malta - 04-Jan-23

I visited this WHS in 2022 as the first Serbian WHS en route from Pecs, Hungary. Upon arrival I chose to buy the combined ticket including an entrance to the national museum in Zajecar, since I had my hotel there for the night. Like Diocletian's Palace in Split, the palace was designed to be a representative imperial residence, and the fortification perimeter nowadays reminded me quite a lot of the Bashtava Fortress in Albania or the high walls of Villa Adriana in Tivoli, Italy.

In total, within the palace walls, there are the partially reconstructed remains of 20 circular towers and two gates, thermal baths, a number of temples with mosaic floors (only a couple visible in situ as like in Albania, the bigger ones are covered with gravel and sand, while the best ones are in the local museum (worth visiting as a value added addition to your visit)), and the remains of Christian basilicas. As such, Romuliana could be viewed as a royal palace, a church property, an early Byzantine settlement and a Medieval settlement. Entrance and exit to the site proper are through the Western Gate. Near both the Western and Eastern Gates, one can find the UNESCO WHS inscription plaques

Walled City of Baku

2.50 Zoë Sheng Chinese-Canadian - 05-Jan-23

It's more of a "City with some walls" and it's rightly on the endanger list because urban development has made it seem like there are just remains and ruins in-between a modern city. It's not horrible in any way but I wouldn't call it a marvel of culture to be placed on the world heritage list.

Anyo [...]

Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy

3.00 Jakob Frenzel Germany - 04-Jan-23

July 2022 - Just after crossing the Simplonpass we entered Italy. As we had missed the Sacre Monti around the Lago di Como the last time we had it on our itinerary this time. Domodossola was pretty much the first town in the road coming from Switzerland. The Calvario depicts different steps in the life of Jesus, carved in wooden sculptures in different chapels. We were not the only people. But the place was quite abandoned and we had early Lunch on the lawn with takeaways from the local supermarket. Some of the chapels are in bad shape, but the sculptures are made with attention to many details.