Zoë Sheng

Canada \ Member since August 2017

#1 1101 0 117

I'm Zoë. I'm originally from Edmonton, Canada and then moved to Vancouver Island although spent lots of time in China where family members still reside. I also spent a few years at boarding school in England where my trips started when my parents took me around the coastal paths and what later turned out to be world heritage sites which are considered my first "ticks". Since then I traveled a lot, studied part-time in Auckland, and my "skills" of efficiency and organized planning helps a lot - meaning that old towns tend to get an overnight stay to easily explore them while churches, tombs or cemeteries that only take an hour tops to visit are really just scheduled for a quick visit. I do sometimes regret not visiting a place longer but revisits are not out of the question. However, as I don't drink alcohol, party, or require fancy nights out on the town it shortens activities in places too (if you enjoy doing this  then I'm happy for you just don't wonder why I get stuff done quicker). I also scuba dive frequently which I love the most in the world though I'm not a tec-diving nerd and keep it simple (thus Bikini Atoll is probably out). No deco diving for me unless it's a special wreck.

Personally I'm very private. I ditched Facebook over a decade ago, Instagram I only lasted for a few months and even Whatsapp I tend to mainly use for staying in touch, contacting hotels and tour guides. I'm not anti-social and usually travel in a small group if it works out, although I do enjoy solo traveling more because nobody will screw up my planning. Anyone tagging along will know "it's her way or no way". I have met two people from our community although they didn't noticed it was me at the time. I also do not know the name of one of them but maybe I'll find out eventually. I also almost ran into the Aussie couple and their dog but I was stuck in the Peruvian mountains while they were partying (joke, or assumption?!) in Cuzco.

Since 2023 I started slowing down world heritage specific traveling mainly because I have just seen so many and so much already. I'd rather spend the time with friends and my marine buddies the sharks and dolphins than seek out a mediocre church or wine county, plus the list keeps growing with lackluster titles that hardly excite me, not that I try tick off tentative sites as I can anyway but outliers and crappy stuff far away from civilization isn't going to be fun to visit.

In 2024 I had a mitral valve replacement (ugly scar now) followed by an RFA to fix my heart rate. It definitely slowed down any traveling I wanted to do and unsure how it will continue. Hopefully I'm as good as new with medication. Even scuba diving is ok!

At the time of writing I still need to visit 147 sites which doesn't seem like a lot but a few are impossible to visit, some require lengthy trips (30 days for one, two weeks for a few others) and can cost a huge sum of money. There are also those warring states that are currently off-limits. Having officially visited 151 UN listed countries these are still left with sites:

Afghanistan
Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo, DR (hiked across from Uganda but not an official visit plus people get killed here!!)
Congo, Republic
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Libya (hiked across the border from Algeria but not an official visit)
Madagascar
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Syria
Togo
Venezuela
Yemen

For the rest of sites in countries I have been already:

  • Heard and McDonald Island (UK) - requires lengthy boat tour
  • Macquarie Island - cruise $$$
  • Sub-Antarctic Islands, NZ - cruise $$$, combined with Macquarie Island though
  • Okavango Delta - didn't want to cram this as a 1½ day drive-by on my last Botswana trip; worth a lengthy visit for sure
  • Peninsula Valdez, thought hard about adding it into my Argentina trip but early February just wasn't good enough to guarantee Right whales and orcas and September just seems better to splurge the money
  • French Austral Lands and Seas - well, that's the one you join a ~30 day cargo ship trip that will visit it along the way, "fun"
  • Marquesas Island, it's an extra trip from French Polynesia's main hub
  • Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece - I drove through this, or past this, but I can't really count it I think. I also don't mind visiting Greece again. For now Europe stays incomplete
  • Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras - One could tick this by taking a boat around the coast to one of the villages inside the park but visiting this properly isn't easily accomplished - I don't think visiting the villages will give an insight into the heritage of the biosphere reserve at all
  • India keeps adding tentative sites so I can make the trip more worthwhile in the future but only 1 site remaining at the moment which sounds easy but it's near Kolkata/Calcutta and not very good, perhaps combined with Durga Puja?
  • Jordan - my first trip was the main things and rest, probably "meh", would need another trip and it's a decent cluster in the Middle East
  • Mongolia - a few sites and a couple of these are HARD to visit as they are in the middle of nowhere. Some are better visited from the Russian side and that causes different issues altogether.
  • Te Wahipounamu, NZ south island - technically have been there (the area is huge!) but I want to hike for a week+ to count this visit plus add Fiordland for a grand visit
  • Russia is currently off-limits to me personally
  • Aldabra Atoll used to have a $$$ cruise but I think Covid killed it (literally) so the only way to visit is taking the cruise from Zanzibar that stops there on the way. Still expensive but seeing that you get a cruise it's a nice vacay - if you are into that. Having already done Zanzibar and the Seychelles doesn't help me but maybe fun in a small group
  • Tajik National Park (& Tugay Forests) require a lengthy road trip best done by car from Osh
  • Gough and Inaccessible Islands, UK - aptly named "inaccessible", I think no way to visit
  • Henderson Island - you need special permission to visit although joining a charter trip would include it; however, they are rare and $$$
  • Tauric Chersonese - well, Crimea is now in "Russian" territory and not sure I'm even allowed to visit
  • Zimbabwe I have only visited Victoria Falls but definitely interested in exploring the rest!
  • Palestine: would never visit the Gaza strip and now they have a site so it's probably unvisited from me for a while, mainly due to UNESCO's policy to fast track the sites under warfare
  • Malawi added Mount Mulanje in 2025 which was not on my itinerary on safari. Quite sure this would require a visit just for the mountains and probably 2 days is better. I could combine this with a trip to Zimbabwe though.

My most impressive site: Abu Simbel, Ilulissat Icefjord, Cocos Island, Galapagos underwater - not so keen on the land parts

My proposal for a new site: Mariana Trench, expand on Amazonia

Recent Visits
  • 2
    0
    July 26, 2025
    India: Dholavira: A Harappan City, Rani-ki-Vav
  • 1
    0
    July 20, 2025
    Azerbaijan: Khinalig
  • 20
    0
    July 14, 2025
    WHC 2025: 17th Century Port Royal, Cambodian Memorial Sites, Domus de janas Sardinia ...
Completed Countries

About Zoë Sheng

Member since
August 2017
Country of Origin
Canada
Visits
Rank
#1
WHS
1101
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
409
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
1070 155
Locations
7
Zones
0
Reserved for members.

Reviews by Zoë Sheng

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Baku Stage

Baku Stage Mountain (On tentative list)

"Baku Stage"

When you are in Baku, and most likely stayed at the coast, you'll see this mountain. I stayed on both sides and had some further investigation into this. I figured …

Binegadi Main

Binegadi Fauna and Flora Depo… (On tentative list)

Trash Lake

"Lake beyond trash pile" I wrote on my notes for this tentative. Well, it's not wrong. But I figured there would be SOMETHING to see. You DO get to see …

Lothal Main

Harappa Port-Town, Lothal (On tentative list)

Lothal

It's hard to visit just Lothal without actually visisting Dholavira in the northwest. I consider Lothal a potential expansion along with 4-5 other sites. They all belong to the Harappan …

Sheki Mosque

Sheki (Inscribed)

Sheki

I have been to Sheki twice and I'm not really a fan. There is a nearby airport, Ganja, which has international flights so before I figured I'll fly in from …

Pampulha Main

Pampulha (Inscribed)

Pampulha

Pampulha is an area of Belo Horizonte you want to stay. The rest of Belo Horizonte isn't BAD in any way but staying in Pampulha is great. You'll arrive from …

Bom Jesus do Congonhas Main

Bom Jesus do Congonhas (Inscribed)

Bom Jesus do Congonhas

Congonhas' roads were under renovation in summer 2025 and getting to the basilica, the only portion inscribed in this site, was a bit difficult. Not impossible but one has to …

Pantanal Main

Pantanal (Inscribed)

Pantanal

Pantanal is very a very popular tourist destination. There are also lots of suppliers to get around so it should be super easy to arrange a tour whenever you like. …

Songkhla Old Town Main

Songkhla (Nominated)

Songkhla

I drove down the 408 at the coast to see this sight but actually the ONLY thing I really saw was the old town. I tried to stop for others …

Wat Phra Mahathat Main

Wat Phra Mahathat (Nominated)

Wat Phra Mahathat

Wat Phra Mahathat is a huge temple in Thailand south province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. You usually won't set foot into this area unless you are taking the ferry to …

Peruaçu Rock Art

Peruaçu River Canyon (Inscribed)

Peruaçu River Canyon, Brazil

I've wanted to visit this site for years. The biggest problem? It's so far away from anything! The closest airport is Montes Claros which is still 3 hours away but …

Bangucheon

Petroglyphs along the Banguch… (Inscribed)

Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream

I wanted to visit this place years ago, 2015?, but the local bus line to get there was horrible. I ended up in the town of Ulsan which is easy …

The Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley by Roman Bruehwiler

The Prehistoric Sites of the … (Inscribed)

The Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley

Don't do what I did: come here in winter! It gets snowy in the area. The area is still open though. The main attraction and definitely ONE of Iran's main …

No Image

Zhangye Colorful Hills (On tentative list)

Zhangye Colorful Hills

I love Zhangye! However, to include them would be like missing out on better non-inscribed places like Vinicunca (much better than here!), Painted Hills and Hornocal. I probably missed something …

Muarajambi Temple Compound by Zoë Sheng

Muarajambi Temple Compound (On tentative list)

Muarajambi Temple Compound

I went to see the temples at Jambi, appropriately called Muarajambi, in March 2018. By appropriate I obviously mean that the town has been named AFTER the temples that are …

Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenistan by Zoë Sheng

Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenis… (On tentative list)

Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenistan

I went to five locations of this serial nomination, perhaps even six without knowing. They are covering the entire country and if you go SOMEWHERE you can just ask for …

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape by Zoë Sheng

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape (Inscribed)

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape

I did the "lazy" thing and just parked at Lake Surprise, part of Mt Eccles National Park, which is easy as long as you have your own car. It was …

Sassanid Archaeological Landscape by Zoë Sheng

Sassanid Archaeological Lands… (Inscribed)

Sassanid Archaeological Landscape

I visited in 2019 just after it had been inscribed although the signs still didn't have any UNESCO logos. It was in English though, and well written, all that matters. …

Jelling by Zoë Sheng

Jelling (Inscribed)

Jelling

I visited this site back in September ‎2017 (compare the picture Frederik Dawson posted and mine you'll see it's exactly the same as five years before. I think it will …

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers by Zoë Sheng

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flow… (Inscribed)

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers

Nanda Devi is closed. For tourists and mountaineers. You COULD go to the northern area as a scientist but it requires permits you won't get, and as you thus avoid …

Hawraman/Uramanat by Roman Bruehwiler

Hawraman/Uramanat (Inscribed)

Hawraman/Uramanat

I was driving here in the off-season which isn't a good idea in general. This is off a small road leading from Kermanshah to Sanandaj and there wouldn't really be …

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