In his recent review of the Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines , Nan openly wondered how the (below average) Bochnia ended up with (in his opinion, the most unique site of Poland) Wieliczka. He concludes “Frankly, the extension was an error as it dilutes the OUV.” Jonathan had sent me a whole bunch of similar questionable extensions already a while ago, but I left them in my mailbox to further ponder the subject. At what point does an extension actually make a WHS worse? I guess there are at least two ways an extension can "dilute" the original WHS: by devaluating its overall OUV, or by pushing the original, iconic site into the background.

Those that brought the average quality down

Several extensions brought the overall quality of the WHS down or did not show clear OUV on their own. This issue mostly seems to have occurred when a single, outstanding monument was extended with one or more others (in a move away from the “monument” thinking of the early years). Whether the extension did not add anything is up for debate of course. I checked the reviews of the extended WHS to see …

Zos M. , originally from the Philippines, started counting WHS since he relocated to Beijing in 2016 for work. Before the pandemic, he mostly used his vacation leaves for visits to Europe and Asia, but from 2020 on China was his focus. In October 2021, setting foot in Qinghai Hoh Xil , he “completed” China. That means that he has visited all its 56 WHS – a significant accomplishment as a foreigner with limited knowledge of the language. He has also been to about half of the country's 59 TWHS. Meet Zos below, while he shares his experiences as a WH Traveller in China.

How difficult is it to visit all of China’s WHS?

"At first, it was difficult. Not because of the inaccessibility of the sites but of my non-existent Mandarin. From 2016 to 2018, I only visited sites which are near big cities (Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Hangzhou). It was easier to find transportation. Then Didi and ridesharing and translator apps came along. It was easier. I could go to remote places. I could follow the bus routes and get off at the correct stop.

Like Europe, China is well connected. Most of the sites are within 2 …

In September 2021 I spent 2 weeks in Kyrgyzstan. I used public transport to travel around for 10 days and hired a car+driver for the remaining 5 to bring me to the more remote places. I found a country with relaxed and hospitable inhabitants. Especially the north still feels very Russian-Communist, maybe even more so than many cities in Russia nowadays. Find below my Top Tips for Travelling to Kyrgyzstan as a World Heritage Traveller.

1. Treat it on its own merits

When you look online for trip reports about Kyrgyzstan, you’ll quickly notice that most people give it only a day or 5 during a more comprehensive Central Asia trip. They rarely venture beyond the capital Bishkek and the Issyk-Kul lake. Even at this website, we are guilty of that – at the Forum, Kyrgyzstan has to share its country topic with Kazakhstan , as if the two were one entity. But a lot of Kyrgyzstan’s beauty starts when you take the road southwards from Bishkek, via the Camel Pass, encounter the herds of horses/cows/sheep, see the yurts at the green meadows of the Suusamyr valley, and end up near the mountains of Western …

Kyrgyzstan is not as richly endowed with Silk Road remains as its neighboring countries. The nomadic nature of its inhabitants has resulted in few permanent historic structures. But there are still some that are worth visiting. Tash Rabat's caravanserai is said to be the “best”, but it was too far from my itinerary. I already visited Burana (part of the Silk Road WHS) at the beginning of my journey. I ended it in Uzgen, which is part of the separate Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan TWHS.

The city of Uzgen is one of the oldest in Kyrgyzstan, dating back to the 2nd or 1st century BC when it was founded as a trading post along the Silk Road. It is described in Chinese sources from that time. It also was the capital of the medieval Kharakhanid Empire, at the center of the fertile Fergana Valley.

Its monuments can be found in a historical-archaeological park in present-day Uzgen’s town center. They comprise a 12th-century minaret and three mausolea from the same period. There’s an entrance fee of 20 Som (0.20 EUR) to this neatly arranged park. A strange detail that I noticed walking around the site …

Sulaiman-Too is the landmark of the lovely city of Osh. It is a mostly relict cultural landscape of a sacred mountain – so much was destroyed during the Soviet-communist period of Kyrgyzstan, that really only the caves and the legends remain. A few recently revived or added Islamic buildings can be found at the foot of the mountain, outside the gates, including the pretty, Arab-sponsored Sulaiman-Too Mosque dating from 2012.

Accurate information on how to visit the mountain is surprisingly rare to find. One can actually enter from two sides: where the English language sources seem to steer you to the steep stairs from Kurmanjan Datka Street, the locals generally use the winding way up from Gapar Aytiev. A handy overview map and a larger car parking can be found at that entrance.

There’s a fence fully encircling the mountain, I guess to avoid rough sleepers. A 20 Som entrance fee is only levied from 9 a.m. onwards: there’s a ticket kiosk at either entrance. I entered at 8.45 and found the gate open. I also encountered people coming from the other side, they must have been on their way from around 8. So …

The Western Tien-Shan (situated in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan) is the westernmost part of the Tianshan mountain range, the eastern part (in China) is a separate WHS under the name of Xinjiang Tianshan .

I visited one of the three components in Kyrgyzstan: Sary Chelek National Park. I did so with a private driver annex guide, whom I had hired to take me from Bishkek to Osh in 5 days. We stopped for one night each in Toktogul and Arslanbob (known for its walnut forests), and for two nights in Arkit, the gateway to Sary Chelek National Park. It’s a fairly remote site, some 100km from the next sizeable town. The winding road leading up there however is almost fully paved. During summer the park sees a lot of tourists, and numerous homestays and yurt camps have opened up.

The things to look out for when you want to experience this site’s OUV, are the wild fruit and nut forests. These were also the main goal of our hike during the first late afternoon. Although the farming village of Arkit already lies in the core zone, the proper entrance to the park lies on its …

The Silk Roads do have the potential to blow away the Roman Limes regarding the number of separate nominations: no less than 54 corridors have been distinguished in the ICOMOS Thematic Study . Fortunately, they are meant to be combined and some will never be put forward. So far only 1 has made it: the Tian-shan Corridor , shared by China, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. It spans 5,000 km and is further split into 4 sections. The first section in Central China can be considered the starting point of all Silk Routes. In 2007 I already visited a number of locations in this section (Xian’s Wild Goose Pagodas, Longmen Grottoes) and in the second one named Hosi Corridor (Mogao Caves, Yumen Pass). In this review, I will focus on the fourth section, known as the Zhetysu region, at the other end of this particular Silk Road. I went there in September 2021.

Zhetysu is the historical name for parts of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Meaning “seven rivers”, it comprises the fertile grasslands between Lake Balkhash and Lake Issyk Kul. It is where nomadic people settled, built fortified sites, and turned to agriculture and trade. These inhabitants …

Wiki’s History of Beer learns us that beer is one of the oldest drinks humans have produced: “The earliest chemically confirmed barley beer to date was discovered at Godin Tepe in Iran, where fragments of a jug, from between 5,400 and 5,000 years ago was found to be coated with beerstone, a by-product of the brewing process”. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the teetotal Islamic Republic of Iran will put a site linked to alcoholic drinks forward as a WH nomination. So far we already have identified a connection for Breweries (including the Brewery museum at the Grand Place of Brussels, first photo below). But are there more groups of at least 3 WHS that we can connect to beer-related subjects?

Paid in Beer

There are at least 3 WHS that I can link to “Paid in Beer”. They all have provided records that workers at the site have been paid in beer. Some 5,000 years ago, that was the case in Uruk (part of the Ahwar of Southern Iraq WHS). A tablet has been discovered that describes beer production at the Inanna Temple in Uruk and beer given to workers as part of …

The last time that I had Italy 'complete' (i.e., I had visited all of its then 57 WHS), it lasted for only 2 weeks. But after my recent visit to Bologna I now have full coverage for at least 10 more months (unfortunately I don’t ‘have’ Italy’s 2022 nomination Civita di Bagniregio already). Bologna's Porticoes got inscribed last July, a slight surprise after a Deferral advice. On the ground, I found no official plaques yet, nor the Italian equivalent of jubilant “Wir sind Welterbe” banners.

My first impression of the city wasn’t that great: its streets are a bit grubby, with walls covered in graffiti. The porticoes allow for little daylight on a cloudy day. Fortunately, the core zone was extended in the final nomination proposal, so the most important monuments of the city that lie anywhere near a portico are now also included.

A remarkable one is the San Petronio Basilica – a church that was planned to become bigger than St. Peter's in the Vatican. That didn't quite work out, but it still is one of the largest churches in the world (just beating the Cologne Cathedral for example). Its façade also stayed …

Although I get the feeling that even Italy is reaching the limits of its WH potential, its Tentative List still holds 39 prospects. Among them are numerous examples of the typical medieval-Renaissance cityscape, such as Lucca, Pavia, and Bergamo. And Parma : a city with Etruscan origins, and self-rule as a Free Commune and Duchy for a long time afterward. Especially the rulers of the latter two periods have left their imprint on how the city still looks now.

I visited Parma on a day trip from Bologna. Frequent trains take just under an hour. My first impression was that of a pleasant, liveable city. Certainly compared to Bologna and its porticoes that block the daylight, Parma feels more spacious and inviting with green areas and many benches to sit on.

I started my explorations by crossing a bridge to Oltretorrente , the quarter at the “other” side of the river. Here is where the Garden Palace of the Dukes of Parma was built. It lies in a large French garden, with a lot of chestnut trees already turning to their autumn color.

Back in the town center, I made my way to the …