Malbork Castle was the headquarters of the Teutonic Order 's crusader state. The castle had both a religious and a political function: here lived the Grand Master and the daily management of the Order, and about 3,000 knights. The castle was built at the end of the 13th century, and was expanded ever further. It is entirely made of brick, and according to unconfirmed sources this is the largest area of any castle and/or the largest brick building in the world. I went to see it on a half-day trip from Gdansk.

Castle Gate

My visit was on a sunny Saturday morning, and because I was expecting crowds I had purchased an entrance ticket online beforehand (I did so as well with all train tickets on this trip). I arrived at the Malbork train station at 8.45 a.m., and from there I had a 15 minute walk to be at the gates at the opening hour of 9 a.m.. Local authorities have not bothered to sign the way to the castle, but it lies on the right side from the station and then straight ahead until you see the red towers on …

The medieval city of Torun is a small, well-preserved trading town along the Vistula river. I really enjoyed my stay there, and have been thinking since what the attraction was. A major reason is that – despite its considerable size of 200,000 inhabitants – it lies too far off the beaten track for the weekend getaway and stag party crowd (which Gdansk and so many other cities in Central and Eastern Europe have to endure). It still is more a destination for Polish school trips than for foreign tourists.

St. George Guild House

Although it lies only 168km south of Gdansk, it takes significant time to get to Torun by public transport from there. The fastest trains take 2.5 hours, including a change half way. These are not too frequent however, plus it is wise to pre-book them as seats are reserved and do sell out. On the return trip I got stranded at Torun’s railway station because of a delay of 53(!) minutes, which also caused missing my connection. In the end it took me 5 hours to get back to Gdansk. So going only for a day trip from Gdansk is …

In the east of Germany and just across the border in the northwest of Czechia lies a region called the Ore Mountains ( Erzgebirge / Krušnohoří in the respective local languages). Its name comes from the ores (silver, copper, tin, zinc) that have been mined here over the centuries. The Germans and Czechs have been active since 2015 to secure a shared spot for this area at the World Heritage List, and they will possibly submit a revised nomination in 2019 . The proposal will consist of no less than 61 ‘component parts’ or locations.

Center of Olbernhau

At the German side, I checked out 3 locations in the Marienberg Mining Area: the city center of Marienberg, a reconstructed horse-driven mill in the Lauta Mining Landscape and the Grünthal Liquation Hut Complex in Olbernhau. Marienberg’s distinguishing feature is its large city square, designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance. I noticed little of further interest in the city centre, but I did pay a visit to the regional museum which is housed in a massive former granary from the early 19th century. The employees on duty seemed a bit shocked that I …

Early April I spent two weeks travelling through the Gulf states of Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Oman was the expected highlight, and I was happy that I allocated 10 days there. After having visited Bahrain in 2011 at the start of my RTW trip, I now have the Arab states of the Persian Gulf covered reasonably well (Saudi Arabia and Qatar can wait). Find below my Top Tips for Travelling to the Gulf states as a World Heritage Traveller.

Omani men wearing the dishdasha and kuma (cap)

1. This is easy comfort

These 3 countries are among the easiest that I have ever travelled in: they are friendly, clean, safe and efficient. They have good infrastructure (the Dubai metro is exemplary), and English is widely spoken. Large scale immigration has blessed them with Lebanese and Indian restaurants, adding lots of international flavour to the traditional cuisine of rice and chicken. For Kuwait and Oman most people will need a visa, but that can be arranged online beforehand.

2. Accept that the WHS are not its best sights

Looking at the general appreciation of the WHS in Oman and the UAE, they currently rank below 3 stars on …

The main question about this TWHS is: Does something like ‘Old Dubai’ still exist? Dubai only developed independently from Abu Dhabi from 1833 onwards. The origin of the city lies at Khor Dubai , the saltwater creek that flows through the city. From its small-scale port, pearl fishermen departed to dive off the coast and trade was driven with Asia and East Africa. The multicultural trading city with its skyscrapers that we now know dates from the seventies of the 20th century at the earliest.

Cargo ship at Dubai Creek

On my last day in the Gulf region I spent a few hot hours looking for the old core of Dubai. A WHS proposal for this zone has already been met with a ‘Rejection’ advice twice, leaving the international advisors in despair. The course of the creek through Dubai has often artificially been changed, extra land has been won and old neighbourhoods have been demolished. Getting it registered is a hopeless mission according to the advising committee, but hopes have been kept alive by the WHC which overruled ICOMOS to Deferral (2014) and Referral (2017) respectively. And the Emirates will not give up.

Al Ain is the second city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, a pretty large one with over 750,000 inhabitants. It actually lies closer to Dubai than to its own capital, Abu Dhabi. I had somewhat underestimated these distances during my trip planning, and also wanted to see the recently opened Louvre museum and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. So I cut my visit to Al Ain short to the Al Ain Oasis and National Museum to fit it all into a day trip from Dubai.

Sultan Fort

The oasis and national museum comprise only 1 out of the 17 inscribed Cultural Sites of Al Ain . Both places are very conveniently located next to the bus station of Al Ain, which is served every 30 minutes or so by comfortable direct buses from Dubai’s Al Ghubaiba Bus Station. The oasis is easy to see near the bus station, and the national museum is signposted.

I started at the museum, which charges a 3 dirham entry fee. At 0.66 EUR this is only a nominal sum, comparable to the fees I paid at similar sites in Oman. I guess …

The Land of Frankincense is a good reason to visit the Dhofar region in southern Oman. I flew from Muscat to its capital Salalah and stayed there for 3 nights. Date palms give way to coconut palms and sandy white beaches, which reminded me of Sri Lanka. It’s not an uncommon sight here to see camels crossing the motorway or a camel caravan moving along through the desert. (Frank)incense is everywhere here in the south: stepping into the modern Salalah Garden Mall, the smell already comes to you. The local Al-Husn Souq only sells typical Omani hats and frankincense resin per kilo.

Al-Balid

In the outskirts of Salalah lies the Al-Balid Archaeological Park with its Land of Frankincense museum, 1 of the 4 locations that comprise this WHS. I spent 1.5 hour there in the late afternoon (it's open til 8 p.m.), a perfect time to enjoy its setting of ruins and birds via the walking trails. Al-Balid was a port, so its remains are located near the water. The archaeological site is quite extensive, with a citadel and a grand mosque.

The next day I drove to a second location, …

Sharjah: the Gate to Trucial States probably will be the next nomination from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) . A visit to Sharjah and the selected locations provides a great excuse to dive deeper into the history of the UAE. Between 1820 and 1971 they were known as the ‘Trucial States’ because of their treaties with Britain, which effectively made them a British protectorate. ‘United’ is an important word here: the main thoroughfare of the Dubai metro is called ‘Union’, and you may recognize ‘Etihad’ (Arabic for Union or United) from the Abu Dhabi airline.

Sharjah creek

Sharjah is the third ranked Emirate within the UAE, after Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Politically, it has much less influence than the other two which emirs always act as the union’s president and prime minister respectively. I went there by public bus E307A from Dubai’s Abu Hail metro station, an easy 25 minute ride. The cities of Dubai and Sharjah have actually grown together, many people live in the cheaper Sharjah and work in Dubai. The TWHS consists of numerous (too many?) locations, most of them in the capital Sharjah City but some lie much …

The Archaeological sites of Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn include a settlement and tombs in northern Oman, dating from the Bronze Age. This area was part of the Magan empire, which supplied raw materials such as copper to the Sumerians (in present-day Iraq). Although getting there has become easier over the years, it still is a nice off-the-beaten-track site seldom touched by non-WH travellers.

Qasr A'Rojoom tower at Bat

At 3 pm I hit the road from Nizwa, planning to be at Al-Ayn at the fabled ‘golden hour’ for good photos. I brought print-outs with me of the instructions given on this website to reach the locations of Bat and Al-Ayn. I skipped the even more obscure Al-Khutm in advance. Finding the excavations at Bat proved to be pretty straightforward. I used the approach via Ibri, where the biggest hurdle is avoiding the Pakistani/Bangladeshi men on bicycles riding against the traffic flow. Maps.me , which I used for navigating around Oman, knew a place called ‘Bat. Village. Oman’. This is the modern town, the archaeological site lies just one left turn away right before it.

I found the site strictly fenced off, there …