Els Slots
Revisit Needed
Philipp visited me in the Netherlands last month, and we went to the Rietveld Schröderhuis – a revisit for both of us. It was a much-improved visit: he needed to enter and wanted photos, I had entered before but had lousy photos of the exterior on a rainy day. The second visits became a success, especially as the policy had also changed to allow indoor photography. Furthermore, Philipp told me that with his checklist of visited WHS, he also marks those that need a revisit for some reason (e.g. "needs photos"). I thought that was such a great idea, so I went through my own visits again and marked those that I need to visit again.
The Statistics
Out of my 810 visited WHS, I feel that I need to revisit 32. That’s 4%, less than I feared. By the way, I saw 69 of the 810 WHS (8.5%) more than once so those in fact are already upgraded visits.
Keep in mind that these do not include the Angkor's and Machu Picchu’s of the List, which I would happily visit again. But only those where there is a NEED to revisit, because the first visit wasn’t good or satisfying enough. Where, when I think back, I do not really have a feel for the site let alone its OUV.
Reasons for revisiting
1. Visit was long ago and I remember too little
The time that has passed since the visit probably is the main reason for a revisit. Kyiv (1990) - the tour allowed only 1 day there, which I spent mostly in my hotel room feeling ill. Cordoba (1991), I was confined to the hotel room as well due to the 46 degrees Celsius heat outside. The Dorset cliffs , visited with my parents when I was 9 not having a clue about OUV. Jantar Mantar , too short a visit and already back in 1993. Hill Forts of Rajasthan – only visited one of them and also way back in 1993. Diyarbakir : no photos and my stay was in 1992. Retiro and Prado of Madrid, rushed through it while backpacking in 1991.
2. I found the site mostly closed
A few of those as well:
- Mycenae and Tiryns – closed for the Christmas holidays.
- Spiennes : not really closed, but the visitor experience has changed considerably since my visit in 2004.
- Berlin’s Museum Island : Bode and Neues Museum were closed.
- Giant Panda Sanctuaries – the access road to Wolong, the prime reserve, was closed.
- Modena : most buildings were under construction and could not be entered.
- Qalhat : the archaeological site could not be accessed.
- I also was one of the many people that fell victim to the interior of the Margravial Opera House closing right after inscription (photo 1).
3. I did not do it full justice
Although the prospect of visiting a WHS usually brightens my day, there have been moments in my travel career when my mood negatively influenced the way I valued the WHS. The most notable examples are the Royal Exhibition Building (I should have tried harder to get inside, but I was fed up already with Australia) and Evora - sites that others rate higher than I do . If you're a community member, you can look at the blue and orange labels in your rating stats on the profile page to look for these anomalies.
4. Experienced too little of its OUV
Here I did enter the core zones, but did not see much of their OUV:
- Qhapaq Nan (needs trips to more and better locations)
- Meiji Industrial Revolution sites (only visited a village in the core zone, and before inscription, and none of the industrial heritage)
- Neolithic Orkney (missed Skara Brae due to logistic issues)
- Mumbai (drove through the core zone, saw the Oval Maidan from the tour bus, but did not go out and explore the main sites as I usually do)
5. Feeling guilty about the tick!
I have a couple of arbitrary ticks, where I did not enter the core zone but got close enough and have a good feel for the OUV. These are:
- Pantanal : its core zone is very selective. Need to revisit to see the jaguar anyway.
- Doñana (photo 2): need to secure a spot on one of the guided tours inside the park.
- Bali Subak system : would like to explore the area again with the knowledge of the reasons why it was inscribed and what to look for.
- The Dolomites . I am actually ashamed of this one, I just drove by. I am planning for a week-long stay to make up for it!
6. Waiting for visiting conditions to change
This is a special subcategory, where a revisit is on hold. If entrance ever comes fully available at Stoclet , Kazanlak , Altamira Cave , Chauvet Cave , Lascaux , and Shirakami-Sanchi (photo 3), I'd be happy to go there again. Same for the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum and Boyana Church when photos will be allowed.
Do you keep a list of necessary revisits? For what reasons do you want to visit a WHS again?
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