Solivagant

Member since December 2005

#8 854 328

I am now retired but have been "travelling" for a "hobby" since I was 15 (1957!) whilst pursuing otherwise normal mundane career and "home" things in UK - thus being limited by "annual leave" allowances. During that time I have visited 164 "independent countries" - defined by me as the 193 full UN members plus (somewhat illogically, but they are generally accepted as "sovereign") Taiwan and Holy See (but am not pursuing "193"!). Unfortunately quite a few relatively easily accessible current WHS got "missed" along the way. If only I had known they would get chosen - they are not all obvious choices! Despite the weaknesses in the list and the politics involved in the selection and voting mechanism they provide a quick means of grasping the highlights of many countries and sometimes lead down interesting knowledge and research "avenues" which would otherwise have remain unexplored. 
Proposal for a new WHS:- Roca Agostino Neto Cocoa Plantation Sao Tome.
There are just too many European WHS relative to the rest. Little Sao Tome became the world's greatest producer of cocoa under the Portuguese. So poor were the social conditions that Cadbury boycotted Cocoa from there in early 20C. At Roca Agostinho (and other crumbling colonial sites on Sao Tome) you might just get a feeling for the economic system which created it and "fed" Europe with a raw material so often taken for granted - a really atmospheric place. But it isn't even on the "Tentative list"!

My most impressive site: Machu Picchu. I would like to choose somewhere

My proposal for a new site: See under

Recent Visits
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    July 28, 2024
    Beijing Central Axis, Funerary and memory sites of the First World War, Gedi , Hegmataneh, …
  • 0
    4
    Jan. 1, 2020
    City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Dunhuang Yardangs, The Lijiang River Scenic Zone …
  • 0
    5
    Jan. 1, 2020
    Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar, Bago, Inle Lake, Shwedagon Pagoda, Wooden Monasteries of Konbaung Period
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About Solivagant

First name
Solivagant
Member since
December 2005
Country of Origin
None
Visits
Rank
#8
WHS
854
Tentative Sites
328
Website Participation
Reviews
442
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
855 0
Photos
N/A
Locations
N/A
Zones
N/A

Reviews by Solivagant

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Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes by Solivagant

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spie… (Inscribed)

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes

Back in 2001 we had visited Spiennes to find ….. nothing but a field! So, when we were “over on the Continent” (note our very British way of looking at …

Archeological Site of Zeugma by Solivagant

Archeological Site of Zeugma (On tentative list)

Archeological Site of Zeugma

Before I started planning our 2015 trip to Turkey I hadn’t knowingly heard of the T List site of Zeugma but it emerged first when, in order to inform my …

Bursa and Cumalikizik by Solivagant

Bursa and Cumalikizik (Inscribed)

Bursa and Cumalikizik

In 2014 ICOMOS requested that Turkey should “Revise the focus of the nomination” for Bursa, didn’t accept any of the 5 proposed criteria and recommended “deferral”. Facing a stroppy WHC, …

Xanthos-Letoon by Solivagant

Xanthos-Letoon (Inscribed)

Xanthos-Letoon

It seems somewhat surprising that, of all the “Classical” sites on or near the Turkish coastline the so-called “twin site” of Xanthos-Letoon should have been Turkey’s first choice for inscription …

Konya-A capital of Seljuk Civilization by Solivagant

Konya-A capital of Seljuk Civ… (On tentative list)

Konya-A capital of Seljuk Civilization

The introduction to this entry on the UNESCO web site is enigmatically thin:- “The outer fortress of Konya and the Alaeddin Mosque, the Sirçali Madrasa, many small mosques and tombs …

Aphrodisias by Solivagant

Aphrodisias (Inscribed)

Aphrodisias

Aphrodisias is apparently scheduled by Turkey for nomination in 2017. We were in nearby Denizli to visit the inscribed site of Pamukkale/Hierapolis and were then driving down to the Selcuk …

Göbekli Tepe by Solivagant

Göbekli Tepe (Inscribed)

Göbekli Tepe

The publication in 2001 by Prof Klaus Schmidt (KS) of a preliminary report of his excavations at Gobeklitepe following the site’s discovery in 1995 turned the archaeological theories about the …

Pergamon by Solivagant

Pergamon (Inscribed)

Pergamon

The remains of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon are famous both for their location – notably its Acropolis superbly situated on the top of a steep hill near the …

Çatalhöyük by Solivagant

Çatalhöyük (Inscribed)

Çatalhöyük

Çatalhöyük is one of the World’s great “iconic” archaeological sites – not because of any monumental remains but because of the light it shone and is still shining, on daily …

Las Pozas, Xilitla by Solivagant

Las Pozas, Xilitla (On tentative list)

Las Pozas, Xilitla

Las Pozas at Xilitla is a bit of a surprise entry onto Mexico’s T List – A “Wilderness Sculpture Garden” in the form of the surreal “architectural ramblings” set in …

Site Lacustre de Ganvié by Solivagant

Site Lacustre de Ganvié (Removed from tentat…)

Site Lacustre de Ganvié

There is a bit of competition around now for the first lacustrine “Stilt village” inscription! Ghana placed Nzulezu Stilt settlement on its T List in 2000 and Brunei seems likely …

Region Lacan-Tún - Usumacinta by Solivagant

Region Lacan-Tún - Usumacinta (On tentative list)

Region Lacan-Tún - Usumacinta

The recent identification on this Web site that Bonampak had once been on Mexico’s T List (1986 -2001 under the title “Zone archéologique de Bonampak et forêt circondante”) …

Petra by Solivagant

Petra (Inscribed)

Petra

Of the 600k + people each year who enter Petra via the Siq and come to that iconic view of the Treasury I wonder how many are aware of the …

Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious autho by Solivagant

Dzongs: the centre of tempora… (On tentative list)

Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious autho

The “Dzongs of Bhutan” came 12th in our 2014 vote on the most significant sites “missing” from the WH list. Way back in the autumn of 2001 we visited 4 …

Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong by Solivagant

Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong (On tentative list)

Ancient Ruin of Drukgyel Dzong

The presence of this site on Bhutan’s T List came as a surprise to me as we had (apparently) visited it back in Autumn 2001 without any great feeling of …

Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo  by Solivagant

Sacred Sites associated with … (On tentative list)

Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo

The UNESCO introduction for this esoterically named T List site, lists 16 locations – with No 3 described simply as “Taktshang”. Nothing else is stated about it but, “hidden” here, …

Old Dongola by Solivagant

Old Dongola (On tentative list)

Old Dongola

Whilst visiting Sudan we camped at Old Dongola and, on Xmas morning 2005, were treated to a personal tour of the excavations by a Dr. Stefan Jakobielski who had been …

Tower of London by Solivagant

Tower of London (Inscribed)

Tower of London

As is so often the case with WHS in one’s home country, we hadn’t visited the Tower of London as “tourists” for many years. And it isn’t situated in a …

Mamayev Kurgan by Solivagant

Mamayev Kurgan (Part of Nomination)

Mamayev Kurgan

The hill of Mamayev Kurgan is situated about 4kms north east of downtown Volgograd . In 2007 we reached it by the then rather rickety metro-tram system through stations named …

Grand Canal by Solivagant

Grand Canal (Inscribed)

Grand Canal

China is a “different country” every few years – even back in 1989 it was already very different from my previous visit in 1978 but some aspects had not yet …

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