Solivagant

Member since December 2005

#None 0 0

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, …
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    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
#None
WHS
0
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
442
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
855 0
Photos
N/A
Locations
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Zones
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Reviews by Solivagant

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Historic Jeddah by Solivagant

Historic Jeddah (Inscribed)

Historic Jeddah

So Jeddah gets inscribed - against the wishes of ICOMOS! The large bloc vote of Islamic countries present on the 2014 WHC, combined, possibly, with the unwillingness of the others …

Okavango Delta by Els Slots

Okavango Delta (Inscribed)

Okavango Delta

We visited the Okavango as long ago as Aug 1988. A review of that trip and comparison of it with what now appears on the Web for the area has …

Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor by Solivagant

Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan… (Inscribed)

Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

Perusing the list of 33 sites included in this nomination one starts in the East with reasonably well known ones in Xian – the Wild Goose Pagodas and then on …

Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts by Solivagant

Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts (On tentative list)

Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts

We visited the Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts just outside the city of Mardan near Peshawar, during our attempt to pick up most of Pakistans’s T List sites. The immediate impression given …

Archaeological Site of Harappa by Solivagant

Archaeological Site of Harappa (On tentative list)

Archaeological Site of Harappa

Harappa is the “other” Indus Valley site – it has always suffered in comparison with Moenjodaro due to the fact that the site was plundered in the 1850s by British …

Hiran Minar and Tank by Solivagant

Hiran Minar and Tank (On tentative list)

Hiran Minar and Tank

On 4 Feb 2009 Pakistan awoke from several years of inactivity and submitted a nomination for the “Hiran Minar and Tank”. Unfortunately it was just 4 days late against the …

Takht-i-Bahi by Solivagant

Takht-i-Bahi (Inscribed)

Takht-i-Bahi

Takht-i-Bahi was the furthest into the state of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province) we ventured during our trip to Pakistan. We made a full day return trip by road …

Early Synagogues in the Galilee by Solivagant

Early Synagogues in the Galil… (On tentative list)

Early Synagogues in the Galilee

Of the 7 synagogues mentioned in the UNESCO T List description (Meron, Gush Halav, Navorin, Bar Am, Bet Alfa, Korazim and Capernaum) we visited Bet Alfa and Capernaum.

The …

Makhteshim Country by Solivagant

Makhteshim Country (On tentative list)

Makhteshim Country

We visited 3 of Israel’s 5 “Makhteshim” (out of 7 in the World according to Wiki with the others in Sinai.). They are certainly intriguing geological phenemona and …

Incense Route of the Negev by Solivagant

Incense Route of the Negev (Inscribed)

Incense Route of the Negev

I often find that a good guide as to how “worthwhile” a WHS visit has been is the extent to which, 2-3 weeks later, I feel I can find anything …

Bet She'an by Solivagant

Bet She'an (On tentative list)

Bet She'an

Our visit to Israel/Palestine uncovered many places of interest of which we had not previously been aware but the remains of the city of Beit She’an was perhaps the most …

Sea of Galilee  by Solivagant

Sea of Galilee (On tentative list)

Sea of Galilee

As Assif indicates in his earlier review, the extent of this site in relation to others on Israel’s T List is not clear. Among other mentioned sites, we visited that …

Old City of Acre by Solivagant

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre

The Old City of Acre really has 2 aspects to it – the external experience of the narrow mediaeval streets/souks, walls and harbour and the interior experience of the “pay …

Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town by Solivagant

Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town (Inscribed)

Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town

No doubt Assif can update us more accurately than I can regarding the complex realities of Israeli/Palestinian control across various parts of the City of Hebron. We visited the Israeli …

Biblical Tells by Solivagant

Biblical Tells (Inscribed)

Biblical Tells

We visited all 3 Tels and didn’t find the “duplication” excessive – indeed the similarities and differences which emerged were of benefit in understanding the entire nomination. We gave Megiddo …

Degania & Nahalal by Solivagant

Degania & Nahalal (On tentative list)

Degania & Nahalal

Israel has selected 2 communities for placement on its T List to represent the many streams of thought (religious, political and social) across the 20th Century, as to how cooperative …

Mount Carmel Caves by Solivagant

Mount Carmel Caves (Inscribed)

Mount Carmel Caves

A pleasing aspect of carrying out a thorough trawl through the inscribed and T List sites of Israel and Palestine is that you can make a pretty complete tour along …

Ancient Jericho by Solivagant

Ancient Jericho (Inscribed)

Ancient Jericho

As is appropriate for what is claimed to be the World's earliest (known) walled city, Tell es-Sultan (better known as “Jericho”) has been nominated for our list of "Top 50 …

QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scroll by Solivagant

QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery o… (On tentative list)

QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scroll

It seems rather strange to be reviewing a Palestinian Tentative List site when we visited it as an Israeli National Park using our Israeli 2 week “multi visit” pass! The …

Triple-arch Gate at Dan by Solivagant

Triple-arch Gate at Dan (On tentative list)

Triple-arch Gate at Dan

When planning our tour through Israel I decided early on to make the journey up to the far north to see the Triple Arch Gate of Dan. This, both for …

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