Zoë Sheng

Member since August 2017

#1 1067 0

I'm Zoë. I'm originally from Edmonton, Canada and then moved to Vancouver Island although spent lots of time in China where family members still reside. I also spent a few years at boarding school in England where my trips started when my parents took me around the coastal paths and what later turned out to be world heritage sites which are considered my first "ticks". Since then I traveled a lot, studied part-time in Auckland, and my "skills" of efficiency and organized planning helps a lot - meaning that old towns tend to get an overnight stay to easily explore them while churches, tombs or cemeteries that only take an hour tops to visit are really just scheduled for a quick visit. I do sometimes regret not visiting a place longer but revisits are not out of the question. However, as I don't drink alcohol, party, or require fancy nights out on the town it shortens activities in places too (if you enjoy doing this  then I'm happy for you just don't wonder why I get stuff done quicker). I also scuba dive frequently which I love the most in the world though I'm not a tec-diving nerd and keep it simple (thus Bikini Atoll is probably out). No deco diving for me unless it's a special wreck.

Personally I'm very private. I ditched Facebook over a decade ago, Instagram I only lasted for a few months and even Whatsapp I tend to mainly use for staying in touch, contacting hotels and tour guides. I'm not anti-social and usually travel in a small group if it works out, although I do enjoy solo traveling more because nobody will screw up my planning. Anyone tagging along will know "it's her way or no way". I have met two people from our community although they didn't noticed it was me at the time. I also do not know the name of one of them but maybe I'll find out eventually. I also almost ran into the Aussie couple and their dog but I was stuck in the Peruvian mountains while they were partying (joke, or assumption?!) in Cuzco.

Since 2023 I started slowing down world heritage specific traveling mainly because I have just seen so many and so much already. I'd rather spend the time with friends and my marine buddies the sharks and dolphins than seek out a mediocre church or wine county, plus the list keeps growing with lackluster titles that hardly excite me, not that I try tick off tentative sites as I can anyway but outliers and crappy stuff far away from civilization isn't going to be fun to visit.

In 2024 I had a mitral valve replacement (ugly scar now) followed by an RFA to fix my heart rate. It definitely slowed down any traveling I wanted to do and unsure how it will continue. Hopefully I'm as good as new with medication. Even scuba diving is ok!

At the time of writing I still need to visit 156 sites which doesn't seem like a lot but a few are impossible to visit, some require lengthy trips (30 days for one, two weeks for a few others) and can cost a huge sum of money. There are also those warring states that are currently off-limits (+Venezuela for security/embargo reasons). Having officially visited 151 UN listed countries these are still left with sites:

Afghanistan
Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo, DR
Congo, Republic
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Syria
Togo
Venezuela
Yemen

For the rest of sites in countries I have been already:

  • Heard and McDonald Island - requires lengthy boat tour
  • Macquarie Island - cruise $$$
  • Khinalig, Azerbaijan - wasn't even tentative I think and it's quite far off the beaten track, next time I visit Azerbaijan it shall be done
  • Okavango Delta - didn't want to cram this as a 1½ day drive-by on my last Botswana trip; worth a lengthy visit for sure
  • Peninsula Valdez, thought hard about adding it into my Argentina trip but early February just wasn't good enough to guarantee Right whales and orcas and September just seems better to splurge the money
  • Brazil - still missing almost half because I backed out twice but I will get it eventually lol
  • French Austral Lands and Seas - well, that's the one you join a ~30 day cargo ship trip that will visit it along the way, "fun"
  • Marquesas Island, it's an extra trip from French Polynesia's main hub
  • Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece - I drove through this, or past this, but I can't really count it I think. I also don't mind visiting Greece again. For now Europe stays incomplete
  • Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras - One could tick this by taking a boat around the coast to one of the villages inside the park but visiting this properly isn't easily accomplished - I don't think visiting the villages will give an insight into the heritage of the biosphere reserve at all
  • India keeps adding tentative sites so I can make the trip more worthwhile in the future but only 3 sites remaining at the moment which isn't much 
  • Jordan - my first trip was the main things and rest, probably "meh", would need another trip.
  • Mongolia - a few sites and a couple of these are HARD to visit as they are in the middle of nowhere.
  • Sub-Antarctic Islands, NZ - cruise
  • Te Wahipounamu, NZ south island - technically have been there but I want to hike for a week+ to count this visit
  • Russia is currently off-limits to me personally
  • Aldabra Atoll used to have a $$$ cruise but I think Covid killed it (literally) so the only way to visit is taking the cruise from Zanzibar that stops there on the way. Not super expensive and seeing that you get a cruise it's a nice vacay - if you are into that. Having already done Zanzibar and the Seychelles doesn't help me but maybe fun in a small group
  • Tajik National Park (& Tugay Forests) require a lengthy road trip best done by car from Osh - however, for the last few years the countries haven't seen eye to eye so they won't let rental cars from Kyrgyzstan cross over thus one would have to go from Dushanbe and that's a hefty additional mileage!
  • Gough and Inaccessible Islands - named "inaccessible" with reason
  • Henderson Island - you need special permission to visit although joining a charter trip would include it; however, they are rare and $$$
  • Tauric Chersonese - well, Crimea is now in "Russian" territory and not sure I'm even allowed to visit
  • Zimbabwe I have only visited Victoria Falls but definitely interested in exploring the rest!
  • Palestine: would never visit the Gaza strip and now they have a site so it's probably unvisited from me for a while, mainly due to their policy to fast track the sites under warfare

My most impressive site: Abu Simbel, Ilulissat Icefjord, Cocos Island

My proposal for a new site: Mariana Trench

Recent Visits
  • 1
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Iguacu
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Churches and Convents of Goa, Great Himalayan National Park, Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 5, 2024
    Chola Temples, Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, Western Ghats
>

About Zoë Sheng

First name
Zoë
Member since
August 2017
Country of Origin
None
Visits
Rank
#1
WHS
1067
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
379
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
1067 160
Photos
N/A
Locations
N/A
Zones
N/A

Reviews by Zoë Sheng

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Muarajambi Temple Compound (On tentative list)

Muarajambi Temple Compound

I went to see the temples at Jambi, appropriately called Muarajambi, in March 2018. By appropriate I obviously mean that the town has been named AFTER the temples that are …

Potsherds at Abiverd / Photo by Els Slots

Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenis… (On tentative list)

Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenistan

I went to five locations of this serial nomination, perhaps even six without knowing. They are covering the entire country and if you go SOMEWHERE you can just ask for …

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape (Inscribed)

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape

I did the "lazy" thing and just parked at Lake Surprise, part of Mt Eccles National Park, which is easy as long as you have your own car. It was …

Sassanid Archaeological Landscape by Solivagant

Sassanid Archaeological Lands… (Inscribed)

Sassanid Archaeological Landscape

I visited in 2019 just after it had been inscribed although the signs still didn't have any UNESCO logos. It was in English though, and well written, all that matters. …

Jelling by Els Slots

Jelling (Inscribed)

Jelling

I visited this site back in September ‎2017 (compare the picture Frederik Dawson posted and mine you'll see it's exactly the same as five years before. I think it will …

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers by Zoë Sheng

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flow… (Inscribed)

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers

Nanda Devi is closed. For tourists and mountaineers. You COULD go to the northern area as a scientist but it requires permits you won't get, and as you thus avoid …

Hawraman/Uramanat by Roman Bruehwiler

Hawraman/Uramanat (Inscribed)

Hawraman/Uramanat

I was driving here in the off-season which isn't a good idea in general. This is off a small road leading from Kermanshah to Sanandaj and there wouldn't really be …

Churches and Convents of Goa by Zoë Sheng

Churches and Convents of Goa (Inscribed)

Churches and Convents of Goa

You can walk around the area in maybe 4 hours. I would find it hard to imagine you spend more time EVEN if you have a guide. Most of what …

Chola Temples by Zoë Sheng

Chola Temples (Inscribed)

Chola Temples

Like most people I only visited the Thanjavur temple called Brihadisvara Temple. The other ones aren't far but check this out: I took the train!! Yeah well, even I can …

Maratha Military Landscape by Zoë Sheng

Maratha Military Landscape (Nominated)

Maratha Military Landscape

I could leave this to someone who saw more forts or maybe just let India pick the ones they want to inscribe first, then get it inscribed, and finally visit. …

Singapore Botanic Gardens  by Zoë Sheng

Singapore Botanic Gardens (Inscribed)

Singapore Botanic Gardens

I believe there were some updates in the last few years because there are clear signs when you enter the UNESCO area as well as maps to explain which area …

Photo in the Public Domain

Badain Jaran Desert (Inscribed)

Badain Jaran Desert

I went to Badain years ago. It is best combined with the Zhangye Danxia because of the close proximity - at least for China. These days you can fly into …

Nisa by Zoë Sheng

Nisa (Inscribed)

Nisa

Like most people say: you need to visit the National Museum in Ashgabat beforehand to understand most of what went on in Nisa or why it is important. In fact …

Amudarya State Nature Reserve by Zoë Sheng

Amudarya State Nature Reserve (On tentative list)

Amudarya State Nature Reserve

Amudarya is closed to Turkmenabad which is one of the two places you would arrive from Uzbekistan. You COULD ask your guide to add this to the travel itinerary because …

Pretzien Weir by Zoë Sheng

Pretzien Weir (On tentative list)

Pretzien Weir

Sluice gates aren't a common thing on the list. This weir that has protected the nearby city of Magdeburg since its introduction in 1875 and won prices at the Paris …

Green Belt by Zoë Sheng

Green Belt (On tentative list)

Green Belt

I don't understand this attempt to inscribed a natural place around a cultural wall. The wall is not there anymore and a lot of land has gone back to agriculture …

Repetek Biosphere State Reserve by Zoë Sheng

Repetek Biosphere State Reser… (On tentative list)

Repetek Biosphere State Reserve

This is already inscribed as "Cold Deserts of Turan" but not removed perhaps it wants to be added again? I don't think so and I hardly believe it was worth …

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Badhyz State Nature Reserve (On tentative list)

Badhyz State Nature Reserve

I need to say this is a non-visit for me and thus also no picture. Your main objective to visit would be the wild ass population if you are into …

Ancient Merv by Zoë Sheng

Ancient Merv (Inscribed)

Ancient Merv

You need to see this and it's on every Turkmenistan itinerary, however, I find the places near Mary nowhere near as good as Gonur which is further north through the …

Kunya-Urgench by Zoë Sheng

Kunya-Urgench (Inscribed)

Kunya-Urgench

Coming from the north (Uzbekistan) this will be the first site to visit. I honestly did not enjoy visiting here even though the minaret is impressive to stand for long …

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